Director, Creative Technology

Instrument

10d • $150,000 - $250,000 • Hybrid

About The Position

Instrument is a digital-first design agency where creativity meets technology. We build brands, products, and experiences that move businesses forward. For more than 20 years, we’ve partnered with ambitious companies including Google, ServiceNow, Uber, Eventbrite, and ŌURA.

A Director of Creative Technology sets the technical bar across portfolios or studios, ensuring innovation, architectural coherence, and delivery rigor at scale.
This role operates beyond individual engagements — shaping platform direction, strengthening creative engineering standards, and ensuring technical ambition aligns with client strategy and business objectives. Directors build trusted senior client relationships while developing the next generation of creative technology leaders.

What You'll Do
You’ll operate above the level of any single project, shaping how creative technology shows up across a portfolio of work. This means setting the technical bar—defining how systems are architected, how teams make decisions, and how ambitious ideas become durable, scalable solutions.
You’ll partner closely with design, strategy, and client leadership to ensure that technology is not just a delivery function, but a driver of direction. You’ll help teams navigate complexity—making smart tradeoffs, reducing risk, and aligning technical choices to real business outcomes.
A core part of the role is turning emerging technology into something usable. You’ll identify where new tools, platforms, or approaches can meaningfully change the work—and help translate that into repeatable capabilities that teams can apply across engagements.
You’ll also play a key role in growing the discipline. That means mentoring senior creative technologists, strengthening standards, and helping define what great looks like as the work—and the industry—evolves.
And with clients, you’ll act as a trusted technical voice—someone who can connect long-term platform thinking with immediate opportunities, and help shape what’s possible.

What You'll Bring
You’ve operated at a level where you’re responsible not just for building things, but for shaping how they get built. You’re comfortable making decisions that affect multiple teams or clients—and you understand the tradeoffs between speed, quality, scalability, and long-term sustainability.
You have a strong point of view on architecture and systems, but you’re not dogmatic. You know how to adapt your thinking to different contexts, and you can guide teams through complexity without over-engineering or oversimplifying.
You’re fluent in modern development ecosystems and emerging technologies, including AI, but more importantly—you have good judgment about when and how to use them. You’re motivated by possibility, but grounded in what will actually create value.
You’ve likely played a role in defining standards, mentoring senior talent, or helping a team or discipline level up. You care about building strong teams and creating an environment where others can do their best work.
And you’re comfortable in the room with senior clients—able to translate technical ideas into clear direction, build trust, and connect technology decisions to business outcomes.

Requirements

• Operated at a level where you’re responsible not just for building things, but for shaping how they get built.
• Comfortable making decisions that affect multiple teams or clients—and you understand the tradeoffs between speed, quality, scalability, and long-term sustainability.
• Have a strong point of view on architecture and systems, but you’re not dogmatic.
• Know how to adapt your thinking to different contexts, and you can guide teams through complexity without over-engineering or oversimplifying.
• Fluent in modern development ecosystems and emerging technologies, including AI, but more importantly—you have good judgment about when and how to use them.
• Motivated by possibility, but grounded in what will actually create value.
• Played a role in defining standards, mentoring senior talent, or helping a team or discipline level up.
• Care about building strong teams and creating an environment where others can do their best work.
• Comfortable in the room with senior clients—able to translate technical ideas into clear direction, build trust, and connect technology decisions to business outcomes.

Responsibilities

• Operate above the level of any single project, shaping how creative technology shows up across a portfolio of work.
• Set the technical bar—defining how systems are architected, how teams make decisions, and how ambitious ideas become durable, scalable solutions.
• Partner closely with design, strategy, and client leadership to ensure that technology is not just a delivery function, but a driver of direction.
• Help teams navigate complexity—making smart tradeoffs, reducing risk, and aligning technical choices to real business outcomes.
• Identify where new tools, platforms, or approaches can meaningfully change the work—and help translate that into repeatable capabilities that teams can apply across engagements.
• Mentor senior creative technologists, strengthening standards, and helping define what great looks like as the work—and the industry—evolves.
• Act as a trusted technical voice—someone who can connect long-term platform thinking with immediate opportunities, and help shape what’s possible.

Benefits

• Flexible, Hybrid Work Environment
• Great Compensation with Annual Reviews
• 401(k) Matching with Immediate Vesting
• Robust Medical, Vision, and Accident Insurance
• Generous Paid Holidays and unlimited PTO
• Sabbaticals
• Monthly Wellbeing Stipend
• Career Management and Leadership Training

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Director
• Education Level: No Education Listed