Principal Director, Creative Brand & Advertising

Microsoft • Redmond, WA

3d • $165,600 - $331,200

About The Position

Microsoft’s Creative Brand & Advertising organization is building the future of in-house creative excellence. We’re looking for a visionary and operationally strong Principal Director to lead our newly established Global Creative team — a world-class in-house creative capability at the intersection of brand strategy, advertising, production, and global storytelling. This Principal Director will be a founding leader of something genuinely new: an in-house creative capability built from the ground up to produce breakthrough creative work at the scale and standards Microsoft’s businesses demand. Reporting to the VP, Creative Brand & Advertising, this leader will shape the creative vision, and talent strategy for the team — collaborating closely with partners across Microsoft to deliver integrated, on-brand work across every touchpoint. This is a rare opportunity to build inside one of the world’s most influential technology companies, to set the creative standard, and prove that in-house can be best-in-class.

Requirements

• Master's Degree in design, marketing, advertising, communications, or related field AND 7+ years experience working in product or service design.
• OR Bachelor's Degree in design, marketing, advertising, communications, or related field AND 9+ years experience working in product or service design.
• OR equivalent experience.
• 5+ years of people management experience.
• Application must include a portfolio demonstrating breakthrough creative work across brand advertising, content, and digital — with clear evidence of range, craft, and impact at scale

Nice To Haves

• 12+ years of experience in creative leadership at an in-house creative organization, top-tier advertising agency, or comparable organization
• 6+ years of demonstrated experience building and leading high-performing creative campaigns
• Proven ability to build or significantly scale a creative organization, including operating model design, process development, and culture-building
• Executive communication and influencing skills, with experience partnering effectively with senior marketing, brand, and business leaders
• Deep understanding of the relationship between brand strategy and creative execution across integrated campaigns
• Demonstrated experience integrating AI tools into creative workflows in a meaningful and responsible way
• Background spanning both brand marketing and advertising creative disciplines
• Experience managing hybrid internal/external creative team models alongside agency partners
• Familiarity with large-scale global brand portfolios spanning consumer software, hardware, or cloud-connected products

Responsibilities

• Define and champion the creative vision for the Global Creative team, setting standards for quality, craft, innovation, and cultural relevance across all output
• Build and scale the team from the ground up — establishing its operating model, team structure, culture, ways of working, and quality benchmarks
• Serve as the senior creative voice in brand and advertising decisions, ensuring all work reflects Microsoft’s brand ambition and drives measurable business impact
• Own end-to-end creative production across brand campaigns, advertising content, digital, social, video, and experiential touchpoints
• Attract, hire, develop, and retain world-class creative talent — including creative directors, art directors, and writers
• Build a team culture of creative excellence, psychological safety, inclusion, and continuous growth
• Invest in the long-term development of your team, creating clear career paths and coaching
• Manage relationships with agency partners and external creative vendors, defining the right blend of in-house and external resources
• Build accountability structures, creative KPIs, and processes that balance creative ambition with delivery efficiency
• Champion the responsible integration of AI-powered tools and workflows into creative production — setting a standard for what AI-enabled creative looks like at Microsoft’s scale
• Stay ahead of emerging creative technologies, platforms, and cultural trends, ensuring the team is always operating at the frontier
• Represent the team at the senior leadership level, communicating strategy, creative direction, and performance to executive stakeholders
• Partner with the VP, Brand & Global Advertising and peers to ensure creative coherence, resource alignment, and shared priorities across the Brand & Advertising organization

Benefits

• Certain roles may be eligible for benefits and other compensation. Find additional benefits and pay information here: https://careers.microsoft.com/us/en/us-corporate-pay

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Senior