VP, Creative Director

Circa - IPG DXTRA • Chicago, IL

6h • Hybrid

About The Position

Golin is a global, award-winning public relations agency with 1700 employees across 50+ offices, dedicated to creating change that matters by discovering human truths, creating with bravery, and collaborating inclusively. The agency is committed to becoming the first fully AI-integrated agency, focusing on upskilling its workforce, democratizing access to tools, and integrating AI into daily operations to maximize client value. Golin's expertise spans brand-building, cutting-edge digital content, corporate reputation, healthcare advocacy, and measurement, utilizing an earned-first, data-driven creative approach through its collaborative G4 Model to deliver maximum impact for clients, including many of the largest CPG, retail, food, healthcare technology, and consumer service companies worldwide. The VP, Creative Director role is pivotal in leading the creation of culturally relevant ideas that resonate deeply within culture. This individual must possess a profound understanding of fandom, internet behavior, and what motivates people to participate, remix, and share content. Simultaneously, they must act as a brand hero, capable of pushing creative boundaries while maintaining the core identity of the brand. This position specifically leads the creative direction for McDonald’s, one of the most culturally embedded brands globally, and contributes to shaping work across additional client accounts. The ideal candidate is described as a builder, a seller, and a maker, adept at transforming cultural signals, fan truths, or internet behaviors into widely spreading content. The role demands a full commitment to clients, teams, and the quality of the work.

Requirements

• 12+ years of relevant experience.
• Understanding of how fandom works, how the internet behaves and what makes people care enough to participate, remix and share.
• Ability to push the boundaries without losing sight of what makes a brand what it is.
• Ability to take a cultural signal, a fan truth or a piece of internet behavior and turn it into something that spreads.
• Ability to lead multidisciplinary teams.
• Strong instincts and high standards.
• Ability to balance speed with quality.
• Ability to stay close to creators, platforms and emerging behavior.
• Ability to work from the Chicago office three times a week at minimum.

Responsibilities

• Lead the creation of ideas that make waves in culture.
• Lead McDonald’s creative and shape work across additional accounts.
• Take a cultural signal, a fan truth or a piece of internet behavior and turn it into something that spreads.
• Lead work that earns attention by being worth talking about.
• Shape bold, social-first ideas that tap into fandoms, rituals and real internet behavior.
• Create work designed for participation, remixing and conversation.
• Turn cultural insights into ideas that feel native to feeds.
• Partner with strategy, analytics and production to make and ship work quickly, without losing craft.
• Bring a sharp point of view on what will hit, what won’t and why.
• Present and sell ideas with clarity, confidence and momentum.
• Build strong client relationships and push for work that is brave, distinctive and award-worthy.
• Ensure execution holds up everywhere, from daily content to large-scale cultural moments.
• Lead multidisciplinary teams to create work that is culturally fluent and creatively sharp.
• Mentor teams on how to think, make and sell in a social-first world.
• Create space for ideas to come from anywhere and make sure the best ones win.
• Encourage experimentation, speed and a bias toward making over overthinking.
• Champion diverse perspectives as fuel for better, more resonant work.
• Grow talent into confident, modern creative leaders.
• Set the tone: high standards, strong instincts, all hands on deck.
• Contribute to new business and organic growth with ideas that feel current.
• Partner across disciplines to scope and deliver work that is ambitious and achievable.
• Balance speed with quality, making smart decisions about where to push and where to move on.
• Help position Golin as a leader in social-first, culturally driven creativity.
• Stay close to creators, platforms and emerging behavior so our work stays ahead of the curve.
• Make things fans run with.
• Create work the internet picks up and pushes further.
• Help brands show up in culture like they belong there.

What This Job Offers

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