Associate Creative Director

As an Associate Creative Director, you’ll be joining our consumer-centric, product-led creative powerhouse.

We are consumer-centric in the way we dig for insights and iterate to discover the best way to bring a story to life.

We are product-led in the way we tell stories. Our products are the heroes. We celebrate their innovation and functionality, ensuring that they are always at the heart of our storytelling efforts.

Position Overview

We are looking for an Associate Creative Director with a passion for bringing new brands and products to life from the ground up. The ideal candidate is an imaginative creative that is prolific, not precious, about their ideas and can take a brief and strategically realize it through fresh and disruptive ideas. You must be super detail-oriented, ultra-collaborative, and can handle the grind of iterating ‘til we find the breakthrough story we’re seeking in a product. You should have a healthy appreciation for idea making, strategizing, understanding business needs, and building cross-functional relationships.

Key Responsibilities

• Creative Leadership: Collaborate with the Creative Director to develop the creative strategy for new product launches across Ninja brands, bringing innovative products to market through engaging and effective storytelling. Lead the conceptualization and execution of marketing campaigns, packaging design, and digital assets.
• Player Coach Mentality: At SharkNinja, every associate is a roll-up-your-sleeves contributor. As an ACD, you will lead by example, stepping into the trenches to execute as well as guide, ensuring that your creative leadership is backed by hands-on involvement in the work.
• Cross-Functional Collaboration: Partner with consumer insights, product development, engineering, and brand marketing to generate strategies, concepts, and campaigns that support business goals and objectives.
• Creative Storytelling: Drive the creative storytelling process for new products, including naming, logo execution, and developing a cohesive visual identity/design language.
• Executive Presentation: Present creative work at the executive level, ensuring alignment with SharkNinja's strategic vision and high standards.
• Team Management & Mentorship: Translate ideas to junior creatives, overseeing the visual manifestation of concepts while mentoring them. Foster an environment where talent can grow and excel.
• Art Direction: Lead and art direct photo and video shoots to ensure the final assets align with the overall creative vision and product positioning.
• Design Excellence: Ensure design excellence across various media, including TV commercials (TVC), social media, and product identity design. Create high-quality graphics, mock-ups, and designs that support the broader creative strategy.
• Problem-Solving & Adaptability: Be able to take action in the face of ambiguity with world-class problem-solving skills. Be comfortable working in a fast-paced, highly iterative environment that encourages creative risk-taking.
• Stakeholder Relationships: Build and maintain strong relationships across the entire organization, working closely with brand teams to manage creative deliverables and achieve business outcomes.
• Project & Time Management: Manage multiple projects with tight deadlines, delivering creative work on time while maintaining strategic design intent for various products and campaigns.
• Brainstorming & Ideation: Actively participate in or lead brainstorming sessions, providing multiple conceptual and design solutions for all assignments.
• Feedback & Iteration: Be open to constructive feedback, believing that it drives better creative results and outcomes. Foster a collaborative environment where feedback is welcomed and acted upon.
• Team Player: Be a team player with strong communication and interpersonal skills, capable of building consensus and inspiring confidence in creative ideas and processes.

Qualifications

• Experience: 7+ years in a creative role within an agency or in-house creative team, with at least 3 years in a leadership position. Experience with home appliances or consumer goods is a plus.
• Leadership Skills: Demonstrated experience managing creative teams, with a proven ability to mentor and inspire designers and copywriters.
• Creative Expertise: Strong portfolio showcasing innovative work across multiple platforms (digital, print, video). Expertise in product storytelling and experience with kitchen appliances or similar categories preferred.
• Strategic Thinking: Ability to align creative vision with business objectives, delivering solutions that resonate with the target audience.
• Communication Skills: Strong verbal and written communication skills in English and French, able to present creative ideas persuasively to internal stakeholders and clients.
• Technical Skills: Proficiency in Adobe Creative Suite (Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, Premiere), with a strong understanding of video production and digital platforms.
• Education: Bachelor’s degree in Graphic Design, Fine Arts, Advertising, or a related field.