Creative Director, Art

Who We Are

Translation is an award-winning independent creative agency that aspires to be the most culturally influential company in the world.

We help ambitious brands harness the power of culture to solve their biggest challenges – at our best, we make what was once invisible unmissable.

As a unique mix of experts in culture, technology, and storytelling, we are united by a passion to grow brands in ways that advertising alone never could. What makes Translation’s work stand out is our ability to collaborate and create with individuals who don’t just consume “culture”, they’re a part of making it and living it every day.

We are an entrepreneurial business – not a traditional “ad agency.” That means we value resourcefulness and tenacity just as much as we value creativity and intelligence.

We are looking for a Creative Director, Art to join Translation in our Brooklyn headquarters!

This role will focus primarily on clients and projects that speak directly to, and by, the African American community. The ideal candidate will have an innate cultural fluency – understanding the latest trends, memes, and phrases. This person should know how cultural moves – what’s new, what’s next, and what’s not for long.

At Translation, all of our CD, Art Directors lead the development of bold visual concepts, guide, mentos, and manage creative teams on a given project. They proactively collaborate with strategy and context planning partners, as well as directly with clients, to ensure work is both creatively exceptional and strategically aligned.

Our CDs lead by example to consistently inspire creative colleagues to create world-class, pioneering ideas. They generate useful, usable ideas across all existing and emerging digital platforms – continually develop practices and processes to inspire, innovate, and harness new ways of thinking.

This role is based in Brooklyn, New York with four days in-office and one day remote.

What You'll Do

• Ensure the timely development and execution of multiple campaigns and projects that not only meet client objectives but are breakthrough ideas for the creative industry.
• Develop creative solutions that defend budget recommendations and measurement objectives to provide both profitable and quality work to our current and prospective clients.
• Stimulate creative direction and act in an advisory role throughout the duration of client team projects.
• Display an industry-leading understanding and application of the principles that make innovative and effective campaigns, designs, and interaction designs.
• Ensures the execution of high-quality work that is on time, on budget, and uses appropriate technology.
• Serve as arbiter of verbal and visual tone and craft for creative assignments for internal executive and external client review.
• Provide leadership and motivation, conveying the vision and values of the agency to staff.
• Train and supervise assigned creative teams
• Collaborate with the core leadership team on assigned accounts and projects to ensure alignment on creative recommendations and client opportunities.
• Work to resolve any internal challenges.
• Maintain external professional relationships with production partners, freelance networks, agency partners, and others to ensure we’re sharing the agency POV across the industry and recruiting the right talent and partners
• Participate in the creation and presentation of client pitches / new business efforts, as required.

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities

You are results and bottom-line-oriented, yet possess deep appreciation and sensitivity towards people, culture, and values. You are persistent,  diplomatic, passionate, and optimistic, with a proactive, hands-on mentality. You hold yourself accountable and take great pride in your work – just like us. We’re proudly diverse in our backgrounds, our accents, and our fiercely held personal passions. We are, in every sense of the word, independent and not beholden to anyone else’s agenda. So are you.

• Demonstrated experience leading multicultural or African American targeted work.
• Ability to successfully lead, motivate, and mentor teams of creative talent to create work that moves the cultural needle.
• Knowledge of the pre- and post-production process across formats and media.
• An understanding of the current landscape of creative advertising work in the market.
• Strong aptitude for providing clear creative direction, career path guidance, and timely and helpful feedback that will improve creative processes, as well as keep work on budget and schedule.
• Able to prioritize work and resources across engagements based on short- and long-term needs, timelines, and budgets.
• Possess and encourage high degrees of initiative, drive, empathy, accountability, creativity, and maturity.
• Demonstrate, evangelize, and live the core values of the agency. 
• Incorporate the passion, excitement, and experience of one’s MINOR in relevant ways that inform the quality and output of agency deliverables.
• Be able to move with the ebbs and flows of pitches, brainstorming sessions, and deadlines with agility, humor, and focus.
• Possess and demonstrate impeccable interpersonal, presentation, and communication skills across all levels of both internal and client organizations.

Minimum Qualifications

• 8+ years of professional experience at an agency or similar creative organization
• Has held at least an Associate Creative Director title (or equivalent)
• A background with progressive experience in a client-facing, creative leadership role in a creative agency environment.    
• Digitally savvy; MUST be proficient in Google Workspace and Microsoft Office suite as well as have knowledge of current A.I. tools and platforms.   

Preferred Qualifications

• Training or degree in a directly related field, such as advertising, graphic design, commercial art, or web/digital design.

About UnitedMasters, Inc.

UnitedMasters Inc. represents the creative solutions company, Translation, and the leading software and services platform for independent creators, UnitedMasters. UnitedMasters enables ownership, exposure, and new paths for financial return for independent creators, while Translation helps brands leverage the power of contemporary culture to achieve transformational growth. Combined, UnitedMasters, Inc. is the world’s leading marketplace for cultural capital, connecting independent artists and brands to realize a future in which all creators own their future. Backed by Alphabet, Andreessen Horowitz, and Apple, UnitedMasters, Inc. is reimagining how brands and artists come together to tell their stories, build profitable growth, and push culture forward.

Salary Hiring Range: $205,000 - $240,000

Our salary ranges are based on paying competitively for our size and industry, and are one part of many compensation, benefits and other reward opportunities we provide (e.g. bonus, stock options, 401(k) match, etc.)

Individual pay rate decisions are based on a number of factors, including qualifications for the role, experience level, skillset, and balancing internal equity relative to peers at the company.  We expect the majority of the candidates who are offered roles at our company to fall healthily throughout the range based on these factors. 

The range above is for the expectations as laid out in the job description, however we are often open to a wide variety of profiles, and recognize that the person we hire may be less experienced (or more senior) than this job description as posted.  If that ends up being the case, the updated salary range will be communicated with you as a candidate.

The salary range above is for the NY/CA.  As a company, we have a location based strategy, which means the salary range could be lower or higher than this if the role is hired in another location.