Critical Mass

Freelance Associate Creative Director

Critical Mass  •  Calgary, CA / Toronto, CA / Vancouver, CA (Onsite)  •  3 months ago
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Job Description

We are looking to add Freelance Associate Creative Directors to our Talent Roster for quick turnaround, shorter-term project engagements!

As an Associate Creative Director, you bring a creative voice with strategic thinking to projects. You have a diverse array of experiences to bring to the roll—from conceptual development to client relations to the execution of creative deliverables.Creating and communicating concepts, creating and implementing marketing strategies, and developing interactive solutions is on you. But you always ensure and rationalize all creative results against user experience management objectives to deliver excellent digital experiences.

Leading multidisciplinary teams—creative, technology, planning, account and project management, partners, and clients to name a few—doesn’t faze you.Balancing creative thinking with interpersonal skills,youjustify concepts to both the client and the project team.Youbuildlong-term client relationshipswith expertise on client vertical markets.Most importantly, you embody and embrace our values—to be honest, inspired, drive, passionate and real—in everything you do.

You Will:

  • Contribute creative solutions and innovations.
  • Build and guide the creative team around account and company needs and vision
  • Drive creative discipline, operational, and industry vertical excellence and expertise to promote continuous improvement and a culture of excellence and accountability.
  • Perform strategic account planning with senior management in vertical marketing groups.
  • Conceive and create experience design solutions that fulfill strategic business objectives.
  • Effectively communicate creative ideas and strategies to all project stakeholders.
  • Lead and partnerwith multidisciplinary teams.
  • Provide regular team mentorshipand constructive feedback on all accounts.
  • Develop, monitor ,and modify creative department staffingstrategies and plans, including team compensation and performance, skills, training, and mentorship.
  • Develop, implement ,and monitor quality standards across all creative department artifacts and deliverables.
  • Improve upon creative department methods, problem- solving models,and best practices.
  • S et and meet expectations for deliverables, estimations,and project plans.
  • Support and lead human resource initiatives with a focus on performance management.
  • Understand, embrace, and communicate corporate mission and values

You Have:

  • 8 years visual communication education.
  • 8 years design, marketing, and communications interactive work experience.
  • 8 years art direction experience.
  • Passion for design and eagerness to collaborate with other creative people
  • Solid knowledgeand appreciation for the distinction between creative expression and commercial reality.
  • Experience developing Internet commerce, electronic marketing ,and online brand management and integration, with demonstrated results.

Nice To Have

  • Conceptual and systems thinking to turn complex AI topics into clear, scalable ideas that enterprise audiences can understand
  • Strong narrative and communication skills to shape clear concepts, content structures, and messaging across platforms
  • B2B and enterprise experience, with an understanding of how large organizations evaluate, adopt, and scale technology
  • Data literacy, able to use insights and performance signals to inform creative and strategic decisions
  • User-centered mindset, ensuring concepts remain grounded in real human needs and use cases
  • Leadership experience, guiding multidisciplinary creative teams and aligning them around shared goals
  • Account and delivery awareness, able to oversee multiple projects, timelines, and resourcing without losing quality
  • Client-facing experience, confident presenting, defending, and evolving ideas with senior stakeholders
  • Collaboration skills, working closely with strategy, technology, product, and account partners
  • Curiosity and continuous learning, staying current with AI, digital platforms, and industry shifts
  • Quality judgment, with a clear ability to distinguish good work from great and raise the overall standard

Critical Mass is an equal opportunity employer.

Critical Mass uses artificial intelligence in our recruitment process to enhance job postings, filter keywords during the review of prospective candidates, and, in some cases, transcribe interviews with our recruiters. Human review remains central to the process, and all hiring decisions are ultimately made by our team.

The Critical Mass Talent Acquisition team will only communicate from email addresses that use the URLs criticalmass.com, omc.comand us.greenhouse-mail.io We will not use apps such as Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp, or Google Hangouts for communicating with you. We will never ask you to send us money, technology, or anything else to work for our company. If you believe you are the victim of a scam, please review your local government consumer protections guidance and reach out to them directly.

If U.S. based: https://www.consumer.ftc.gov/articles/job-scams#avoid
If Canada based: https://www.canada.ca/en/services/finance/consumer-affairs.html
If U.K. based: https://www.gov.uk/consumer-protection-rights
If Costa Rica based: https://www.consumo.go.cr/educacion_consumidor/consejos_practicos.aspx

Critical Mass

About Critical Mass

Critical Mass is a team of 1,900 inspired folks based in 13 offices around the world, providing full-service digital capabilities for the greatest brands on Earth. Our secret sauce is our uncompromising design standards, our relentless focus on customers, and an ability to put powerful new technologies to work for our clients.

We work with the best—Apple, Nike, Mars Wrigley, Nissan, Diageo, Airbnb, BMW, BNY Mellon, Johnson & Johnson, and many more—brands who strive for connected digital ecosystems and unparalleled experiences. We help them get there by gaining deep insight into their consumers and orchestrating data, AI, design, media, and tech stacks around human stories.

We’re a global agency founded in Canada, but digital is our home. If you know us, then you know we’re a special, quirky place that attracts big talent and tiny egos. (We actually give out a “so f-n nice” award—lots of them). But just because we’re friendly doesn’t mean we’re not a force to be reckoned with. We’re driven. Relentless. And we live our values. We’re Critical Mass, but our friends call us CM. Please call us CM!

Industry
Marketing & Advertising
Company Size
1,001-5,000 employees
Headquarters
Calgary, CA
Year Founded
Unknown
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