Head of creative job description: responsibilities, skills and a template you can adapt

Most creative teams have one person whose taste everyone else is measured against. In an agency the title is creative director. In-house it is often head of creative, creative lead or head of brand and creative. The job is the same: the person who owns the ideas, the standard of the work and the people who make it.

This article sets out a head of creative job description: what the role does, the responsibilities and skills that the Prospects job profile lists, how the title differs from art director and head of design, and a template to adapt. It draws on the UK graduate careers service Prospects and the Cambridge Business English Dictionary; the routes and working conditions described are for the UK, and the role varies with the size of the agency or company.

A head of creative is judged on the team's work as much as their own. See how New Dynamics performance reviews bring goals, feedback and development into one fair discussion.

What does a head of creative do?

The Cambridge Business English Dictionary defines a creative director as “a person in a company or advertising agency who is in charge of the work involving original ideas about how to design, advertise and sell products”.

Prospects describes the creative director as the creative lead at an advertising agency or in the in-house marketing department of a company. Working with the creative team, “you'll create, plan and deliver a strategic vision for clients”, including “being responsible for maintaining a cohesive visual and thematic style for projects and campaigns”. Prospects says the role supervises the entire creative process and guides the team, which “usually consists of art directors, copywriters and designers”, and calls it “a senior role for creative thinkers and proven leaders”.

Three things follow for a job description.

• It is a leadership job. The head of creative makes less of the work and decides more of it.
• It has a commercial edge. Ideas must sell products, win pitches and keep clients.
• It sets a standard. The whole department's output carries the head of creative's name.

Head of creative responsibilities

Prospects notes that work activities vary with the size of the agency or company and the number of clients, and lists the main responsibilities. In our words, they are to:

1. Build an environment for the creative team to work in, and oversee their ideas and projects.
2. Own the creative philosophy and the standard of output across the agency or department.
3. Develop ideas for advertising or promotional campaigns.
4. Pitch concepts to clients, or present to directors if the role is in-house.
5. Oversee several projects from start to finish, keeping to deadlines, and sign them off before they are presented.
6. Keep clients informed and highlight any issues.
7. Understand the commercial side of the agency or marketing department.
8. Hire and manage the creative team.

An in-house head of creative usually adds brand guardianship: keeping every touchpoint, from packaging to social content, recognisably the brand's. Where the company has no separate marketing lead, they may also own the content calendar and the agency relationships. Our marketing manager job description shows where those responsibilities sit when the roles are split.

Skills to ask for

Prospects lists the skills a creative director needs to show. They include excellent leadership and interpersonal skills, with “the ability to inspire the creative team to give their best”; strong written, verbal and presentation skills “to make outstanding pitches”; plenty of creative ideas and an understanding of the clients' vision; awareness of current trends in advertising and design; a self-starting attitude; “resilience under pressure and against deadlines”; an understanding of how creative roles complement other departments, such as finance and data; knowledge of the software used in the creative process; and skills in managing people, projects and resources.

Notice the order. Leadership, communication and ideas come first; software comes near the end. A head of creative description that opens with a list of applications is describing a senior designer. For the practitioner's role, see our graphic designer job description.

Qualifications and route

Prospects says most advertising agency staff are graduates, “but a degree is not essential”, and that a postgraduate qualification “has little effect on earning potential”. The traditional route, a humanities degree and several years of hands-on experience, still holds, but graduates now arrive from a variety of creative, management and technological backgrounds, and newer roles such as content strategist and producer offer other routes to senior positions. Prospects adds that competition for roles “remains fierce”.

For the job description, that means asking for a track record rather than a certificate: years leading creative work, campaigns or brands the candidate has been responsible for, and evidence of having managed a team.

Head of creative, creative director, art director, head of design

Titles are not standardised. Prospects notes that the creative team usually consists of art directors, copywriters and designers, so a creative director or head of creative sits above all three. If you use head of creative for a role with no direct reports, say so, because candidates will assume a team.

Working conditions to state

Prospects describes usual hours of 9am to 5pm, with evening networking events “a big part of the role”, long hours on major campaigns, tight deadlines and multiple projects at once, and a high-pressure environment that “can be stressful at times”. It notes that the industry has evolved to accommodate more flexible working, that travel within a working week is common, and that larger agencies can mean periods of international travel.

Say in the description what is true for your organisation: the hours pattern, the pitch and launch peaks, the travel and where the role is based. A senior candidate weighing two offers will read this section first. Our guide to flexible working arrangements covers the options.

A head of creative job description template

Adapt the wording; keep the structure.

Job title: Head of Creative

Reports to: Marketing Director (in-house) or Managing Director (agency)

Direct reports: Art directors, designers, copywriters, content producers

Purpose: Lead the creative team to produce work that expresses the brand, wins business and meets the commercial goals of the organisation.

Responsibilities:

• Set and maintain the creative philosophy and standard of output across all channels.
• Develop and present campaign ideas and creative strategy to clients or the leadership team.
• Oversee projects from brief to delivery, sign off work and keep to deadlines and budgets.
• Build an environment in which the creative team does its best work.
• Hire, develop and manage the creative team, including regular feedback and reviews.
• Keep clients and stakeholders informed and raise issues early.
• Manage external agencies, freelancers and production partners.
• Understand and contribute to the commercial performance of the department.

Skills and experience:

• A portfolio of campaigns or brand work the candidate led, with results.
• Several years' experience in a senior creative role, with people management.
• Outstanding presentation and pitching skills.
• Strong understanding of current trends in advertising, design and content.
• Working knowledge of the creative software and production process.
• Resilience under pressure and the ability to run several projects at once.

Working pattern: Hours, location, hybrid arrangement, travel and any peak periods.

Our job description template explains each section, and our recruitment and selection guide covers assessing candidates fairly.

Assessing candidates

1. Ask for a led portfolio. Prospects describes creative directors as managing teams with an inspiring portfolio of work. Ask which pieces the candidate directed, what the brief was and what they changed.
2. Set a brief. Give shortlisted candidates a short real brief and ask how they would approach it, staff it and judge the output.
3. Test the pitch. Have them present the idea to a small panel, as they would to a client or board.
4. Check the management record. Ask how they have developed a junior, handled a struggling team member and given feedback on work they did not like.
5. Ask the same questions of everyone. Score against the description, not against the most charismatic interview.

Frequently asked questions

What is a head of creative?

The in-house equivalent of a creative director: the creative lead of a company's marketing department, in charge of the work involving original ideas about how to design, advertise and sell its products, and responsible for the standard of the creative team's output and for managing that team.

What are the responsibilities of a creative director?

According to Prospects, the main responsibilities are to build an environment for the creative team, take responsibility for the creative philosophy and standard of output, develop campaign ideas, pitch to clients or present to directors, oversee projects to deadline and sign them off, keep clients informed, understand the commercial side of the business, and hire and manage the creative team.

What skills does a head of creative need?

Prospects lists leadership and the ability to inspire a team, strong written, verbal and presentation skills, plenty of ideas and an understanding of the client's vision, awareness of trends in advertising and design, a self-starting attitude, resilience under pressure, an understanding of how creative work relates to other departments, knowledge of the creative software, and skills in managing people, projects and resources.

What is the difference between a creative director and an art director?

A creative director leads the whole creative team, including art directors, copywriters and designers, and owns the idea and the standard across accounts. An art director leads the visual side of a campaign or account, usually working with a copywriter, and reports to the creative director.

Do you need a degree to be a creative director?

Prospects says most advertising agency staff are graduates but a degree is not essential, and a postgraduate qualification has little effect on earning potential. Experience, a strong portfolio and a record of leading creative work matter more.

How should you assess a head of creative candidate?

Ask for a portfolio of work the candidate led rather than made, set a short real brief and ask how they would approach it, have them pitch the idea to a panel, and ask for specific examples of how they have developed and managed creative people. Score everyone against the same criteria.

Your next step: write the role around judgement

1. Decide whether the title comes with a team, and say so.
2. Write the responsibilities in the order Prospects uses: environment, standard, ideas, pitch, delivery, clients, commercial, people.
3. Ask for a led portfolio and set a brief for the shortlist.
4. State the hours, peaks, travel and location honestly.

For a fair process from description to offer, read and download our recruitment and selection guide. The guide is free to read, and the PDF uses our short download form.

Want your creative leads' goals, feedback and reviews in one place? Book a New Dynamics demo and bring your current job descriptions. You can also email contact@new-dynamics.com.