Associate Creative Director Jobs in El Segundo, CA

About the Role

SharkNinja Studios is looking for an Associate Creative Director, Content Studio to help bring campaigns to life before a frame is shot.

This is an art-first creative role for someone with strong taste, visual judgment, and storytelling instincts. This person translates briefs, scripts, product stories, demos, and campaign direction into clear visual worlds through moodboards, style boards, wardrobe direction, set design references, graphic style guides, pre-production decks, and visual systems.

This role sits within the production phase of the creative process, supporting the translation of upstream strategy, product priorities, and campaign direction from category and brand leads at HQ into clear visual guidance for production and post.

The ACD will be a close creative partner to the Global Creative Director in the studio, helping shape the look, feel, tone, and visual direction across product sizzles, social-first demos, paid media, retail, YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, and supporting photography when needed.

They are not just collecting references. They are building the creative blueprint that helps the team understand what great looks like and how to execute it.

What You'll Do

Own visual development across campaigns, including moodboards, style boards, visual territories, frame references, and pre-production decks covering wardrobe, set design, set dressing, props, lighting, color, texture, casting references, and overall visual tone.

Create graphic style guides that define typography, supers, claims treatment, layouts, motion references, iconography, and visual systems for video and social content.

Translate scripts, product demos, and creative direction into visual concepts that make the idea easier to understand and execute.

Support the Global Creative Director in shaping the look and feel of product sizzles, social-first demos, paid media, retail content, and supporting photography.

Assist in boarding out concepts, demo sequences, product moments, opening frames, hooks, and key visual beats.

Partner with producers, directors, DPs, editors, designers, motion teams, CG/VFX artists, stylists, set designers, and external partners to ensure the creative intent is understood and executed.

Support casting selects, wardrobe direction, location scouting, prop direction, set dressing, and art department alignment.

Help develop social-first visual approaches, including thumbnail thinking, opening frames, vertical compositions, platform-native framing, and alternate visual treatments.

Use AI and emerging tools to accelerate visual exploration, concept development, style frames, storyboards, set visualization, and production planning.

Maintain quality control across visual development and execution, catching gaps before they become production or post-production issues.

What You Bring

6+ years of experience in art direction, creative direction, visual development, branded content, video production, design, or a related creative role.

A strong portfolio demonstrating excellent taste, visual storytelling, moodboards, style boards, campaign development, video content, social content, and/or art direction.

Deep experience creating moodboards, style boards, visual territories, frame references, set design references, wardrobe direction, and pre-production creative packages.

Strong understanding of typography, layout, supers, claims, motion references, and visual consistency across campaign assets.

Ability to quickly identify what feels premium, ownable, clear, and on-brand.

Experience supporting live-action video production, product demos, social content, paid media, retail content, and/or campaign shoots.

Experience collaborating with directors, DPs, editors, designers, motion designers, CG/VFX teams, stylists, producers, and external creative partners.

Working knowledge of AI creative tools, Adobe Creative Suite, presentation building, and modern production workflows.

Ability to manage multiple projects in a fast-paced, high-output studio environment without losing craft or attention to detail.

Who You Are

You are an art-first creative with strong storytelling instincts.

You have great taste and know how to make an idea visible, ownable, and executable.

You are fluent in moodboards, style boards, set design, wardrobe, graphics, visual references, and pre-production storytelling.

You understand that visual development is not decoration. It is how teams align, make decisions, and protect the idea before production begins.

You know how to support both premium production and scrappy, platform-native social execution.

You can think in hero frames, opening hooks, demo clarity, and campaign worlds.

You bring clarity, taste, and speed without creating unnecessary swirl.

You collaborate well across disciplines and help teams understand what great looks like.

Success Looks Like

SharkNinja Studios has stronger visual development before every major production.

Campaigns feel clearer, sharper, more ownable, and easier to execute because the team understands the world, tone, look, and visual system before the shoot begins.

Product sizzles, social demos, paid media, retail assets, and supporting photography feel more connected, more polished, and more platform-aware.

The Global Creative Director has a true visual partner who can move quickly, build alignment, reduce ambiguity, and help the team make better creative decisions from ideation through final delivery.