Director Animation Sound Design Jobs in Elgin, IL

About the role
The Creative Director is responsible for leading creative excellence across assigned brands
and accounts. This role partners closely with Client Services, Strategy, Production, and
Science & Medicine to deliver innovative, strategically grounded creative solutions that
exceed client expectations and drive business growth. The Creative Director guides the
creative team in the conception, development, and execution of campaigns that express
brand personality with craft, content integrity, and high production value. This role also
plays a critical part in fostering a team culture built on creativity, bravery, inclusion, and
diversity of thought.
Specific experience in Gene Therapy/Sickle Cell, Rare Disease, and Multi-Cultural Marketing preferred.
What you'll do
Lead the Business
• Leads creative work across assigned agency accounts, guiding the development of brand-defining campaigns
and multi-channel creative initiatives.
• Translates briefs into strategic creative direction that connects brand objectives to high-impact creative solutions.
• Owns brand-level messaging architecture and visual identity, ensuring clarity, consistency, and differentiation
• Directs multiple workstreams and team members, providing strategic oversight across
channels and deliverables.
• Participates in staffing decisions, creative planning, and long-term brand resourcing needs
• Ensures creative quality and consistency across all touchpoints, reinforcing brand integrity
• Actively participates in pitch teams, contributing creative strategy and ideas to support new business efforts.
Creative Excellence
• Plays a leading role in the conceptual development of client campaigns and agency pitches.
• Directs the creative team through the concepting process, reviewing work and providing feedback that distills,
sharpens, and elevates ideas.
• Leverages AI to enhance creative exploration, streamline tactical work, and spark innovative thinking.
• Brings fresh, original, and forward-looking creative ideas rooted in brand strategy and audience insight.
• Ensures that tactical executions deliver on the campaign idea, brand strategy, and communication objectives.
• Partners with copy, art, strategy, and medical teams to streamline direction and unify creative output.
• Creates and manages brand guidelines, narrative frameworks, and style guides.
• Builds trust with clients through creative excellence, strategic thinking, and confident leadership.
Team Leadership
• Mentors and develops ACDs, Supervisors, and junior team members, providing guidance on creative craft,
presentation skills, and leadership capabilities.
• Shapes staffing and resourcing plans across brands, balancing in-house talent with freelance support.
• Creates a team culture that values creativity, bravery, experimentation, and diverse perspectives
• Ensures equitable distribution of opportunities and fosters an inclusive, collaborative environment.
• Engages with senior creative leadership to ensure internal reviews strengthen the work.
Client Partnership
• Participates in brand planning meetings and provides creative leadership that influences strategic direction.
• Leads creative presentations to clients, articulating creative strategy, rationale, and expected impact.
• Represents creative on-site during photo shoots, video shoots, VO sessions, and production touchpoints -
guiding decisions and protecting creative intent.
• Receives client feedback, interprets asks, and directs the team on revisions that remain strategically sound and
creatively strong.
• May participate in MLR review to present work, defend agency decisions, and co-create solutions that meet
regulatory requirements.
• Influences client strategy by establishing credibility, understanding business needs, and identifying future
opportunities.
Cultural & Industry Fluency
• Demonstrates deep fluency in design trends, typography, photography, illustration, film, animation, and
emerging visual languages.
• Tracks cultural trends, healthcare industry shifts, competitive landscapes, and media evolution to inform
creative direction.
• Shares trend insights with agency and brand teams, elevating collective understanding and inspiring
fresh thinking.
• Advocates for best practices across mediums-digital, social, experiential, print, motion, and integrated
campaigns.
• Pilots new tools, technologies, and processes that improve creativity or operational efficiency
• Encourages cross-discipline collaboration to strengthen creative delivery and innovation.
Operational Leadership
• Oversees operational readiness for major launches, ensuring alignment across creative, account, medical,
strategy, and production.
• Partners with account and finance leads to manage scope, budgets, timelines, and profitability.
• Anticipates resourcing needs, redistributing assignments to avoid bottlenecks and support team wellbeing
• Establishes quality assurance standards and ensures all creative deliverables meet compliance
requirements.
• Guides teams in balancing creative ambition with operational efficiency.
• Shapes operational strategies for new business efforts, including staffing plans and delivery models
About you
Specific experience in Gene Therapy/Sickle Cell, Rare Disease, and Multi-Cultural Marketing preferred.
• 11-14 years of creative experience in healthcare advertising, integrated marketing, or a related field.
• Demonstrated success leading concept development and delivering breakthrough creative work.
• Strong presentation skills with the ability to communicate creative strategy clearly and persuasively.
• Experience managing and developing creative teams at multiple levels.
• Deep understanding of pharmaceutical and regulatory environments (MLR familiarity preferred) pairing scientific accuracy with emotional impact.
• Strong cross-discipline collaboration skills.
• Proficiency with design and creative technology tools, including AI.
$170,000 - $200,000 a year
We may use AI tools to support elements of the hiring process, such as reviewing applications, analyzing CV/resumes, assessing responses, or transcribing interviews. These tools assist our Talent team but do not replace human judgment. Final hiring decisions are ultimately made by humans. If you would like more information about how your data is processed, please review our candidate privacy policy.