Director Creative Strategy Jobs in California (NOW HIRING)

Our Company

Changing the world through digital experiences is what Adobe's all about. We give everyone-from emerging artists to global brands, everything they need to design and deliver exceptional digital experiences!We'repassionate about empowering people to create beautiful and powerful images, videos, and apps, and transform how companies interact with customers across every screen.We'reon a mission to hire thevery bestand are committed to creating exceptional employee experiences where everyone is respected and has access to equal opportunity. We realize thatnew ideascan come from everywhere in the organization, and we know the next big idea could be yours.

The Opportunity

Join Studio, Adobe's in-house creative agency, where creativity, culture, and business strategy converge. Studio delivers high-visibility, global work across brand platforms, flagship campaigns, keynotes, product launches, films, and culturally resonant digital experiences.

As Director, Creative Strategy & AI Innovation, you will lead the strategic engine of Studio connecting creativity, product, audience, and emerging technology. Operating at the intersection of Product, Marketing, and Innovation, you will ensure that the work is not only creatively compelling, but deeply aligned to customer needs, product truth, and Adobe's broader AI vision, translating product innovation into stories that people understand, value, and adopt.

This role goes beyond traditional creative strategy. You will define how insight, technology, and creativity come together, shaping platform ideas that are grounded in real audience understanding and unlocked by new capabilities in AI. You will help the organization move from making campaigns to building enduring, intelligent creative systems that evolve with the product and the customer.

You bring a deep understanding of modern audiences, especially creators and the communities they build and how culture moves through participation, not just messaging. You will ensure our work is not only seen, but adopted, remixed, and shared, designing platforms that creators want to engage with and build upon.

You will work in close partnership with the VP of Creative to shape the strategic direction of Studio, ensuring ideas are aligned to creative ambition, product innovation, and long-term brand impact. You will partner closely with Creative, Production, Product, and Marketing leadership to translate complex inputs from product capabilities to audience insight into clear, compelling strategic direction and product narratives. This role defines the strategic direction of the work, partnering closely with Production & Program leadership on execution and with Content Operations on systems and workflows.

What You'll Do

• Lead the development of creative and communications strategy across high-impact brand platforms, campaigns, and product storytelling ensuring product innovation is translated into clear, compelling, and culturally relevant narratives
• Act as the connective tissue between Product, Marketing, and Creative, ensuring all work is grounded in customer insight, product truth, and business priorities
• Define and articulate clear strategic narratives that inform and inspire creative direction, from initial brief through execution
• Ensure all work ladders back to a deep understanding of audience needs, behaviors, and cultural context - with a particular focus on creators and their communities
• Define how Adobe shows up for creators identifying opportunities to build platforms, tools, and narratives that enable participation, co-creation, and community growth
• Shape work that is designed for engagement, not just exposure creating ideas that invite interaction, remixing, and cultural momentum.
• Develop platform ideas that are designed to scale across brand, product, and performance channels, creating consistency and long-term value
• Partner with Product and Innovation teams to align creative strategy with Adobe's AI roadmap and emerging capabilities
• Identify opportunities where AI can unlock new forms of creativity, storytelling, personalization, and content generation
• Define how AI shapes not only execution, but the strategic approach to creativity-informing insight, ideation, and adaptive content systems
• Translate complex technologies and product capabilities into clear, compelling, human-centered stories that drive understanding, relevance, and adoption
• Define how Adobe's products show up in the work - shaping narratives that connect features to real creative outcomes and customer value
• Guide teams in developing work that is both strategically rigorous and creatively ambitious
• Collaborate closely with Production and Program leadership to ensure strategic intent is maintained through execution
• Drive alignment across senior stakeholders, ensuring clarity of direction, priorities, and success metrics
• Evolve how strategy is developed within Studio, introducing new tools, methodologies, and ways of working
• Contribute to Adobe's thought leadership in creativity, AI, and the future of marketing and storytelling

What You Need to Succeed

• 10+ years of experience in creative strategy, brand strategy, or communications planning within an agency or in-house creative organization
• Proven ability to develop and lead strategy for large-scale, integrated creative initiatives
• Deep understanding of how brand, product, and performance marketing intersect
• Strong experience partnering with Product and Marketing teams to translate business and product priorities into creative direction
• Strong experience in product storytelling, with the ability to translate complex features and technologies into clear, engaging narratives
• Deep understanding of creator culture, community dynamics, and how ideas spread and evolve in participatory ecosystems
• Demonstrated curiosity and fluency in AI and emerging technologies, and their impact on creativity and marketing
• Ability to translate complex or technical concepts into clear, compelling, human-centered narratives
• Exceptional storytelling and communication skills, with the ability to influence senior stakeholders
• A systems-thinking mindset, with experience shaping platforms, frameworks, and scalable approaches to creativity
• Strong understanding of audience insight, cultural trends, and how to translate them into actionable strategy
• Collaborative leadership style, with the ability to work across disciplines and bring teams together around a shared vision
• Comfort operating in ambiguity, with the ability to bring clarity, structure, and direction to complex challenges
• Passion for creativity, innovation, and the future of how ideas are made and experienced
• Passion for Adobe products, creativity and craft, with a clear understanding of how production enables great work.

About Adobe

Adobe empowers everyone to create through innovative platforms and tools that unleash creativity, productivity and personalized customer experiences. Adobe's industry-leading offerings including Adobe Acrobat Studio, Adobe Express, Adobe Firefly, Creative Cloud, Adobe Experience Platform, Adobe Experience Manager, and GenStudio enable people and businesses to turn ideas into impact, powered by AI and driven by human ingenuity.

Our 30,000+ employees worldwide are creating the future and raising the bar as we drive the next decade of growth. We're on a mission to hire the very best and believe in creating a company culture where all employees are empowered to make an impact. At Adobe, we believe that great ideas can come from anywhere in the organization. The next big idea could be yours.

Let's Adobe together

At Adobe, we believe in creating a company culture where all employees are empowered to make an impact. Learn more about Adobe life, including our values and culture, focus on people, purpose and community, Adobe for All, comprehensive benefits programs, the stories we tell, the customers we serve, and how you can help us advance our mission of empowering everyone to create.

Adobe is proud to be an Equal Employment Opportunity employer. We do not discriminate based on gender, race or color, ethnicity or national origin, age, disability, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, veteran status, or any other protected characteristic. Learn more.

Adobe aims to make our Careers website and recruiting process accessible to any and all users. If you have a disability or special need that requires accommodation to navigate our website or complete the application process, email accommodations@adobe.com or call +1 408-536-3015.

AI Use Guidelines for Interviews:
Our interviews are designed to reflect your own skills and thinking. The use of AI or recording tools during live interviews is not permitted unless explicitly invited by the interviewer or approved in advance as part of a reasonable accommodation. If these tools are used inappropriately or in a way that misrepresents your work, your application may not move forward in the process.

At Adobe, we empower employees to innovate with AI - and we look for candidates eager to do the same. As part of the hiring experience, we provide clear guidance on where AI is encouraged during the process and where it's restricted during live interviews. See how we think about AI in the hiring experience.

Expected Pay Range:

Our compensation reflects the cost of labor across several U.S. geographic markets, and we pay differently based on those defined markets. The U.S. pay range for this positionis $131,500 -- $286,550 annually. Paywithin this range varies by work locationand may also depend on job-related knowledge, skills,and experience. Your recruiter can share more about the specific salary range for the job location during the hiring process. In California, the pay range for this position is $197,900 - $286,550 In New York, the pay range for this position is $197,900 - $286,550

At Adobe, for sales roles starting salaries are expressed as total target compensation (TTC = base + commission), and short-term incentives are in the form of sales commission plans. Non-sales roles starting salaries are expressed as base salary and short-term incentives are in the form of the Annual Incentive Plan (AIP).

In addition, certain roles may be eligible for long-term incentives in the form of a new hire equity award.

State-Specific Notices:

California:

Fair Chance Ordinances

Adobe will consider qualified applicants with arrest or conviction records for employment in accordance with state and local laws and "fair chance" ordinances.

Colorado:

Application Window Notice

If this role is open to hiring in Colorado (as listed on the job posting), the application window will remain open until at least the date and time stated above in Pacific Time, in compliance with Colorado pay transparency regulations. If this role does not have Colorado listed as a hiring location, no specific application window applies, and the posting may close at any time based on hiring needs.

Massachusetts:

Massachusetts Legal Notice

It is unlawful in Massachusetts to require or administer a lie detector test as a condition of employment or continued employment. An employer who violates this law shall be subject to criminal penalties and civil liability.