Executive Creative Director

Golin Chicago is looking for an Executive Creative Director (ECD) to join our extraordinarily talented team and help shape the vision and future of creative at Golin.

This role will lead and oversee creative for one of our most culturally relevant brands in the world: McDonald’s. The ECD will also provide broader creative oversight on a portfolio of exceptional clients as well. You will drive creative goals for brands, the business, and the team.

The ideal candidate is looking to do the best work of their lives by creating work that matters. Work that matters in culture. Work that matters to our clients. Work that matters to us.

In the ECD role, you will lead a large team of talented creatives in achieving the highest level of creative excellence, from global affinity driving campaigns that breakthrough, to community storytelling that builds trust, to elevating partnerships that drive culture, you will be at the forefront of creating award winning work that earns attention.

Our ideal candidates is a natural born leader – you solve problems and set clear direction. You motivate. You mentor. You invest in the next generation of creative leadership. You make ideas better and bring them to life with an attention to craft in production. You own the room and sell the work with the kind of passion that great ideas deserve.

We are looking for someone who has been the through line for creative; providing agency-level oversight, who will work hand-and-hand with integrated account teams, high performing and gifted creatives, agency partners, our Global Chief Creative Officer and Chief Creative Officer, to deliver work that inspires, drives brands forward, with internet breaking earned first, inherently social ideas that grab national headlines.

This role is ideally located in Chicago, but for the right candidate working from other locations will be considered.

YOUR RESPONSIBILITIES:

Job #1 is to bring the freshest, most inspiring, most unexpected thinking that solves our client’s problem.

• Strategically lead team and be fully plugged into the business at all times. 
• Proven ability to own key senior client relationships, developing courageous ideas that speak to consumers, and boldly driving creative that is earned first, inherently social, and grabs national headlines. 
• Drive best-in-class creative integration, bringing the right teams to the table at the right time, championing cross-functional collaboration amongst strategists, media and social experts, and account leaders to get to great work. 
• Communicate your ideas to clients of all levels with clarity, strategic insight, and passion. 
• You will champion proactive thinking, bringing innovative ideas because you know not every opportunity lives within the brief. 
• You will focus on the well-being of the client AND the team - encouraging team career development and growth, providing opportunities to engage in brainstorming ideas that push creative forward, and effectively balancing diverse personalities and goals to manage through challenges. 
• Solving and navigating any hurdles, coaching teams, and providing oversight and leadership to deliver against client and business goals. 
• Working across the network, with creative peers and teams, to evolve creative excellence through best practices and collaboration.

WHAT YOU BRING:

• 15+ years’ creative leadership experience in PR, advertising or social. 
• Knowledge of earned media is a plus. 
• A creative portfolio that’s filled with smart thinking. Some ideas preferably in the QSR space. 
• A commanding presence, communicating ideas to clients with clarity, strategic insight, a sense of shared partnership and passion. 
• Competent in juggling many projects / workstreams at once, pushing creative the next level, and balancing the long-term needs of the clients with hands on creative management with the team. 
• Internet fluency. You know the ins and outs of social media, speak the language of the internet. 
• Experience identifying, mentoring, supporting, and elevating your team to lead creative work. 
• You’re a genuinely good person who brings energy and maturity every single day to your work and to the agency.

Salary Range: $185,000 - $350,000

Golin has included the base salary range or hourly rate for this role. Actual compensation offered within the range will depend upon, among other factors: a candidate’s skills, qualifications, and experience; actual ranges for current or former employees in the role; and market considerations.