Creative Director (Design) - Phoenix, AZ (Full-time & In-Office)

Creative Director - Phoenix, AZ (Full-time & In-Office) Note to applicants: This role is a full-time, in-office position in Phoenix, AZ. Applicants must be available to complete the interview process in-person at their own expense. WHO WE ARE: Cultivate Your Career with a Vibrant, Dedicated Team Small Giants is a woman-owned, award-winning, highly collaborative strategic and creative agency specializing in commercial real estate and construction (CRE and AEC) clients across the country. We believe in crafting specialized growth strategies, creative concepts, brand storytelling and strategic communications that drive our clients’ success. Our vibrant team culture thrives on collaboration, continuous learning, and shared achievement. We are committed to helping our team deepen their expertise and grow their careers at Small Giants. Small Giants is seeking a visionary, strategically minded Creative Director to serve as the overarching creative authority across client accounts and internal agency initiatives. Operating through an empowered player-coach model, the Creative Director will drive enterprise brand positioning, spearhead multi-channel campaigns, and elevate standard client deliverables into high-impact strategic growth assets while mentoring high-performing design talent. The Creative Director combines high-level executive direction with hands-on technical excellence, acting as a lead mentor to the Design team and a trusted advisor to clients. The ideal candidate is humble and knows there is always more to learn. Here is what the position entails: Brand Strategy & Execution - Lead creative ideation, brand positioning, environmental design, event graphics, and marketing campaigns from concept through delivery. - Extract core campaign objectives by asking clients the right foundational questions upfront and aligning creative execution with client business goals before work begins. - Own cross-departmental alignment by coordinating closely with your team  and the other skilled departments within the agency to ensure deliverables meet the brief, deadlines are met, and project workflows are efficient and repeatable.  - Anticipate needs by proactively identifying prospective client challenges and proposing tailored visual and messaging solutions before client requests arise, and train your team to do the same. - Actively lead high-stakes creative direction while remaining ready to personally design flagship brand assets and lead production efforts when needed. - Thoughtfully integrate AI tools to streamline design workflows and assist in repetitive tasks, while remaining a steadfast advocate for human-led creative direction. Confidently and compassionately educate clients on why AI-generated assets cannot replace original, human-centered design for their strategic brand needs. Team Mentorship & Creative Quality Control - Elevate the agency’s outputs by overseeing brand consistency, typography, layout hierarchy, and overall visual rigor. - Instill a culture that views graphic design as a problem solving tool, guiding designers away from purely decorative solutions toward complex problem solving through strategic, creative deliverables. - Promote technical excellence by acting as the internal Subject Matter Expert (SME) in software mastery (particularly Adobe InDesign), setting standard operating procedures for file efficiency and design. - Maintain a positive, humble on-site presence to foster real-time mentorship, seamless cross-departmental collaboration, and direct client engagement. - Proactively and consistently provide thorough design checks, spontaneous coaching, hands-on guidance and real-time feedback to accelerate junior staff growth to build a best-in-class team. - Serve as a trusted advisor for clients, fostering deep strategic partnerships, representing the client voice internally, and handling executive-level escalations. - Build and maintain strong cross-departmental bridges with your fellow directors, ensuring execution teams align all output with client business objectives. Team & Operational Management - Mentor and coach by providing ongoing technical, artistic, and strategic coaching to internal designers and partner client teams. - Oversee department operations, including career development, performance reviews, staffing assignments, disciplinary action and resource management to ensure optimal team performance and satisfaction, as well as client coverage. - Optimize department profitability and operational efficiency by managing utilization targets, project billability, and account resource allocation across agency retainers. Executive Leadership & Industry Engagement - Contribute to the strategic direction of the agency, applying your expertise to the company’s long-term success, through active participation on our leadership team, the Small Giants strategy and business development. - Actively represent Small Giants at key industry events, leveraging industry presence to identify new business opportunities and deepen connections with key regional decision-makers. - Represent the agency across the regional creative community through active participation in organizations like AIGA, Phoenix Design Week, and academic/industry speaking engagements. - Partner closely with agency leadership to ensure our strategic client work proactively positions us for contract renewals and expanded scopes of work. Qualifications - Must have extensive experience with an established creative agency or marketing services firm, including a proven history of managing a team of creatives where you were accountable for conducting 1:1s, performance reviews, hiring and disciplinary action. - A strong portfolio that demonstrates mastery in transforming high-level business goals into actionable creative concepts. The portfolio should include comprehensive brand identity systems, multi-channel campaigns, environmental design/spatial graphics, and publication work showcasing deep typography and layout expertise. - Proven track record of progressive experience in graphic design, brand strategy, and creative direction, with experience managing high-stakes enterprise client relationships. - Exceptional people management and mentorship capabilities with a track record of cultivating talent and fostering professional growth in a culture of accountability. - A history of professional stability, demonstrating long-term commitment and sustained growth with previous employers. - Proven deep technical mastery of the Adobe Creative Cloud suite, with advanced/expert-level proficiency in Adobe InDesign (layout automation, master pages, typography, print/digital production standards). - Previous experience in understanding and executing strategic spatial/environmental design, large-format graphics, event branding, and integrated multi-channel campaigns. - Strong capacity to thrive in a fast-paced agency environment, with the ability to pivot rapidly in response to client needs while maintaining clear strategic focus and team alignment. - Substantial hands-on design ability, including proficiency in Figma and modern prototyping methods, with the willingness to personally tackle critical design problems. Important note to applicants - This role requires on-site presence at our Phoenix, Arizona office. - Applicants outside of the Phoenix area must be available to complete the interview process in-person at their own expense, and must be willing to relocate to the Phoenix area within commuting distance of our office. - Applicants must have independent authorization to work in the U.S. without requiring employer sponsorship.