dentsu
Associate Creative Director, Information Design
dentsu, Chicago, Illinois, United States, 60290
Associate Creative Director, Information Design
Join Merkle’s Information Design team as an Associate Creative Director (ACD), Visual Design. Reporting to the Group Creative Director, help craft high-impact presentations for some of the world’s most recognized brands. This is a high‑visibility role where your design expertise will influence major business decisions and elevate how Merkle presents itself to clients.
What You’ll Do
Own the design of high‑stakes pitch materials and executive‑level presentations that drive strategic decisions and win new business.
Collaborate with Sales, Strategy, Creative, Data Solutions, and Analytics teams to transform complex content into clear, organized and visually compelling materials.
Organize and design content‑heavy decks with diagrams, charts, and tables, while creating image‑driven “TedTalk” slides to introduce or summarize a topic to a client.
Apply Merkle’s branded capabilities while incorporating client branding to showcase partnership potential.
Own projects end‑to‑end: set milestones, communicate progress, and ensure timely delivery under tight deadlines.
Mentor and review other designers’ work, helping expand best practices and elevate design standards.
Contribute to building a team of elite‑level designers and, over time, take on people‑leadership responsibilities, including guiding direct reports.
Responsibilities
Develop RFP / pitch decks, product and thought‑leadership materials that elevate the brand and help us stand out from our competitors.
Able to distill content and use best design practices to translate into purposeful presentations.
Demonstrate exceptional creative conceptualization, design, typography and layout skills.
Confidently lead meetings with subject‑matter experts to ask strategic questions that inform your design recommendations.
Be an advocate of brand guidelines. Maintain and evolve our brand’s graphic aesthetic and quality.
Work with a variety of the world’s largest brands – pivot to design in our clients’ brand aesthetics.
Follow creative direction from the group leader, then provide creative direction to other team members if needed.
Seek and apply the latest presentation design thinking; collaborate within a group dynamic; and participate in any given project or team to which you are assigned.
Qualifications
8–10+ years of experience.
Expert‑level skills in Microsoft PowerPoint and Adobe Creative Cloud.
Understanding of design applications in traditional and latest channels.
Strong typography, layout, and visual storytelling skills.
Familiarity with publication‑style design with heavy content per slide/page.
Experience with graphics, charts, infographics, animations, transitions, video storyboarding, and more.
Strong image‑making and typography skills.
Ability to confidently lead meetings and present to internal executives and stakeholders.
Proven experience managing projects, adapting to changing priorities, deadlines, and directions.
A portfolio with examples of PowerPoint presentations (required).
Nice‑to‑Have
Leadership experience with direct reports or mentoring designers.
Portfolio includes data visualization and/or QBR or EBR projects.
Location Chicago, N. State
Salary $94,000 – $152,375
Benefits
Medical, vision, and dental insurance
Life insurance
Short‑term and long‑term disability insurance
401(k)
Flexible paid time off
At least 15 paid holidays per year
Paid sick and safe leave
Paid parental leave
EEO Statement Dentsu is committed to providing equal employment opportunities to all applicants and employees. We do this without regard to race, color, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, pregnancy, childbirth or related medical conditions, ancestry, physical or mental disability, marital status, political affiliation, religious practices and observances, citizenship status, genetic information, veteran status, or any other basis protected under applicable federal, state, or local law. Dentsu is committed to providing reasonable accommodation to, among others, individuals with disabilities and disabled veterans. If you need an accommodation because of a disability to search and apply for a career opportunity with us, please send an e‑mail to ApplicantAccommodations@dentsu.com.
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What You’ll Do
Own the design of high‑stakes pitch materials and executive‑level presentations that drive strategic decisions and win new business.
Collaborate with Sales, Strategy, Creative, Data Solutions, and Analytics teams to transform complex content into clear, organized and visually compelling materials.
Organize and design content‑heavy decks with diagrams, charts, and tables, while creating image‑driven “TedTalk” slides to introduce or summarize a topic to a client.
Apply Merkle’s branded capabilities while incorporating client branding to showcase partnership potential.
Own projects end‑to‑end: set milestones, communicate progress, and ensure timely delivery under tight deadlines.
Mentor and review other designers’ work, helping expand best practices and elevate design standards.
Contribute to building a team of elite‑level designers and, over time, take on people‑leadership responsibilities, including guiding direct reports.
Responsibilities
Develop RFP / pitch decks, product and thought‑leadership materials that elevate the brand and help us stand out from our competitors.
Able to distill content and use best design practices to translate into purposeful presentations.
Demonstrate exceptional creative conceptualization, design, typography and layout skills.
Confidently lead meetings with subject‑matter experts to ask strategic questions that inform your design recommendations.
Be an advocate of brand guidelines. Maintain and evolve our brand’s graphic aesthetic and quality.
Work with a variety of the world’s largest brands – pivot to design in our clients’ brand aesthetics.
Follow creative direction from the group leader, then provide creative direction to other team members if needed.
Seek and apply the latest presentation design thinking; collaborate within a group dynamic; and participate in any given project or team to which you are assigned.
Qualifications
8–10+ years of experience.
Expert‑level skills in Microsoft PowerPoint and Adobe Creative Cloud.
Understanding of design applications in traditional and latest channels.
Strong typography, layout, and visual storytelling skills.
Familiarity with publication‑style design with heavy content per slide/page.
Experience with graphics, charts, infographics, animations, transitions, video storyboarding, and more.
Strong image‑making and typography skills.
Ability to confidently lead meetings and present to internal executives and stakeholders.
Proven experience managing projects, adapting to changing priorities, deadlines, and directions.
A portfolio with examples of PowerPoint presentations (required).
Nice‑to‑Have
Leadership experience with direct reports or mentoring designers.
Portfolio includes data visualization and/or QBR or EBR projects.
Location Chicago, N. State
Salary $94,000 – $152,375
Benefits
Medical, vision, and dental insurance
Life insurance
Short‑term and long‑term disability insurance
401(k)
Flexible paid time off
At least 15 paid holidays per year
Paid sick and safe leave
Paid parental leave
EEO Statement Dentsu is committed to providing equal employment opportunities to all applicants and employees. We do this without regard to race, color, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, pregnancy, childbirth or related medical conditions, ancestry, physical or mental disability, marital status, political affiliation, religious practices and observances, citizenship status, genetic information, veteran status, or any other basis protected under applicable federal, state, or local law. Dentsu is committed to providing reasonable accommodation to, among others, individuals with disabilities and disabled veterans. If you need an accommodation because of a disability to search and apply for a career opportunity with us, please send an e‑mail to ApplicantAccommodations@dentsu.com.
#J-18808-Ljbffr