Executive Creative Director [206357] Job at Aquent in Falls Church

• Please note the agency has a large number of clients that are faith-based organizations.

Position Summary

The Executive Creative Director (ECD) is the senior-most creative leader, responsible for defining the creative vision, elevating the quality and consistency of integrated work, and advancing the agency’s full-service creative practice. This role requires a blend of visionary leadership, strategic client direction, and hands‑on creative excellence. The ECD will integrate brand strategy, content, design, digital, and production teams into a cohesive creative force that drives measurable impact for clients across corporate, nonprofit, government, and mission-driven sectors.

Location: Washington, DC Reports To: President, Chief Brand Officer

Key Responsibilities

• Strategic Creative & Agency Leadership
  • Define and champion the agency’s overarching creative vision, aligning it with integrated storytelling, reputation‑building, and earned‑first content delivery.
  • Develop insight-driven creative platforms that integrate messaging, PR narratives, performance media, social strategy, and digital experiences.
  • Guide cross‑functional teams in shaping campaign concepts, brand systems, web experiences, and thought‑leadership assets.
  • Serve as the senior creative thought partner to executive leadership on pricing models, creative processes, and long‑term agency capabilities.
• Senior Client & Campaign Direction
  • Act as the senior creative lead for enterprise clients across public affairs, government contractors, nonprofits, and mission‑driven organizations.
  • Build trusted advisor relationships with C‑suite leaders by translating complex challenges into clear, compelling, multi‑channel creative solutions.
  • Lead major ideation sessions, campaign planning workshops, and brand discovery engagements.
  • Ensure creative recommendations align with the specific nuances of regulated environments and mission‑based sensitivities.
• Creative Oversight & Quality Control
  • Oversee all major creative deliverables, including brand identities, integrated campaigns, motion/film content, website experiences, and complex communication materials.
  • Review, refine, and elevate creative work from early concepting to final production to maintain consistent creative excellence.
  • Set quality benchmarks, creative guidelines, and visual/messaging standards across the agency’s content delivery workflow.
  • Drive innovation by incorporating modern creative tools, AI‑powered production workflows, and emerging media formats.
• Team Leadership & Collaboration
  • Lead and mentor an interdisciplinary creative department (Social, Design, Production, Experience Design).
  • Create structured collaboration workflows that unite earned media, paid media, social, and strategy teams for seamless multi‑channel campaign delivery.
  • Coach teams on how to articulate, elevate, and effectively sell creative ideas to senior client stakeholders.
  • Develop career pathways and resourcing models to scale the creative department’s growth and capabilities.

Required Qualifications

• Experience: 12+ years leading creative teams in an integrated agency environment (PR, digital, advertising).
• Sector Success: Demonstrated success with enterprise clients across B2B, public affairs, public sector/federal, or mission‑driven sectors.
• Mastery: Expertise across a broad range of disciplines, including Performance Marketing, Content Strategy, Messaging, Digital Marketing, Web Design, and Integrated Campaign Development.
• Client Comfort: High comfort level working with government, nonprofit, and mission‑driven leadership, translating complex challenges into clear solutions.
• Leadership: Proven ability to build, mentor, and scale diverse interdisciplinary creative teams with humility and a commitment to clarity and integrity.