Associate Creative Director

Role Overview

• Lead projects from brief to final delivery across campaigns, collaborations, social, and experiential, together with Sr. Manager Creative Operations, North America
• Oversee and manage North America in-house and freelance creative resources, ensuring high-volume asset production and complex projects are delivered on time and with exceptional quality
• Provide strong art direction, design and storytelling expertise across all creative outputs, including campaign development and creative ideation
• Adapt global toolkits into culturally relevant regional assets, ensuring consistency and impact
• Create locally relevant ideas from concept through to delivery, rooted in cultural insight
• Manage and inspire internal creative teams, while overseeing external agency partners
• Balance creative vision with operational rigor, ensuring alignment and consistency across all touchpoints
• Collaborate with cross-functional partners to bring consumer-first ideas to life
• Understand business needs and help shape the long-term creative vision for the brand
• Stay ahead of cultural and design trends to keep the brand modern and relevant
• Mentor creative talent and foster an environment of inclusion and belonging

Requirements

• BA in Graphic Design or relevant related field, or equivalent combination of education and experience
• 10+ years of experience in an agency or in-house team, with at least 5 years in a senior creative leadership position leading, coaching, and developing multidisciplinary creatives
• 5+ years’ experience directing photography and demonstrated creative expertise in a broad range of design disciplines including photography, print, digital, retail, events, and experiential design
• Strong passion and connection to cultural trends, particularly within lifestyle, running, and fashion spaces, with an authentic understanding of the lifestyle consumer
• Diverse portfolio reflecting sophistication in graphic design, strong typography, and photo & video art direction
• Expertise in Figma and Adobe Creative Suite (InDesign, Illustrator, Photoshop, Acrobat) and Microsoft Suite
• Strategic thinker and creative conceptualizer, with excellent communication and presentation skills adaptable for audiences across regions and levels
• Inspirational leader who enjoys mentoring and developing teams of in-house and freelance designers and copywriters
• Highly motivated self-starter and team player, culturally relevant, and always searching for inspiration and new influences
• Proven ability to lead and execute integrated campaigns that resonate with Gen Z and Millennials, balancing trend-driven relevance and meaningful narratives
• Experienced art director on location and in studio, directing models and product photography
• Experience managing, vetting, and sourcing creative and production agencies and talent
• Ability to succeed in a matrix organization through influence, partnership, and respect for shared and differing objectives
• Instills and reinforces the highest standards for collaboration and teamwork within HOKA brand marketing and across the Deckers’ brand portfolio
• Fosters an environment of inclusion and belonging, championing best practices to improve representation and diversity
• Develops, motivates, recruits, and retains high potential talent via clear goals, coaching, and identifying stretch opportunities
• Extremely detail oriented, process-friendly, and capable of working within tight timelines on multiple projects simultaneously
• Exhibits a high level of personal integrity, empathy, and respect for others.

Benefits

• Competitive Pay and Bonuses
• Financial Planning and wellbeing
• Time away from work
• Extras, discounts and perks
• Growth and Development
• Health and Wellness