Creative Director

Creative Director, Social & Creative

As a Creative Director in Microsoft’s Design Studio for the Social & Creative organization, you will lead the creative vision and execution across a portfolio of initiatives that span customer, partner, media, and marketer experiences. You will shape how Microsoft’s commercial brands show up in the world—visually, emotionally, and experientially—through bold, culturally resonant creative that drives advocacy, usage, and pipeline. This role places a premium on visual & motion design as foundational tools for brand expression and systems design. You will define visual systems that communicate identity, and bring clarity to complex ideas at scale leveraging AI tools. You’ll lead the development of visual systems that scale across platforms and audiences, ensuring consistency, flexibility, and emotional resonance. You will guide a multidisciplinary team of designers, motion artists, and producers to deliver high-fidelity creative across omni-channel campaigns, product demos, and brand activations. You’ll champion systems-driven design, AI-enhanced workflows, and storytelling that connects emotionally with priority audiences. You’ll also collaborate across marketing, product, and engineering teams to ensure creative excellence and consistency across every touchpoint.

Microsoft’s mission is to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more. As employees we come together with a growth mindset, innovate to empower others, and collaborate to realize our shared goals. Each day we build on our values of respect, integrity, and accountability to create a culture of inclusion where everyone can thrive at work and beyond.

In alignment with our Microsoft values, we are committed to cultivating an inclusive work environment for all employees to positively impact our culture every day.

Job Location

The primary location for this position is NY,NY. Additionally, this role can also be based in Redmond, WA. Candidates who do not reside in one of these two areas will be relocated.

Responsibilities

• Set and evolve the creative direction for Social & Creative initiatives, with a focus on brand expression across photography, motion, copywriting, and digital renderings.
• Lead the development of scalable visual & motion design systems that reinforce brand identity and enhance user experience across platforms.
• Define principles that support visual direction, storytelling, interaction, and emotional engagement.
• Develop and maintain brand guidelines and creative playbooks that empower internal teams and external partners to deliver consistent, high-quality work.
• Translate complex technologies into intuitive, inspiring experiences in collaboration with product and marketing teams.
• Lead creative reviews, provide actionable feedback, and foster a culture of craft, curiosity, and innovation that elevates design work across our team and organization.
• Represent the Design Studio in strategic conversations across the organization, advocating for design excellence and user empathy.
• Embody our culture and values.

Qualifications

• Required Qualifications
  • Bachelor's Degree or Certificate in Design, Fine Arts, Human Computer Interaction, Visual Communications or related art field AND 8+ years experience in art design or a related art field working on computer games or entertainment OR equivalent experience.
  • 5+ years people management experience (e.g., serving as a Lead Artist, Art Manager, Creative Director, etc.).
• Preferred Qualifications
  • 15+ years of experience in creative disciplines such as brand design, art direction, motion design, or creative leadership.
  • Success leading global creative teams across multiple disciplines.
  • A portfolio showcasing creative direction across visual systems, motion/animation, photography, video, and digital renderings.
  • Fluency in AI tools for design, content generation, and workflow optimization.
  • Experience integrating campaign data, audience insights, and performance signals into creative operations.
  • Familiarity with modular storytelling and scalable content systems.
  • Proficiency with production and collaboration tools (Asana, Airtable, Figma, Adobe Creative Suite, M365.)
  • Experience in Business to Business or enterprise marketing preferred.
  • Communication, organizational, and stakeholder management skills.
  • Expertise in motion design systems and animation principles as applied to branding and product storytelling.
  • Experience navigating large, matrixed organizations and driving clarity in complex environments.
  • Relationship-building skills with stakeholders and peers.
  • Ability to inspire and influence at all levels of the organization.
  • Conceptual thinking and ability to distill ideas into compelling creative.

Key skills/competency

• Creative Direction
• Brand Strategy
• Visual Design Systems
• Motion Design
• AI Tools in Design
• Team Leadership
• Cross-functional Collaboration
• Storytelling
• Portfolio Development
• Brand Guidelines