Creative Design Director

Reports to: CEO

Type: Full-time, W-2

Compensation: $86,400 - $90,000 annually + equity participation

About Pillar

Pillar Marketing Corporation is a specialized marketing agency focused exclusively on regulated consumer packaged goods: cannabis, alcohol, hemp beverages, and peptides. We work with brands like Zig-Zag Rolling Papers, Jones Soda, Cheech & Chong, and Black Market beverages. Over six years we've maintained zero compliance violations across 250+ million followers and $500M+ in client revenue. Our team is lean and operates with a systems-first, automation-forward approach including proprietary AI-powered workflows.

The Role

We're looking for a design-first creative leader to own the visual strategy and high-impact creative output across our entire client portfolio. This is not a production-heavy role where you're grinding out every social post and email banner. You'll have a junior creative and vendor team handling day-to-day asset production and a project manager keeping the workflow moving. Your job is to set the creative direction, design the work that matters most, and elevate the quality of everything that ships.

You'll be the creative authority across 8+ client brands operating in regulated categories. That means you need a compliance instinct. Our clients operate in spaces where one wrong visual can get an ad account suspended or a product pulled from shelves. You don't need to be a regulatory expert, but you need to understand that creative in regulated CPG carries real consequences.

What You'll Own

Creative Strategy and Direction

• Set and own the visual direction for every client brand in the portfolio
• Develop and maintain brand identity systems per client: typography, color systems, photography direction, design standards
• Translate brand voice guidelines into visual execution across all channels
• Collaborate with the CMO on campaign creative strategy, translating performance data and the Director of Paid Media's analysis into creative direction
• Lead the creative approach for new client onboarding: develop visual positioning, creative briefs, and initial design systems
• Contribute creative strategy to client proposals and pitch materials

High-Impact Design

• Design hero campaign assets: launch creative, brand refresh visuals, flagship ad concepts, and key landing pages
• Design and direct Shopify page builds for product launches, campaign pages, and brand storefronts
• Create the visual templates and frameworks that the junior creative uses for day-to-day production
• Design high-stakes client deliverables: pitch decks, quarterly business review presentations, and strategic recommendations
• Produce the creative concepts for A/B testing in paid media (the junior handles the iterations once the concept is set)

Art Direction and Content Production

• Direct photoshoots and video content: moodboards, shot lists, on-set direction, post-production oversight
• Define the visual aesthetic per client 
• Brief and manage external photographers, videographers, and production crews

Team Leadership and Quality Control

• Direct and mentor the junior creative and creative vendor team: assign work, review output, provide feedback, and develop their skills
• Serve as the final visual quality gatekeeper. Nothing ships to a client without meeting your standard.
• QA AI-generated creative outputs from our automation workflows to ensure brand alignment
• Work with the project manager to maintain creative workflow efficiency and realistic timelines
• Manage relationships with external design vendors, freelancers, and production partners

Your Team

You won't be doing this alone. Here's who you'll work with daily:

Junior Creative: Handles day-to-day design production: social assets, email templates, ad iterations, routine creative requests. You set the standard and templates; they execute.

Project Manager: Owns the creative workflow in Asana. Manages timelines, client requests, and production scheduling so you can focus on the creative work itself.

CMO: Your strategic partner. You collaborate on creative direction; she handles broader marketing strategy and client relationships.

Creative Vendor Team: Your scaled operators - a team of 4 creative vendors rotating in 2’s 24/7 365

What You Bring

Required

• Experience creating 360 content with specific expertise in digital marketing, brand marketing, and campaign creation, or 5+ years of experience as an agency art director
• 5+ years of hands-on graphic design experience in an agency or in-house brand environment, with progression into creative leadership
• A portfolio that demonstrates both strategic creative thinking and strong design execution across digital channels (social, advertising, web, email)
• Expert-level skills in Figma, Adobe Creative Suite, and Canva
• Shopify design experience: ability to design and build product pages, landing pages, and campaign pages
• Experience managing multiple brands simultaneously with distinct visual identities
• Art direction experience: photoshoot planning, moodboard creation, on-set or remote direction
• Experience mentoring or directing junior designers
• Strong understanding of paid media creative requirements and how design drives ad performance

Strongly Preferred

• Experience in CPG, beverage, cannabis, alcohol, or other regulated consumer categories
• Understanding of advertising compliance constraints in regulated industries
• Experience with Asana and Sprinklr or similar project management and social media platforms
• Comfort working with AI creative tools and reviewing AI-generated outputs for brand alignment
• Video editing and motion graphics capabilities
• Experience managing external vendors and freelance designers

Why Pillar

• You're inheriting established brand systems, documented guidelines, and an AI-augmented workflow that amplifies your output. This isn't a rebuild; it's an elevation.
• You work with iconic brands. Zig-Zag has been around since 1879. Jones Soda is a cult classic. Cheech and Chong are cultural legends. The creative challenges are real.
• You'll have support. A junior creative, vendor team, and a PM mean you spend your time on strategy and high-impact design, not production grind.
• Small team, no bureaucracy. Your ideas go from concept to production without six layers of approval.
• We invest in automation and AI to eliminate tedious production work so you can focus on creative that actually moves the needle.
• Equity participation means you're building something, not just filling a seat.
• You will have a structured onboarding with the outgoing Creative Director to ensure a clean knowledge transfer.

Interview Process

1. Portfolio review and initial screen

2. Creative case study: we'll provide a brief for one of our actual client brands and ask you to present your strategic and visual approach (not spec work, just your thinking)

3. Team conversation with CMO and CEO

4. Offer

How to Apply

Send your portfolio and a brief note on why regulated CPG creative interests you. We care about your work and your thinking. Keep it concise.