ECD – Ad Agency

Pathdesignrecruitment; Greater London; On-site; GBP 70,000 - GBP 90,000; Full time

Job summary

A prominent advertising agency in London is on the lookout for an Executive Creative Director. This position involves leading the creative vision, managing multidisciplinary teams, and being a trusted partner to clients. The ideal candidate will have proven creative leadership experience, a compelling portfolio, and a deep understanding of integrated and digital advertising. The agency values a culture of ambition and collaboration, aiming to make significant impacts within the industry.

Qualifications

• Proven experience in integrated and digital/social advertising.
• Comfortable leading multidisciplinary teams including creatives and designers.
• Strong portfolio with strategic thinking and immaculate craft.

Responsibilities

• Own and elevate the agency's creative output.
• Unite Creative and Design teams into an integrated unit.
• Attract and retain top talent in the industry.
• Get hands-on with creative tasks when necessary.
• Serve as a trusted advisor to senior clients.
• Collaborate with management to ensure work is profitable.

Skills

Creative leadership

Department leadership

Client partnership

Commercial awareness

Job description

Our client is a perfectly formed small but mighty advertising agency who are looking for an Executive Creative Director. They want someone creatively exceptional, proven, driven—and genuinely good to be around. This role is about setting and driving the agency’s creative vision, and building a creative department that produces culturally impactful, genuinely effective, award-winning work for UK and global clients.

They love advertising and want someone who loves it as much as they do. Someone frustrated by how mediocre the industry has become, that has that fire inside them to make it (and the work) better.

Someone who wants in on an incredible, small, independent group of companies built for one thing only: uncompromising brand success.

It really matters to them that you’re great. Not just at the work—but as a human.

They want someone people rally behind. Someone who makes teams want to win, to care, to run through brick walls. You must love advertising. Believe in its power. Lead from the front. Drag the work, the agency, and maybe even the industry itself somewhere better.

You’ll shape a department that leads the agency, and an agency that becomes a benchmark of greatness—coveted by clients and future hires alike. And if you’re fed up with bureaucracy, meaningless work, or worse, an industry-wide shrug of indifference… good. That helps.

WHAT THE ROLE ACTUALLY IS

We’re looking for a world-class Executive Creative Director. With our Co-Founder stepping into the CCO role, you’ll take full ownership of our creative and design departments.

This means responsibility for:

• The quality of the agency’s output
• The happiness and ambition of their teams
• The craft and impact of their work across Social, Integrated, Platforms, and Branding

Your core mission? Manage the chaos and the magic.

Every piece of work that leaves the agency should feel unmistakably them: strategic, attention-grabbing, beautifully made, and effective. You are the day-to-day creative leader—setting the bar, giving direction, pushing ideas further, and making the final call before work reaches the CCO or the client.

WHAT YOU’LL DO

• Creative Leadership – Own the creative output of the agency. Raise the standard relentlessly. Make the work work harder, look better, and feel genuinely distinctive.
• Department Leadership – Unite Creative and Design into one integrated, high-functioning team. Break down silos between ideas and craft. Shape processes, workflows, and resource planning that actually support great work.
• Talent & Culture – Attract, grow, and retain the best talent in London. Build a culture of ambition, generosity, and constant improvement. Take responsibility for morale, progression, and momentum.
• Hands-On Craft – This is a leadership role—but you’re still a maker. You’ll get involved when it matters: cracking tough briefs, shaping systems, refining scripts, elevating ideas.
• Client Partnership – Be a trusted creative advisor to senior clients. Give them the confidence to back brave, ambitious work—and make them proud to put it into the world.
• Commercial Smarts – Work closely with Account and Project Management to balance ambition with reality. Deliver outstanding work that’s also profitable and sustainable.

WHO YOU ARE

• A proven creative leader with deep experience in integrated and digital/social advertising
• Comfortable leading multidisciplinary teams—creatives, designers, producers, and beyond
• In possession of a portfolio that shows serious strategic thinking and immaculate craft
• Aligned with our belief in using creativity, technology, and love to change things for our clients

Most importantly:

• You care. About the work. About the people. About advertising being better than it currently is.

If that sounds like you, we should talk.