Vice President, Creative Director, Design

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Company Description

A global creative constellation built for what’s next—uniting the human vision of the Leo Burnett network with the innovation of Publicis Worldwide.

Leo is HI × AI: Human Insight, Human Ideas, Human Impact—supercharged by the data and technology to move faster, go further, and deliver everywhere.

Leo brings together 15,000+ people across 90 countries, combining global scale with creative firepower to drive outsized impact for brands.

Overview

At Leo, our vision is to be the most loved and respected agency brand in the world. Our guiding principle— What helps people, helps business —shapes how we build brands, lead teams, and show up in culture.

Our superpower is modern brand stewardship : creating work that is creatively ambitious, culturally resonant, and built to drive real business results. We believe strong ideas deserve strong craft—and that great design happens when curious, opinionated people collaborate across disciplines to make work that actually connects.

The Vice President, Creative Director (Design) is a senior creative leader who advances this ambition through design excellence, talent leadership, and deep partnership across the agency.

Responsibilities

As a senior partner to Creative, Strategy, Business Leadership, and Production, the Vice President, Design ensures design thinking is embedded early, executed brilliantly, and scaled thoughtfully across the agency.

As a senior design leader and visual steward, this role sets the bar for quality and craft—defining the design vision, pushing the work further than it’s ever been, and holding accountability for creative excellence, talent growth, and the role design plays in modern brand stewardship across integrated, omnichannel experiences.

Visual Designers at Leo create simple, bold, unmistakably on‑brand work across integrated omnichannel campaigns—spanning in‑store, digital, and print. The Vice President, Creative Director models and champions these behaviors across the entire design discipline.

Designers Are Expected To

• Design visual assets for integrated omnichannel campaigns, including retail, digital, social, experiential, and print
• Build mood boards, storyboards, visual explorations, layouts, and scalable design systems that turn ideas into reality
• Help shape cohesive visual and messaging frameworks for brands
• Deliver work that is grounded in the brief, aligned to strategy, and true to the brand
• Partner closely with copywriters to make the work sharper, smarter, and more human
• Collaborate with motion designers and animators to bring visual ideas to life
• Prepare clean, production‑ready files with pride in craft, clarity, and organization
• Work seamlessly with production designers, producers, and animators
• Show up to brainstorms, critiques, and reviews with ideas—and opinions
• Maintain high standards of quality, even when timelines are tight
• Juggle multiple workstreams without dropping the ball

The Vice President, Creative Director (Design) Will

• Champion bold, culturally fluent design that balances craft, strategy, and effectiveness—work that helps people and helps business
• Ensure excellence and consistency across all design outputs, from brand identities and systems to campaign and experience execution
• Partner closely with other Creative Directors, Executive Creative Directors, and Strategy to shape ideas early—ensuring design is integral to creative thinking, not an afterthought
• Stay steeped in culture, design innovation, and emerging technology—bringing what’s happening in the world into the work and our clients’ brands
• Serve as a senior creative partner to clients, confidently articulating, defending, and evolving design ideas with clarity and strategic intent
• Translate client and business challenges into compelling design solutions that build brands and drive growth
• Lead, mentor, and inspire senior and mid‑level design and copy leaders, building a strong bench and future creative leadership pipeline
• Create a culture of high standards, curiosity, courage, and feedback—where designers can do the best work of their careers
• Model inclusive, people‑first leadership that strengthens Leo’s culture and sense of community
• Champion Leo’s HI x AI philosophy—leveraging technology to enhance creativity, not replace it
• Push past “good” to deliver standout, unforgettable work that elevates Leo’s creative reputation and cultural impact

Qualifications

• 10–12+ years of visual graphic design experience within a creatively driven agency environment, with demonstrated leadership experience
• Proven ability to lead high‑performing teams and deliver culturally resonant, results‑driven work
• Strong strategic thinking paired with exceptional design craft and creative judgment
• Deep experience across design direction, photography, and execution, with proven success leading brand systems and integrated campaigns
• A strong portfolio of integrated omnichannel work; retail experience is a plus
• Experience partnering with senior clients and internal executive leadership
• Confidence presenting to clients and selling the work with clarity and conviction
• Demonstrated commitment to developing talent and strengthening agency culture
• Bachelor’s degree in Design or related field preferred; evaluated holistically based on leadership impact and portfolio

Additional Information

Our Publicis Groupe motto “Viva La Différence” means we’re better together, and we believe that our differences make us stronger. It means we honor and celebrate all identities, across all facets of intersectionality, and it underpins all that we do as an organization. We are focused on fostering belonging and creating equitable & inclusive experiences for all talent.

Publicis Groupe provides robust and inclusive benefit programs and policies to support the evolving and diverse needs of our talent and enable every person to grow and thrive. Our benefits package includes medical coverage, dental, vision, disability, 401K, as well as parental and family care leave, family forming assistance, tuition reimbursement, and flexible time off.

If you require accommodation or assistance with the application or onboarding process specifically, please contact [email protected].

Compensation Range:$159,695 - $229,425/year This is the pay range the Company believes it will pay for this position at the time of this posting. Consistent with applicable law, compensation will be determined based on the skills, qualifications, and experience of the applicant along with the requirements of the position, and the Company reserves the right to modify this pay range at any time. Temporary roles may be eligible to participate in our freelancer/temporary employee medical plan through a third-party benefits administration system once certain criteria have been met. Temporary roles may also qualify for participation in our 401(k) plan after eligibility criteria have been met. For regular roles, the Company will offer medical coverage, dental, vision, disability, 401k, and paid time off. The Company anticipates the application deadline for this job posting will be 04/30/2026

All your information will be kept confidential according to EEO guidelines.

If you have questions about this posting, please contact [email protected]