Executive Creative Director
Contract · Revenue-Share Partnership
You own both halves of a brand project --- the real problem behind the brief and the idea that solves it --- and you carry the concept from first call to final delivery.
You know the call. The client says "we need a rebrand" and shows you ten safe options from their last agency --- and none of it touches what's actually wrong. A few questions in, you see the real problem: the category shifted and their story stopped meaning anything. And you can already see the way out --- the one idea, the metaphor that makes the whole brand click, and you can already picture it running across the logo, the motion, the site, the product. That's the job. We're hiring the person who finds the real problem, finds the idea that answers it, builds a system around it, and won't let either get watered down.
About Ramotion
Ramotion is a San Francisco--based brand and digital product agency. Since 2009 we've built brands, websites, and products for Netflix, Stripe, Mozilla, Okta, and Salesforce, alongside a long roster of venture-backed startups --- work tied to $6B+ in client exits. We're a distributed team of 70+ who take on a few clients at a time and stay with them for years.
About the Role
You hold both the strategy and the creative concept on a brand engagement. You lead the first conversations and diagnose the real problem behind the request --- then comes the heart of the role: finding the organizing idea. You generate the concepts, develop two or three distinct creative directions, and find the through-line --- the metaphor that ties brand, web, motion, and product into one coherent system. You decide what's shown to the client, build the narrative that sells the idea, and defend the concept when feedback would pull it off course. This is a project role focused on the thinking and the craft --- not hiring, not payments, not running a department. You won't be working solo --- you collaborate with Ramotion's team throughout, and you can recommend or bring in other specialists when a project calls for it (something we plan together).
What You'll Do
- Lead discovery and diagnose the real business problem behind the request; decide where the brand should compete --- stand out where it is, or move into a new category.
- Find the organizing idea --- the central concept or metaphor that makes the whole brand click.
- Generate and develop two or three distinct creative directions, and articulate the logic and the idea behind each.
- Build the concept into a system that scales and stays coherent across identity, web, motion, and product.
- Decide what reaches the client, and build and deliver the presentation narrative that sells the concept.
- Present and defend both the strategy and the creative direction; handle objections at an expert level.
- Filter client feedback --- absorb what makes the work better, refuse what would dilute the concept, and say no with reason.
- Hold the concept's integrity and the strategic trajectory all the way through delivery, and connect the result back to the business goal.
What We're Looking For
- A track record owning both brand strategy and creative concept/direction inside agencies or studios --- not just one of the two (8+ years in branding, identity, or brand strategy).
- Ideally a founder or partner of a boutique brand studio, where one person carries both by necessity.
- A strong portfolio of full rebrands that shows both the strategic frame and a strong central concept carried into a complete creative system.
- The ability to find a concept and develop it into directions --- and the range to know what's a strong idea versus a safe one.
- Command of positioning, go-to-market, and category analysis --- alongside visual identity, typography, illustration, and web as a tool of brand.
- The ability to deliver within constraints --- "make it without AI," "make it with one person," "win the award" --- and still ship excellent work.
- Curiosity about emerging technology and AI tools, and a real internal fire for the craft.
- Excellent spoken English and real confidence --- on a call with an international client, you're genuinely convincing.
Signals of a Great Fit
- You can hold a room of conflicting stakeholders and leave with everyone aligned --- and talk shop with another creative director in the same breath. You see the idea hiding under the brief, and you can defend a bold concept and explain exactly why it's right. Your eyes light up when you talk about the work.
How We Work
- Fully remote, across time zones. A contract engagement with per-project compensation and revenue-share upside --- and we're open to shaping the structure together, so it works for both sides as a long-term partnership.