Executive Creative Director
Fortune Media is seeking an exceptionalExecutiveCreativeDirectorto lead the brand'screativevision across its full portfolio - spanning digital, print, events, video, and brand partnerships. This is a senior leadership role for a practitioner who is as comfortable setting brand strategy as they are hands-on in execution, with a clear and confident point of view on where design, storytelling, and AI-augmentedcreativity are heading.
TheExecutiveCreativeDirectorwill serve as thecreativestandard-bearer for Fortune, owning global brand consistency and elevating the quality bar across every audience touchpoint. You will lead an integrated team of designers, copywriters, video and photography professionals, and production specialists - and will serve as the central hub for all freelancecreativeresourcing and unified tooling decisions across the organization.
Reporting structure: Fortune Media is actively conducting a search for its next Chief Marketing Officer. In the interim, theExecutiveCreative Directorwill report directly to Fortune's Executive Committee. Upon the arrival of the incoming CMO, the reporting line will transition accordingly.
You will:
Own and evolve Fortune's global brand identity, visual system, and style guides across all platforms and markets - including Fortune.com, the magazine, newsletters, social, and international editions.
Direct both traditional design (print, magazine, OOH, event materials) and digital design (web, social, email, digital products) to ensure a unified, contemporary aesthetic that translates consistently across every channel.
Leadcreativedirection for Fortune's major tentpole events - including the Fortune 500 Forum, Most Powerful Women Summit, and CEO Initiative - overseeing all event design deliverables from stage and signage to branded environments.
Providecreativeoversight for the video and photography department, ensuring all visual production aligns with Fortune's brand standards;maintaina deep roster of photographers, directors, stylists, and collaborators whose work is right for Fortune.
Act as the seniorcreativepartner to Fortune's Brand Studio, ensuring sponsored programs and advertiser campaigns meet the samecreativestandard as editorial while serving commercialobjectivesand protecting the Fortune brand.
Work closely with Fortune's web product, paywall, and subscription teams to ensure the digital brand experience - from Fortune.com to subscriber acquisition and retention campaigns - is consistent, premium, and conversion-aware.
Serve ascreativelead and strategic partner to both B2B and B2C marketing teams, providing direction for campaigns across paid, owned, and earned channels while helping both teams build repeatablecreativeframeworks and templated assets.
Own the centralized freelancecreativeroster - vetting, onboarding, and managing designers, illustrators, photographers, and copywriters - and managecreativebudgets with rigor and transparency.
Own the evaluation and governance of Fortune's corecreativetooling stack, including the Digital Asset Management (DAM) system, design platforms, and project management tools, and lead rollout of unified workflows across the organization.
Lead Fortune'screativeorganization through the AI inflection point: actively integrate AI-first tools intocreativeworkflows,establishclear ethical standards for AI-generated and AI-assisted output, and build AI literacy across thecreativeteam.
Uphold Fortune's editorial and ethical standards across allcreativeoutput, serving as the final internal authority on whethercreativework meets Fortune's brand standards before publication or production.
The right candidate:
Has 10+ years of progressivecreativeleadership experience, with at least 4 years directing a multidisciplinarycreativeteam at a media company, publisher, or content-led brand.
Brings a portfoliodemonstratingmastery across both traditional and digital design disciplines, with strong editorial sensibility and platform-agnostic visual fluency.
Has proven experience overseeingcreativeproduction for large-scale live events or brand experiences, and deep fluency in building or stewarding visual identity systems at scale across multiple platforms and markets.
Has active, demonstrable use of AI-firstcreativetools in professional practice - this is a hiring requirement, not a differentiator.
Brings strong executive presence: the ability to presentcreativevision confidently to senior stakeholders, advertising clients, and editorial leadership.
Has experience managing freelancecreativetalent and leadingcreativebudgets with transparency and discipline.
Has deep industry contacts across photography, direction, illustration, andcreativeproduction.
Ideally brings experience leadingcreativewithin a recognized media brand with a print heritage and a digital transformation mandate, and familiarity with revenue-generatingcreativecontexts including branded content and advertiser co-creation.
What Success Looks Like
In your first90 days:
Conducted a full audit of Fortune’s currentcreativeoutput, team capabilities, tooling stack, and brand standard adherence
Built trusted relationships across editorial, marketing, events, Brand Studio, and the Brand Partnership Group
Developedan initialpoint of view on the highest-leveragecreativepriorities and shared it with interim leadership and the incoming CMO
Within six months:
Established or refreshed Fortune’s global style guide and design governance model
Centralized the freelance roster with clear processes and measurable quality improvements
Made a clear DAM tooling recommendation with a phased rollout plan
Introduced at least one AI-augmented workflow that demonstrably improves the team’s output or velocity
Established a clear, productive working relationship with the Brand Partnership Group
At one year:
Fortune’screativeoutput is consistently elevated and recognizable across all platforms, with measurably higher satisfaction scores from internal stakeholders
Thecreativeteamoperateswith greater speed, lower freelance cost per project, and reduced re-work
The Brand Studio pipeline has a strongcreativelead relationship contributing to revenue growth
Fortune is regarded externally as acreativeleader in the media industry - winning awards, attracting talent, and setting standards
Location: This role will be based in NYC in our headquarters, with hybrid flexibility.
Salary Range: $200,000-$225,000 base+eligibility for a variable annual bonus.This range is a good faith estimate and may ultimately vary based on a number of relevant factors.
A Few Of Fortune's PerksandBenefits
20 vacation days and 2 personal days on top of 11 company holidays and an honor-based sick leave policy
Health, dental, and vision coverage (90% paid for individuals and families), along with flexible spending accounts where Fortune contributes to your HSA
401(k) plan
Generous parental leave
Dependent care, commuter, and cell phone benefits
Tuition reimbursement program
A commitment to an open, inclusive, and diverse work culture
About Fortune
At Fortune Media, our mission is to change the world by making business better. We achieve that by providing trusted information, great storytelling, rigorousbenchmarkingand world-class community building. And our key values are humility, ownership, and transparency.
The policy of Fortune Media is to provide equal employment opportunities to all applicants and employees without regard to race, color, caste, creed, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, marital status, citizenship status, age, national origin, ancestry, disability, or any other characteristic protected by applicable law. Fortune Media affirmativelyseeksto advance the principles of equal employment opportunity and values diversity and inclusion.