Creative Director

About Sweetgreen:

Sweetgreen is on a mission to build healthier communities by connecting people to real food. We passionately believe that real food should be convenient and accessible to everyone. Every day in each sweetgreen, our 6,000+ team members make food from scratch, using fresh ingredients and produce delivered that morning. And in our local communities, we're committed to leaving people better than we found them. We're in the business of feeding people, and we're out to change what that means.

What You'll Do:

Sweetgreen is looking for a Creative Director to bring our creative vision to life across all marketing touchpoints. As a multidisciplinary creative leader, you will own the visual expression of the sweetgreen brand within our Commercial function, overseeing concept development, design execution, and art direction across campaigns, channels, and markets. You will balance art and science, pairing strong creative instincts with a deep understanding of business objectives and performance. You will lead, inspire, and develop an internal team of designers while collaborating cross-functionally to evolve and elevate the sweetgreen brand to world-class standards.

Core responsibilities for the position include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Lead creative strategy, concepting, and execution for integrated marketing campaigns across digital, print, CRM, and emerging channels, spanning multiple U.S. markets
• Translate business and marketing objectives into clear creative direction, compelling marketing ideas, distinctly sweetgreen visual narratives, and actionable briefs
• Own and elevate the sweetgreen visual identity within marketing and influence the visual identity in the restaurant design, ensuring brand consistency while continuously pushing the work forward
• Lead art direction for marketing-owned photo and video shoots, including concept development, shot lists, lighting, styling, composition, and on-set direction
• Oversee post-production including editing, color, music direction, and final finishing to ensure high-quality output across all assets
• Use data, insights, and performance learnings to inform creative decisions and continuously optimize creative impact
• Provide thoughtful, actionable feedback that strengthens ideas and execution while fostering growth and creative excellence
• Collaborate closely with Brand, Culinary, Product, Store Development, and other cross-functional partners to align creative work with broader brand and business priorities
• Present creative work to senior stakeholders, articulating creative rationale and incorporating feedback while maintaining brand integrity

Qualifications:

• Based in office 4 days per week at the Sweetgreen Support Center in Los Angeles
• 8-10+ years of experience in creative leadership roles, preferably within high-growth consumer brands or agencies
• Strong foundation in creative strategy and/or graphic design with a refined eye for typography, color, composition, and visual systems
• Proven experience leading integrated campaigns across multiple channels and platforms
• Deep understanding of art direction for photography and video from concept through final delivery
• Ability to clearly articulate creative ideas, strategy, and rationale to both creative and non-creative audiences
• Demonstrated experience managing and mentoring creative teams and freelance partners
• Strong balance of creative vision and business acumen, with comfort using data and insights to guide creative execution
• Highly collaborative, open-minded, and experimental, with a constant desire to evolve and improve the work
• Passion for design, culture, food, sustainability, products, and emerging trends
• High standards, strong attention to detail, and pride in delivering exceptional creative work
• Proficiency in Adobe Creative Suite, with motion design experience considered a plus

What you'll get:

• Highly competitive pay + bonus plan
• Three different medical plans to suit your and your family's needs
• Dental and Vision insurance
• Flexible PTO plan
• 401k program
• Employee HSA and FSA
• Complimentary greens
• An opportunity to make a real impact on the people around you, both by growing them and by connecting them to real food
• To live the sweetlife and celebrate your passion + purpose
• A collaborative team of people who live our core values and have your back
• A clear career path with opportunities for development, both personally and professionally
• Free sweetgreen swag

Come join the sweetlife!

About sweetgreen

sweetgreen is on a mission to build healthier communities by connecting people to real food. We passionately believe that real food should be convenient and accessible to everyone. Every day in each sweetgreen, our 3,500 team members make food from scratch, using fresh ingredients and produce delivered that morning. And in our local communities, we're committed to leaving people better than we found them. We're in the business of feeding people, and we're out to change what that means.

sweetgreen provides equal opportunities for everyone that works for us and everyone that applies to join our team, without regard to sex or gender, gender identity, gender expression, age, race, religious creed, color, national origin, ancestry, pregnancy, physical or mental disability, medical condition, genetic information, marital status, sexual orientation, any service, past, present, or future, in the uniformed services of the United States (military or veteran status), or any other consideration protected by federal, state, or local law.

sweetgreen participates in the federal government's E-Verify program to determine employment eligibility. To learn more about the E-Verify program, please click here.

Salary range for this role:

Starting salary range based on experience

$170,000-$200,000 USD

Sweetgreen provides equal opportunities for all employees and applicants, without regard to sex or gender, gender identity, gender expression, age, race (including traits historically associated with race, such as hair texture and protective hairstyles), religious creed, color, national origin, ancestry, pregnancy, physical or mental disability, medical condition, genetic information, marital status, sexual orientation, any service in the uniformed services of the United States, or any other consideration protected by federal, state, or local law.

California residents: Review our applicant privacy notice HERE.

sweetgreen participates in the federal government's E-Verify program to determine employment eligibility. To learn more about the E-Verify program, please click here.