Associate Creative Director / Copy (Tysons Corner)

The role

Copy at Worst Kept Secret is the conceptual and verbal engine of the work. Copywriters originate ideas, shape narrative and tone of voice, and craft messaging that is sharp, on strategy, and often witty. The craft lives in language and in precision of thought.

As Associate Creative Director, Copy you own the copy output for an account and shape the direction of the writing around you. You still write every day. What changes at this level is that your taste sets the verbal and conceptual bar, your work comes back near final, and you own most of the client conversation rather than handing it upward.

What the Associate Creative Director level means here

We define every creative role against the same eight dimensions. This is the ACD column, in plain terms.

• Scope. You own copy output for an account and still write while shaping the team's direction.
• Autonomy. You operate with high autonomy. Copy comes back near final, needing only light finessing from a Creative Director.
• Craft. Your taste sets the verbal and conceptual bar for the team.
• Leadership. You set the creative tone, mentor the team, develop the seniors, and demonstrate Creative Director readiness.
• Reach. You operate at a senior level across creative, account, strategy, and production, and you partner with Creative Directors.
• Client. You foster the client relationship and own most client conversations.
• Industry and network. You scout writing talent and build creative connections, represent the agency externally, and manage up to senior leadership.
• Communication and contribution. You set the tone for the department. You build the forums and habits that make this a place people want to work, mentor broadly, and manage up with clear information early.

What you will do

• Own the copy output for an account while continuing to write every day.
• Set the verbal and conceptual bar: tone of voice, narrative frameworks, and what good looks like for the team.
• Originate concepts across the full range of formats: social, digital, email, ads, OOH, experiential, video and audio scripts, long form, UX copy, and new business pitches.
• Partner with Art Direction and Design leadership so ideas are built verbally and visually from the start.
• Mentor the writers on the team and develop the seniors.
• Foster the client relationship and own most copy conversations directly.
• Partner with Creative Directors on where the work goes next, and manage up with a clear point of view.
• Build our reputation externally: scout writing talent, build creative connections, and represent the agency.
• Work in the open. Say where things stand before anyone asks, and raise problems while they are still fixable, with an option in hand. Late notice is the failure, not the problem itself.
• Contribute to the department, not only to your assignments. Come to critiques and department meetings with something, take part in internal and new business work, and share what you learn.

What you bring

• Roughly eight or more years of copywriting experience with time spent leading other writers.
• A portfolio of original concepts across brands and formats, with clear evidence of what you led.
• A voice that changes convincingly from brand to brand, and the judgment to protect a brand's voice from drift.
• Experience owning client relationships for copy and defending an idea in the room.
• A track record of raising the level of the writers around you.
• Comfort operating alongside design and art direction leadership as an equal.
• Evidence that you build the kind of environment people want to work in, not just the work itself.

Tools

We write in the Figma ecosystem alongside design more often than in a document, so comfort in Figma Design and Figma Slides matters. Familiarity with AI assisted workflows is welcome and increasingly part of how the department works.