Associate Creative Director - DickersonBakker 2026

About the Company

DickersonBakker is seeking an Associate Creative Director (ACD) to provide senior-level creative direction and quality control across direct response fundraising, major gift, and campaign communications. This role serves as a critical layer of creative oversight, ensuring work is polished, accurate, on-brand, and strategically sound before final delivery.

About the Role

The Associate Creative Director role is important as it ensures creative consistency across our company. Under the leadership and oversight of the Creative Director, this role will assume ownership of the rounds of creative review, approving work that meets internal and client standards. This person will also be responsible for providing clear direction to copy and design teams as a key point of insulation and direction. The role relies on sound creative judgement and ensures quality oversight. Beyond being a source of on-the-ground creative coverage for the team, this role will assume responsibility for the following areas: direct execution of video (resource gathering and creation) and content creation for campaign projects.

Responsibilities

Creative Direction & Approval

• Serve as the primary reviewer and approver for creative work in its final stages, ensuring readiness for client presentation or production.
• Understand messaging strategies for direct response to align copy to brief and ensure strategic integrity across projects.
• Lead planning and execute client resource trips. Manage gathered assets for team use and application across campaigns.
• Serve as primary internal lead for impact messaging campaign projects.
• Execute and create video projects from capture to post-production working alongside production teams to ensure creative vision is executed effectively.
• Work directly with creative team members on project execution including direct mail, print, and digital - ensuring concepts are translated accurately from brief to final deliverable.

Creative Development and Execution

• Provide hands-on creative direction across copy and design for direct mail, email, digital, video, and integrated campaigns.
• Review and refine messaging, layouts, and storytelling to strengthen donor engagement and response.
• Partner with writers, designers, and freelancers to improve work quality through clear, actionable feedback.
• Ensure creative briefs and concepts are executed faithfully and effectively.

Video & Resource Gathering

• Write video outlines to detail concepts and then execution for video needs like CTV, digital ads, and campaign videos.
• Prep for upcoming shoots with details like schedules, shot lists, and communication.
• Draft interview questions to help guide conversations and on-camera storytelling that support the campaign objective.

Quality Control & Risk Reduction

• Catch errors, inconsistencies, or strategic misalignment before work reaches clients or production.
• Protect the organization from last-minute creative risk through disciplined review and attention to detail.
• Ensure compliance with client requirements, legal considerations, and internal standards.
• Reduce rework and escalation by resolving issues at the appropriate level.

Cross-Functional Collaboration

• Collaborate closely with Creative Services leadership, Digital, Project Management, Account, and Production teams to support smooth execution.
• Serve as a reliable creative partner who understands timelines, constraints, and operational realities.
• Maintain clear communication around approvals, revisions, and decision rationale.

Creative Standards & Continuous Improvement

• Help uphold and reinforce creative standards, best practices, and brand consistency across Fundraising Solutions.
• Identify recurring creative issues or gaps and recommend improvements to workflows or guidelines.
• Stay current on trends in fundraising, marketing, and creative execution relevant to nonprofit audiences.

Qualifications

• Education & Professional Background
• Bachelor's degree (B.A. or B.S.) preferred.
• 5-7 years of experience in creative roles within fundraising, marketing, or agency environments.
• Prior experience serving as a creative contributor or informal creative lead strongly preferred.
• Experience in direct response fundraising, proposal development, or major gift/campaign communications highly desirable.

Required Skills

• Strong creative judgment across both copy and design, with the ability to evaluate work holistically.
• Deep familiarity with direct response fundraising, donor-centric messaging, and multi-channel campaigns.
• Demonstrate ability to execute video projects from pre-production through post, including shoot coordination and editing oversight.
• Ability to synthesize strategy into clear creative direction and actionable feedback.
• Confidence making final decisions without relying on consensus or escalation.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
• Comfort working with freelance and contract creatives.
• Ability to travel up to 25%.

Preferred Skills

• High personal standard for quality and accountability.
• Comfortable operating as an authority without formal people management.
• Calm, decisive, and constructive under deadline pressure.
• Collaborative, but willing to push back to protect the work.
• Aligned with DickersonBakker's mission-driven work and faith-based nonprofit clients.
• Motivated by strengthening creative output rather than owning the spotlight.