Senior Creative Director

Sage is a £2.5B business software company serving millions of small and mid-size businesses across the world. Finance professionals, accountants, and business owners rely on Sage every day to run their companies. It's an emotionally rich audience and a category that is changing fast. AI is reshaping how businesses manage money, how finance teams work, and what customers expect from the software they use. Most brands in this space look and sound the same. Sage can be different. We're building an in-house Creative Studio to change how Sage shows up. This is a challenger brand opportunity: a company cannot win on share of voice alone, in a category where creativity is the multiplier. The Creative Director will set the global creative standard for Sage, build the team that delivers it, and earn the trust of commercial leaders across three regions by producing work that is distinctive, fast, and commercially connected. In the near term, the Creative Director will stand up the studio, hire the team, and manage key transitions from external agency dependency to in-house capability. Longer term, they'll define how Sage shows up creatively across every market and touchpoint, setting a standard that compounds over time. The Creative Director is responsible for all creative output across the brand function: campaign design, brand design, copywriting and production. This person sets the creative quality bar globally, builds and leads a team that mixes traditional craft with AI-enabled production, and earns the trust of regional commercial leaders by delivering at the speed the business needs. Key Responsibilities Build and lead the in‑house Creative Studio across North America and UKIA, scaling to approximately 10‑15 people including brand designers, campaign designers, copywriters, and production specialists embedded in key regional markets. Manage the transition from external agency dependency to in‑house capability, including phased reduction of agency scope. Own the creative quality bar for all externally facing brand output globally Execute creative briefs from regional directors of campaign strategy and other brand functions. Establish a hub‑and‑spoke creative model: central standards with regional designers embedded in key markets. Build an AI‑enabled production capability. Work in close partnership with other brand, performance marketing, product marketing and people teams to ensure all creative output meets brand governance standards. Own the relationship with retained external agencies and specialist production partners. Define and implement the creative operating model: intake process, briefing standards, turnaround commitments, and quality review cadence across all teams that brief into the studio. Establish ways of working between the Creative Studio and its key partners (Brand Strategy, Performance Marketing, Events, Sponsorships) including service standards and escalation paths. What You'll Bring 10+ years in creative leadership, with at least 5 years in B2B or technology in‑house Experience building or scaling an in‑house creative studio, ideally replacing external agency dependency Demonstrated fluency with AI creative tools and a clear point of view on where AI adds value and where it does not Strong portfolio across brand identity, campaign creative, and digital/social execution Commercially oriented: can speak to pipeline, conversion, and business outcomes, not just creative craft Experience managing a mixed team of brand designers, campaign designers, copywriters, and production specialists Ability to operate in a matrix: this role serves the whole organization, not one function Track record of earning credibility with commercial leadership and regional MDs, not just marketing peers Proven ability to influence senior stakeholders on creative direction, including non‑marketing leaders who are not naturally fluent in creative evaluation Inspiring leader with a track record of building and developing high‑performance creative teams, including hiring for roles that don't exist yet in the organization What You'll Own Creative turnaround time vs. current benchmark Brand consistency score across regions (internal audit) Reduction in external agency spend as percentage of total creative cost Creative effectiveness: campaign recall, brand perception shift, and creative‑driven pipeline contribution measured through brand tracking and campaign post‑analysis Studio build milestones: team hired, agency transition complete, regional spokes operational Brand design team Copywriters Production Perks? We have plenty. Competitive salaries that landed us top 5% of similar sized companies (according to Comparably) 401(k) retirement match (100% matching up to 4%) 32 days paid time off (21 personal days, 10 national holidays, 1 floating holiday) 18 weeks paid parental leave for birth, adoption or surrogacy offered 1 year after start date 5 days paid yearly to volunteer (through Sage Foundation) $5,250 tuition reimbursement per calendar year starting 6 months after hire date Sage Wellness Rewards Program ($600 wellness credit and $360 fitness reimbursement annually) Library of on‑demand career development options and ongoing training offerings Dig deeper about who we are: Who is Sage: Life at Sage: Our Values & Behaviors: How we make a difference: Sage Business Cloud - SaaS for Every Business: #J-18808-Ljbffr