Associate Creative Director at Monks in Hilversum, North Holland, NL

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About the Role

As an Associate Creative Director, you’ll serve as a hybrid creative leader for an iconic global sports brand, acting as both a sharp conceptual thinker and an exceptional UI designer in one. You will move comfortably across the spectrum from immersive, idea-led campaigns to digital platforms and ecosystems where practical design thinking carries the weight. We are looking for someone who is passionate about seeking new opportunities to create impactful work.

Responsibilities:

• Shape the creative vision for large-scale, long-term solutions, from immersive campaign sites to brand platforms, content ecosystems, products, and tools.
• Design at the highest level by staying hands-on in Figma to shape screens, components, and systems.
• Translate brand strategy and business objectives into functional user journeys, flows, states, and motion.
• Use AI fluently across the creative process for ideation, image creation, motion, voice, code, and prototyping.
• Move from sketches to working prototypes quickly using Figma, code, AI tools, and rapid-build environments.
• Look beyond the core product to fuse the full ecosystem of content, campaigns, and related technologies into a seamless brand experience.
• Direct multidisciplinary teams across art direction, copy, and design while protecting the central idea from kickoff to launch.
• Mentor designers and creatives by providing the direction, feedback, and room they need to grow.
• Build lasting relationships with the client, listening to their challenges and substantiating the work with both heart and proof.

About You The essentials:

• Experience: Around 7+ years for ACD, or 9+ years for CD, in digital design or creative leadership at a agency, studio, or in-house team. A portfolio showing both campaign-led concept work and platform-led web/product work.
• UI Craft: Mastery of digital design fundamentals (typography, grid, hierarchy, layout, color, motion) and fluency in Figma and modern design tooling.
• Platforms & Ecosystems: Proven experience designing marketing sites, brand platforms, content ecosystems, configurators, products, and tools that have performed in-market.
• AI Fluency: Hands-on practice with AI tooling across image, video, copy, code, and prototyping, with clear judgment on when to use it.
• Range & Curiosity: Ability to stretch from immersive campaigns to performance-led ecosystems, backed by a broad interest in culture, art, and internet trends.
• Leadership & Confidence: Ability to lead with clarity and care, mentor without ego, align teams, and comfortably present a vision to clients.
• Communication: Sharp written and verbal communication skills with the ability to write clear design rationale and win the room.
• Inclusivity & Dedication: Respectful collaboration across disciplines, cultures, and time zones, with a balanced passion for the craft.
• Passion: A strong passion for sports and youth culture.

Not a must, but a plus:

• Code literacy (HTML/CSS, or comfort with engineering handoff).
• Motion direction or 3D/WebGL exposure.
• Experience leading work that integrates AI as a user-facing feature.

At Monks, we believe in fostering an environment where a diversity of perspectives can thrive. We proactively work to design hiring processes that promote equity and inclusion while mitigating bias. We celebrate diversity and are committed to building a team that reflects the communities we serve. We welcome and encourage qualified applicants, from all backgrounds, who are excited to contribute to our mission.

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About Monks

Monks is the global, digital-first, data-driven, unitary operating brand of S4 Capital plc. With a legacy of innovation and specialized expertise, Monks combines an extraordinary range of global Marketing and Technology Services to redefine how brands interact with the world. Through Monks.Flow, its flagship AI ecosystem for marketing orchestration, Monks transforms marketing into a growth engine, collapsing timelines and connecting brands to culture in real time. By deploying bespoke intelligent agents across disciplines and delivering culturally relevant, high-impact creative and digital solutions, Monks solves key critical business challenges across the entire brand enterprise to help brands sustain long-term impact.

Monks was named a Contender in The Forrester Wave™: Global Marketing Services, ranks among Cannes Lions' Top 10 Creative Companies (2022-25) and remains the only partner featured in AdExchanger’s Programmatic Power Players list every year (2020-24). Named Adweek’s first AI Agency of the Year (2023) and The One Show’s inaugural AI Pioneer Organization, Monks was also awarded Business Intelligence Group’s 2025 Excellence in Artificial Intelligence Award in both the Organizational and AI Product categories. As a trusted partner to cutting-edge innovators in tech, Monks earned titles such as Optimizely Experimentation Partner of the Year (2025), runner-up for the Adobe Firefly Partner Award (2024), and Workato’s AI Visionary Customer Impact Award (2024). Additionally, Monks achieved a record-breaking number of FWAs and continues to hold the most of any partner.

We are an equal-opportunity employer committed to building a respectful and empowering work environment for all people to freely express themselves amongst colleagues who embrace diversity in all respects. Including fresh voices and unique points of view in all aspects of our business not only creates an environment where we can all grow and thrive but also increases our potential to produce work that better represents—and resonates with—the world around us.