Executive Creative Director (Brand Strategy + Creative Concept) — Contract, Revenue-Share Upside

A San Francisco–based brand and digital product agency (since 2009, work for Netflix, Stripe, Mozilla, Okta, Salesforce — tied to $6B+ in client exits). We're a distributed team of 50+, working with a few clients at a time over long-term engagements. We're looking for someone who can own both the strategy and the creative concept on a brand engagement — not just execute a brief, but find the real problem behind it and the idea that solves it. WHAT YOU'LL DO: – Lead discovery calls, diagnose the actual business problem (often different from what's in the brief) – Find the organizing idea — the central concept/metaphor that ties identity, web, motion, and product into one system – Develop 2-3 distinct creative directions with clear strategic logic behind each – Build the client presentation narrative and defend the concept through feedback rounds – Work alongside our internal team (you won't be working solo — production support is provided) WHAT WE'RE LOOKING FOR: – 8+ years in branding/identity/brand strategy, with a track record owning both strategy and creative direction (not just one) – Ideally a founder/partner of a boutique brand studio – Portfolio: full rebrands showing strategic framing + a strong central concept carried into a complete system – Comfortable with positioning, GTM, and category analysis — not just visual identity – Excellent spoken English, confident presenting to international clients – Curiosity about AI tools in the creative process ENGAGEMENT: Remote, project-based contract with revenue-share upside potential for the right long-term fit. Open to discussing structure. TO APPLY: Please share 2-3 case studies where you led both the strategic positioning and the creative concept, with a brief note on what the "big idea" was and how it scaled across touchpoints.