Group Creative Director - Events and Experiences at Monks

Please note that we will never request payment or bank account information at any stage of the recruitment process. As we continue to grow our teams, we urge you to be cautious of fraudulent job postings or recruitment activities that misuse our company name and information. Please protect your personal information during any recruitment process. While Monks may contact potential candidates via LinkedIn, all applications must be submitted through our official website (monks.com/careers). About the Role We are makers. We create because we are curious, and we believe that the best way to prove an idea works is to make it real. As the Group Creative Director, Emerging Experiences, you will lead the physical and digital manifestation of the Google brand. This is a senior leadership role with accountability for the health of the product areas you manage and the account at large. However, you are not just a specialist; you are a holistic creative leader. While your domain is experiential and demos, your thinking must be 360. We need a visionary who can look at a product launch and see the "Big Idea" that transcends mediums—ensuring that the story told on a stage connects seamlessly to the campaign running on YouTube, the demo in a retail store, and the social conversation online. This role requires a rare hybrid leader: one who is AI-optimistic, deeply versed in spatial and UX design, and savvy enough to navigate complex organizations to bring ambitious, "impossible" ideas to life. Responsibilities: 360 Vision & Big Idea Generation • Dream Big, Execute Smart: Bring "Big Swing" ambition to the table. You are expected to generate platform-level ideas that may start as an experience but have the legs to drive a global 360 campaign. • Ecosystem Thinking: You don't just build isolated assets; you build connected ecosystems. You understand how an event activation feeds content capture, which feeds social strategy, which drives product trial. • Savvy Navigation: Great ideas die without a champion. You must possess the political and strategic savvy to sell big, complex visions to stakeholders, turning "we can't do that" into "how do we start?" Experiential & Demo Mastery • Lead the Physical: Oversee deep experiential work, driving conceptual development for global events and activations. Direct spatial design, materiality, and physicality to ensure the brand shows up authentically in the real world. • Lead the Digital: Lead the team dedicated to on-device demos. Use your deep understanding of UX and UI to guide the creation of digital experiences that demonstrate product magic simply and intuitively. • Show, Don’t Tell: Champion the principle that a simple, visual demo is often the most powerful creative asset. Ensure all demos and experiences are rooted in truth and reality. AI & Innovation Leadership • The AI Optimist: embrace Artificial Intelligence not as a threat, but as a creative force multiplier. You will actively look for ways to incorporate GenAI into workflows—from ideation and storyboarding to asset generation and spatial visualization. • Future-Proofing: Help define the future of the agency—structurally, creatively, and culturally. Be willing to build out the future together with clients, establishing new ways of working that leverage technology to get to "better" faster. Client Partnership & Growth • Build Relationships: Marketing is a relationship business. Foster executive-level client relationships that build trust, reaching "text-based comfort" within a year. • Storytell with Clarity: Serve as the last line of defense before work reaches the client. Your duty is to "storytell" ideas, ensuring narratives are clear to laymen and that presentations are polished to perfection. Operational & Team Leadership • Maker Culture: Foster an environment of creativity and get people psyched to make stuff. Quality Control: Provide rigorous quality control over your team’s output, ensuring projects are delivered on timeline, on budget, and ensure commercial success. About You The essentials: • Experience: 15+ years of creative experience with a proven track record in agency leadership. At least 5 years in a senior CD or equivalent role including concept development and client contact. • Integrated/360 Background: proven ability to run integrated campaigns. You must show a portfolio that demonstrates not just "stunts," but cohesive brand narratives that live across multiple channels. • AI Fluency: Demonstrated interest in or experience with AI tools. You don't need to be a prompt engineer, but you must be open to remixing how your team works to stay ahead of the curve. • Experiential & Technical Depth: Deep experience in experiential marketing (spatial/set design) AND a strong understanding of UX/UI design principles. • Team Management: Must have run teams of 15 or more. With grace. • The "Maker" Mindset: A well-developed creative point of view with the ability to identify strong ideas and turn them into sellable executions. Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) • Innovation: Elevating not just the work we do, but the ways we do it—incorporating AI and new technologies with purpose. • Client Growth: Identifying and realizing opportunities for revenue growth and maintenance. • Creative Effectiveness: Work should drive results and be recognized for its effectiveness (Awards). Team Health: Team members should be advancing in their careers with limited attrition. 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. This role is subject to our Return to Office (RTO) policy. If you reside within a commutable distance of one of our office locations, you will be expected to work from the office a set number of days per week. The specific details, including the number of required office days, will be in accordance with the company’s then-current RTO policy, which is subject to change from time to time. #LI-KW1 #LI-Hybrid What We Offer Benefits • Excellent, full coverage medical, dental, and vision insurance - more about our coverage here! • Generous PTO and 15 company-wide holidays • 401k with company contribution • Paid parental leave • Work-life balance with an emphasis on personal well-being • Career growth in a disruptor space & entrepreneurial opportunities within the Monks network • A globally diverse & inclusive culture with employee resource groups such as S4 Melanin, Pride.Monks, Cultura.Monks, and more! • Authentic commitment to DEI efforts and sustainable growth. (Why Sir Martin Sorrell signed The Climate Pledge here!) This role is subject to our Return to Office (RTO) policy. If you reside within a commutable distance of one of our office locations, you will be expected to work from the office a set number of days per week. The specific details, including the number of required office days, will be in accordance with the company’s then-current RTO policy, which is subject to change from time to time. Monks has provided a compensation range that represents its good faith estimate of what Monks may pay for the position at the time of posting. Monks may ultimately pay more or less than the posted compensation range. The salary offered to the selected candidate will be determined based on job-related factors, but not based on a candidate’s sex or any other protected status. Salary Range: $180,000—$200,000 USDAbout Monks Monks is the global, purely digital, unitary operating brand of S4Capital plc. With a legacy of innovation and specialized expertise, Monks combines an extraordinary range of global marketing and technology services to accelerate business possibilities and redefine how brands and businesses interact with the world. Its integration of systems and workflows delivers unfettered content production, scaled experiences, enterprise-grade technology and data science fueled by AI—managed by the industry’s best and most diverse digital talent—to help the world’s trailblazing companies outmaneuver and outpace their competition. Monks was named a Contender in The Forrester Wave™: Global Marketing Services. It has remained a constant presence on Adweek’s Fastest Growing lists (2019-23), ranks among Cannes Lions' Top 10 Creative Companies (2022-23) and is the only partner to have been placed in AdExchanger’s Programmatic Power Players list every year (2020-24). In addition to being named Adweek’s first AI Agency of the Year (2023), Monks has been recognized by Business Intelligence in its 2024 Excellence in Artificial Intelligence Awards program in three categories: the Individual category, Organizational Winner in AI Strategic Planning and AI Product for its service Monks.Flow. Monks has also garnered the title of Webby Production Company of the Year (2021-24), won a record number of FWAs and has earned a spot on Newsweek’s Top 100 Global Most Loved Workplaces 2023. 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.