How To Become An Associate Creative Director: What It Is and Career Path

What is an associate creative director and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

Quoted expert

Yash Egami

These experts are employed to support the creative director in developing creative materials and campaigns. They help with the development of concepts, strategies, and client presentations. They manage and oversee multiple design projects and teams. Besides that, they ensure projects meet client objectives, budgets, and deadlines. Furthermore, they ensure consistency with brand message and identity. Additionally, they ensure resources are delegated as needed by the project. Associate creative directors are usually employed in the advertising or entertainment agencies or the creative departments of private corporations.

Employers seek candidates with a degree in marketing, advertising, graphic design, or a related field, and they must have at least five years of related experience. You must also possess interpersonal, presentation, computer, and communication skills and be familiar with marketing practices, trends, design principles, and social media platforms. The associate creative director's salary ranges from $88,088 to $124,026, with an average annual salary of $103,020.

What general advice would you give to an associate creative director?

Yash Egami

VP, The One Club

A recent Forrester report says that the ad industry will lose 50,000 jobs through 2021, with 35,000 of them already lost since the pandemic. The traditional ad agency model was already in trouble, with many brands hiring away talent and creating their own in-house agencies. Add to that the recent reckoning with the Black Lives Matter movement, and what we're seeing is an industry that is being forced to go through monumental change in order to survive.

While traditional roles like art director or copywriter are on the decline, the good news is that, in an effort to reinvent themselves, agencies are seeking creatives with digital skills like UX design and programming. The rise of in-house creative departments has also meant more opportunities for job seekers within brands rather than agencies. And because of the demand for more diversity from clients and those within advertising, recruiters are making more of an effort to hire multicultural talent.

At The One Club for Creativity, we've been at the forefront of change in the industry through our diversity and inclusion, professional development and gender equality programs. We recently hosted our annual multicultural career fair, "Where Are All the Black People?" that brought together thousands of diverse talent with 40 agencies and companies looking to hire. We launched One School, a free online program for Black creatives who want to get into the industry but don't have a portfolio or the economic means to afford to go to ad school. And we're working on upskilling courses for professionals who want to reinvent themselves or keep up with the changing demands of our industry.

So if you're a recent graduate who specializes in art direction, our advice would be to keep an open mind about what kind of company you want to work for and think about expanding your skillset to include digital skills so that you can future-proof your career. Where you are isn't as important because, since the pandemic, agencies have become more comfortable with working remotely and they are more open to having a workforce not centered on the traditional agency hubs, like New York or Los Angeles.

ScoreAssociate Creative DirectorUS Average

Salary

8.7

Avg. Salary $141,099

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

7.9

Growth rate 4%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

3.9

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.63%

Asian 7.67%

Black or African American 4.33%

Hispanic or Latino 14.23%

Unknown 5.56%

White 67.58%

Gender

female 31.42%

male 68.58%

Age - 39

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 39

Stress level

7.9

Stress level is high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

9.2

Complexity level is advanced

7 - challenging

Work life balance

4.0

Work life balance is poor

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become an associate creative director

Explore associate creative director education requirements

Most common associate creative director degrees

Bachelor's

83.0 %

Master's

8.5 %

Associate

5.4 %

Start to develop specific associate creative director skills

Skills	Percentages
Graphic Design	6.04%
Digital Marketing	5.64%
Creative Concepts	5.46%
ACD	4.35%
Art Direction	4.32%

Complete relevant associate creative director training and internships

Accountants spend an average of Less than 1 month on post-employment, on-the-job training. New associate creative directors learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as an associate creative director based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real associate creative director resumes.

Research associate creative director duties and responsibilities

Lead and manage team of visual designers responsible for online creative and HTML.
Manage XD team members and oversee their work to create conceptual and detail deliverables.
Manage staff of senior copywriters, copywriters (including SEO writer), proofreaders, freelance writers and interns.
Lead and supervise creative teams and create award-winning advertising campaigns and programs that target physicians, pharmacists and other healthcare professionals.

Prepare your associate creative director resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your associate creative director resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on an associate creative director resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable associate creative director resume templates

Build a professional associate creative director resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your associate creative director resume.

Apply for associate creative director jobs

Now it's time to start searching for an associate creative director job. Consider the tips below for a successful job search:

Browse job boards for relevant postings
Consult your professional network
Reach out to companies you're interested in working for directly
Watch out for job scams

Average associate creative director salary

The average associate creative director salary in the United States is $141,099 per year or $68 per hour. Associate creative director salaries range between $87,000 and $226,000 per year.

Average associate creative director salary

$141,099 Yearly

$67.84 hourly

What is an associate creative director and how to become one

What general advice would you give to an associate creative director?

Associate creative director career paths

Key steps to become an associate creative director

Explore associate creative director education requirements

Most common associate creative director degrees

Start to develop specific associate creative director skills

Complete relevant associate creative director training and internships

Research associate creative director duties and responsibilities

Prepare your associate creative director resume

Choose from 10+ customizable associate creative director resume templates

Apply for associate creative director jobs

How did you land your first associate creative director job

Average associate creative director salary

How do associate creative directors rate their job?