How to hire a creative lead

How to hire a creative lead, step by step

Here's a step-by-step creative lead hiring guide:

• Step 1: Identify your hiring needs
• Step 2: Create an ideal candidate profile
• Step 3: Make a budget
• Step 4: Write a creative lead job description
• Step 5: Post your job
• Step 6: Interview candidates
• Step 7: Send a job offer and onboard your new creative lead
• Step 8: Go through the hiring process checklist

What does a creative lead do?

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1. Identify your hiring needs

   Before you start hiring a creative lead, identify what type of worker you actually need. Certain positions might call for a full-time employee, while others can be done by a part-time worker or contractor.

   Determine employee vs contractor status

   Is the person you're thinking of hiring a US citizen or green card holder?

   Yes

   No

   A creative lead's background is also an important factor in determining whether they'll be a good fit for the position. For example, creative leads from different industries or fields will have radically different experiences and will bring different viewpoints to the role. You also need to consider the candidate's previous level of experience to make sure they'll be comfortable with the job's level of seniority.

   Here's a comparison of creative lead salaries for various roles:

   Type of Creative Lead	Description	Hourly rate
   Creative Lead	Advertising, promotions, and marketing managers plan programs to generate interest in products or services. They work with art directors, sales agents, and financial staff members.	$24-81
   Social Media Manager	Social media managers are responsible for representing the company's business through social media channels. They help the company grow by enhancing its presence via social networks... Show more	$24-47
   Merchandising Manager	A merchandising manager is responsible for supervising stock inventories, retail pricing, and managing product displays by analyzing customer preferences through researching the current market trends that would improve the store's sales condition and achieve profitability goals. Merchandising managers negotiate with reliable third-party vendors, minimizing costs without compromising the quality of the products... Show more	$30-55

   Show more

2. Create an ideal candidate profile

   Common skills:

   • Sketch
   • Project Management
   • Adobe Creative Suite
   • Graphic Design
   • UI
   • User Experience
   • Creative Strategy
   • Digital Marketing
   • HTML
   • Business Development
   • Creative Concepts
   • Creative Solutions
   • Web Site
   • Facebook

   Check all skills

   Responsibilities:

   • Manage multiple digital and rich media advertising campaign creative, teams & lifecycles including conception, production, QA and implementation.
   • Design websites that are visually appealing and effective using HTML, CSS, jQuery, PHP and MySQL.
   • Develop corporate identity, print material design, multimedia development and web development utilizing HTML, CSS, and ActionScript.
   • Develop strong skill set HTML coding for effective web page designs and layouts.
   • Participate in brainstorming, client presentations and assist with project scheduling, budgets and daily work flows.
   • Involve in most facets of production, including brainstorming, ideation, brand management, proofreading (i.e.

   More creative lead duties

3. Make a budget

   Including a salary range in the creative lead job description is a good way to get more applicants. A creative lead salary can be affected by several factors, such as the location of the job, the level of experience, education, certifications, and the employer's prestige.

   For example, the average salary for a creative lead in Louisiana may be lower than in California, and an entry-level engineer typically earns less than a senior-level creative lead. Additionally, a creative lead with lots of experience in the field may command a higher salary as a result.

   Average creative lead salary

   $93,742yearly

   $45.07 hourly rate

   ---

   Entry-level creative lead salary

   $51,000 yearly salary

   Updated December 22, 2025

   Average creative lead salary by state

   Rank	State	Avg. salary	Hourly rate
   1	California	$130,139	$63
   2	Washington	$122,064	$59
   3	Massachusetts	$118,709	$57
   4	Oregon	$115,207	$55
   5	New York	$107,357	$52
   6	North Carolina	$106,154	$51
   7	Nevada	$104,376	$50
   8	Maryland	$101,117	$49
   9	Arizona	$101,003	$49
   10	Michigan	$97,694	$47
   11	North Dakota	$97,447	$47
   12	West Virginia	$91,528	$44
   13	New Hampshire	$90,421	$43
   14	South Carolina	$90,037	$43
   15	Delaware	$89,604	$43
   16	Illinois	$89,382	$43
   17	Florida	$82,209	$40
   18	Ohio	$80,496	$39
   19	Texas	$80,330	$39
   20	Iowa	$77,040	$37

   Average creative lead salary by company

   Company

   Rank	Company	Average salary	Hourly rate	Job openings
   1	Meta	$217,626	$104.63	28
   2	Apple	$213,256	$102.53	11
   3	Google	$203,515	$97.84	7
   4	Okta	$203,483	$97.83	2
   5	Nike	$185,645	$89.25	15
   6	Snap	$178,925	$86.02	20
   7	Riot Games	$170,225	$81.84	1
   8	McKinsey & Company Inc	$161,362	$77.58
   9	IGN	$160,303	$77.07
   10	Faraday Technology	$148,489	$71.39
   11	Under Armour	$146,062	$70.22	2
   12	Ziff Davis	$140,797	$67.69
   13	The Washington Post	$138,811	$66.74	2
   14	Hewlett Packard Enterprise	$137,496	$66.10
   15	Within	$135,807	$65.29	4
   16	Edelman Financial Engines	$130,548	$62.76	1
   17	KeepTruckin	$130,195	$62.59
   18	Robinhood	$129,911	$62.46	1
   19	emocha Health	$129,122	$62.08
   20	Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Human Resources & Compensation Consulting Practice (formerly Companalysis)	$129,113	$62.07	2

4. Writing a creative lead job description

   A creative lead job description should include a summary of the role, required skills, and a list of responsibilities. It's also good to include a salary range and the first name of the hiring manager. Below, you can find an example of a creative lead job description:

   Creative lead job description example

   For over 20 years, Gorilla has been devising, creating, and implementing commerce experiences. We're a client-driven culture, looking for resourceful, motivated, and talented individuals to help us exceed our client's expectations at every turn. We offer a challenging and rewarding environment where you'll have the opportunity to work with leading brands, collaborate with some of the brightest people in the industry, and share in our mutual success.
   
   Are you a Lead Front-end developer looking to take the next step in your career? Are you an eCommerce expert wanting to build custom front end experiences? Are you looking to expand into new platforms and approaches?
   
   If so, Gorilla could be the perfect place for you. We're seeking a full-time Front End Lead to join our team. As a Front End Lead, you'll serve as the go-to for front end technology recommendations and implementation leadership on our CMS and e-commerce platforms.
   
   Creativity is in our name, and that's because we're more than engineers focused only on code. We don't focus our consult on the limitations, simplicity, or push only what has been done before. Instead, we offer the possibilities. When doing so, you'll partner with our UX and design teams to push technology that delivers better user experiences while collaborating with our backend team integrating custom UIs and business logic.
   
   You'll serve as the go-to for front end technology recommendations and implementation leadership on our CMS and e-commerce platforms. Partnering with our UX and design teams, you'll push technology to deliver better experiences. You'll be responsible for a mix of consultation and management for front end development. Your day-to-day responsibilities will range from leading front end development methodologies, estimation, sprint planning, cross-team collaboration, and communication.
   
   As a leader of a team full of eager creative technologists, you'll be challenged to adopt a platform-agnostic mindset by applying common patterns to new technologies and approaches. Along the way, you'll have the opportunity to grow personally and professionally, accumulate an impeccable portfolio, and have a lasting impact on some exceptional B2B and B2C brands.
   
   ResponsibilitiesWork in collaboration with Gorilla's Visual Designers to turn their vision into functional HTML experiences (mark-up/JS/CSS) integrated into the respective platforms.Work in collaboration with Gorilla's server-side developers to ensure proper implementation of website data and functionality.Help manage projects through the design, development, and QA processes.Continue to expand knowledge of new technologies, as well as strengthen current knowledge base.Build responsive sites for mobile and desktop web experiences.Follow the latest advancements in frontend technologies and techniques.Identify front end development activities necessary to deliver on project goals.Identify and estimate changes and additional features to your project as needed.Functionally deconstruct large tasks into smaller ones for work delegation.Assist with sprint planning for front end development tasks.Review code and mentor other developers on best-practices for front end development.Consult and present deliverables to clients as needed.
   
   RequirementsExperience with enterprise eCommerce platforms such as Magento, Hybris, Salesforce, or ShopifyAble to balance between management and coding as needed by a project Fluent in HTML5/CSS3 and able to develop valid client-side markup Solid knowledge of CSS support for both modern and legacy browsers Experience with CSS preprocessors such as LESS or SASS Experience working with Design SystemsExperience with JavaScript libraries like jQuery, underscore, or native JS for DOM manipulation.An impeccable eye for detail with the ability to match your UI to any design in a cross-browser environment Strong interpersonal and communication skills with an affinity for problem-solving Ability to self-manage during projects and proactively raise issues/concerns to the teamA desire to own a project from beginning to end, with a strong sense of pride in a job exceptionally doneA solid foundation for using GIT as a preferred version control system
   
   PreferredExperience with enterprise CMS systems such as AEM, Drupal, or BloomreachExperience with Frontend build tools such as Webpack, Gulp, Grunt, etc.Experience with ES6 and the advancements of the JavaScript language Experience with PHP and/or JSP page in implementing frontend templates.Experience with CMS platforms such as WordPress, Hubspot, Contentful.Experience working with headless architecture implementing SPA, PWA or Hybrid Apps. Experience using established CSS architecture patterns for code reuse and modularity such as BEM, SMACSS and others.
   Gorilla is committed to Equal Employment Opportunity and to attracting and retaining the most qualified employees regardless of race, national origin, religion, sexual orientation, gender, age or disability.

   Copy this example

   

5. Post your job

   To find the right creative lead for your business, consider trying out a few different recruiting strategies:

   • Consider internal talent. One of the most important sources of talent for any company is its existing workforce.
   • Ask for referrals. Reach out to friends, family members, and current employees and ask if they know or have worked with creative leads they would recommend.
   • Recruit at local colleges. Attend job fairs at local colleges to recruit creative leads who meet your education requirements.
   • Social media platforms. LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter now have more than 3.5 billion users, and you can use social media to reach potential job candidates.

   To find creative lead candidates, you can consider the following options:

   • Post your job opening on Zippia or other job search websites.
   • Use niche websites that focus on engineering and technology jobs, such as swipe files, exit five, marketinghire, american marketing association.
   • Post your job on free job posting websites.

6. Interview candidates

   Your first interview with creative lead candidates should focus on their interest in the role and background experience. As the hiring process goes on, you can learn more about how they'd fit into the company culture in later rounds of interviews.

   It's also good to ask about candidates' unique skills and talents. You can move on to the technical interview if a candidate is good enough for the next step.

   The right interview questions can help you assess a candidate's hard skills, behavioral intelligence, and soft skills.

7. Send a job offer and onboard your new creative lead

   Once you've found the creative lead candidate you'd like to hire, it's time to write an offer letter. This should include an explicit job offer that includes the salary and the details of any other perks. Qualified candidates might be looking at multiple positions, so your offer must be competitive if you like the candidate. Also, be prepared for a negotiation stage, as candidates may way want to tweak the details of your initial offer. Once you've settled on these details, you can draft a contract to formalize your agreement.

   It's equally important to follow up with applicants who don't get the job with an email letting them know that the position has been filled.

   To prepare for the new employee's start date, you can create an onboarding schedule and complete any necessary paperwork, such as employee action forms and onboarding documents like I-9 forms, benefits enrollment, and federal and state tax forms. Human Resources should also ensure that a new employee file is created.

8. Go through the hiring process checklist

   • Determine employee type (full-time, part-time, contractor, etc.)
   • Submit a job requisition form to the HR department
   • Define job responsibilities and requirements
   • Establish budget and timeline
   • Determine hiring decision makers for the role
   • Write job description
   • Post job on job boards, company website, etc.
   • Promote the job internally
   • Process applications through applicant tracking system
   • Review resumes and cover letters
   • Shortlist candidates for screening
   • Hold phone/virtual interview screening with first round of candidates
   • Conduct in-person interviews with top candidates from first round
   • Score candidates based on weighted criteria (e.g., experience, education, background, cultural fit, skill set, etc.)
   • Conduct background checks on top candidates
   • Check references of top candidates
   • Consult with HR and hiring decision makers on job offer specifics
   • Extend offer to top candidate(s)
   • Receive formal job offer acceptance and signed employment contract
   • Inform other candidates that the position has been filled
   • Set and communicate onboarding schedule to new hire(s)
   • Complete new hire paperwork (i9, benefits enrollment, tax forms, etc.)

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