What does a creative lead do?
A creative lead is responsible for leading a team of creative staff in conceptualizing designs according to project requirements and client specifications. Creative leads must have excellent technical and critical-thinking skills for utilizing various software tools and applications to generate designs and adjust initial outlines as needed. They also assist the creative staff with the documentation and submission of layouts that meet quality standards and budget limitations. A creative lead works closely with the creative director to establish creative solutions that would attract the audience and enhance the brand's image on market platforms.
Creative lead responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real creative lead resumes:
- 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.
- Employ color, type, illustration, photography, animation, and various print and layout techniques when designing projects.
- Produce and art direct digital video and digital photography productions.
- Create an official company page on Facebook to facilitate interaction with customers.
- Carry out SEO post-mortems to optimize & improve the quality of the NFL community.
- Negotiate with media agency to maximize advertising effectiveness and ROI.
Creative lead skills and personality traits
We calculated that 6% of Creative Leads are proficient in Sketch, Project Management, and Adobe Creative Suite. They’re also known for soft skills such as Management skills, Problem-solving skills, and Analytical skills.
We break down the percentage of Creative Leads that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Sketch, 6%
Led creative teams of 7 to 14 writers, actors, designers, and editors in producing sketch comedy shows.
- Project Management, 5%
Worked with project/traffic manager to prioritize and assign projects to available resources within project management software and meet company SLA.
- Adobe Creative Suite, 5%
Trained designers in Final Cut Pro and Adobe Creative Suite products, including Flash, AfterEffects, Illustrator, and Photoshop.
- Graphic Design, 5%
Find skilled individuals for assignments, such as graphic design, to make sure the site always appears professional.
- UI, 4%
Designed an elegant and intuitive UI along with a multitude of data visualizations to clearly deliver insights.
- User Experience, 4%
Formulated complex web development strategies to achieve a straightforward user experience in alignment with client requirements and objectives.
"sketch," "project management," and "adobe creative suite" are among the most common skills that creative leads use at work. You can find even more creative lead responsibilities below, including:
Analytical skills. Another skill that relates to the job responsibilities of creative leads is analytical skills. This skill is critical to many everyday creative lead duties, as "advertising, promotions, and marketing managers must be able to analyze industry trends to determine the most promising strategies for their organization." This example from a resume shows how this skill is used: "analyze data and metrics to make strategic decisions, while constructing comprehensive business solutions for digital marketing campaigns. "
Organizational skills. creative lead responsibilities often require "organizational skills." The duties that rely on this skill are shown by the fact that "advertising, promotions, and marketing managers must manage their time and budget efficiently while directing and motivating staff members." This resume example shows what creative leads do with organizational skills on a typical day: "created organizational efficiencies including a system for graphic design files and a post-production approval process. "
Communication skills. Another crucial skill for a creative lead to carry out their responsibilities is "communication skills." A big part of what creative leads relies on this skill, since "managers must be able to communicate effectively with a broad-based team made up of other managers or staff members during the advertising, promotions, and marketing process." How this skill relates to creative lead duties can be seen in an example from a creative lead resume snippet: "guided strategy sessions, project management, and internal/external communications. "
Creativity. Lastly, "creativity" is an important element of what a creative lead does. Creative lead responsibilities require this skill because "advertising, promotions, and marketing managers must be able to generate new and imaginative ideas." This resume example highlights how creative lead duties rely on this skill: "raised quality standards, reduced costs, and eliminated creative outsourcing by streamlining in-house production processes. "
The three companies that hire the most creative leads are:
- Dell11 creative leads jobs
- Apple8 creative leads jobs
- Mythical Store
8 creative leads jobs
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Creative lead vs. 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. Primarily, they need to implement marketing plans and identify their target clients and create a content schedule. Their duties include implementing and strategizing digital marketing campaigns. They support the development of brand identity and promotional strategies. Candidates for the job must be excellent in communication skills, have in-depth knowledge of how social platforms work, and easily understand the target audience.
There are some key differences in the responsibilities of each position. For example, creative lead responsibilities require skills like "html css," "sketch," "project management," and "adobe creative suite." Meanwhile a typical social media manager has skills in areas such as "instagram," "social media marketing," "facebook insights," and "social platforms." This difference in skills reveals the differences in what each career does.
Social media managers tend to make the most money working in the technology industry, where they earn an average salary of $82,546. In contrast, creative leads make the biggest average salary, $160,427, in the technology industry.social media managers tend to reach similar levels of education than creative leads. In fact, social media managers are 1.2% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.3% more likely to have a Doctoral Degree.Creative lead vs. Senior product manager
A senior product manager oversees the workflow and workforce involved in product and service development, ensuring a high return for its investments. They are primarily responsible for assessing and providing recommendations, producing review and reference documents, and obtaining feedback from consumers and high-ranking company personnel. Furthermore, as a senior product manager, they must lead a group of product managers, motivating and supervising them in their joint effort to accomplish goals according to the company's standards and policies.
In addition to the difference in salary, there are some other key differences worth noting. For example, creative lead responsibilities are more likely to require skills like "html css," "adobe creative suite," "graphic design," and "creative strategy." Meanwhile, a senior product manager has duties that require skills in areas such as "product management," "cloud," "product strategy," and "user stories." These differences highlight just how different the day-to-day in each role looks.
On average, senior product managers earn a higher salary than creative leads. Some industries support higher salaries in each profession. Interestingly enough, senior product managers earn the most pay in the start-up industry with an average salary of $156,609. Whereas creative leads have higher pay in the technology industry, with an average salary of $160,427.Average education levels between the two professions vary. Senior product managers tend to reach higher levels of education than creative leads. In fact, they're 13.2% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.3% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Creative lead vs. 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. They also assist with planning floor layouts for store visuals that would attract customers and marketing promotional offers and special discounts to increase more revenues.
Some important key differences between the two careers include a few of the skills necessary to fulfill the responsibilities of each. Some examples from creative lead resumes include skills like "html css," "sketch," "project management," and "adobe creative suite," whereas a merchandising manager is more likely to list skills in "sales floor," "pos," "apparel," and "pallets. "
Merchandising managers make a very good living in the retail industry with an average annual salary of $84,024. On the other hand, creative leads are paid the highest salary in the technology industry, with average annual pay of $160,427.Most merchandising managers achieve a similar degree level compared to creative leads. For example, they're 3.3% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 0.2% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Creative lead vs. Web content manager
Web content managers are executives who are responsible for planning, organizing, establishing, and publishing content. The managers establish a consistent brand identity for a business enterprise along with its online presence. They oversee marketing strategies to develop customer engagement. Their job asks them to ensure an affirmative view of the firm and its services and products. They work closely with the sales and leadership teams to create valuable content for their target audience.
Types of creative lead
Updated January 8, 2025











