Associate Creative Director, Motion & Design

About the role

Highwire’s creative team sits within the agency’s Innovation practice. We lead the creative strategy, design, and execution of powerful, valuable, and impactful ideas that drive business impact for our clients.

We weave insights into ideas, make ideas real, and combine multidimensional creativity with strategic storytelling so our clients stand out from the competition. We believe the biggest ideas don’t have to be the most complex, and we champion the importance of matching high-caliber creative delivery with strategic motivation.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead the conceptualization and execution of high-impact design and motion concepts for web, social campaigns, event experiences, brand video, and digital products.
• Establish and optimize the agency's motion design standards and best practices, including building scalable motion asset systems (templates, modular components, reusable frameworks) that support high-volume output without sacrificing brand consistency or craft quality. Own and continuously refine motion design workflows end to end (from storyboarding to final post-production), including capacity forecasting, escalation protocols, and bottleneck prediction across simultaneous high-volume workstreams.
• Operate within AI-supported creative production workflows, partnering with technical and AI-focused team members under established human-in-the-loop guardrails to balance speed, scale, and creative quality.
• Own creative presentations for major client accounts and high-stakes new business pitches. Effectively articulate the strategic "why" behind creative and motion-driven choices to non-creative stakeholders.
• Manage friction points between creative timelines and account or client demands, protecting production quality and team capacity while maintaining a collaborative cross-functional relationship.
• Directly manage a team of motion designers and brand designers, including formal performance reviews and development planning. Foster a culture of continuous learning, creative experimentation, and technical growth, while holding the team to clear delivery and craft standards.
• Act as the primary guardian of Highwire’s own visual brand, while simultaneously ensuring clients' visual systems remain cohesive and forward-thinking across all mediums.
• Partner with Digital Strategy and Copy leads to ensure copy and visuals work in perfect harmony to drive measurable business results.

Candidate requirements

• Experience: 8+ years of professional design and motion experience, with at least 3+ years in a dedicated creative leadership or player-coach role (agency experience heavily preferred). Demonstrated direct people management experience, including conducting formal performance evaluations, is required.
• Portfolio: A portfolio demonstrating ownership of brand, motion, and video storytelling at a campaign or systems level, not just individual pieces, alongside strong typography, layout, and UI/UX fundamentals.
• Technical Mastery: Expert proficiency in Adobe Creative Suite (After Effects, Premiere, Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign) and Figma. Experience with 3D software (Cinema 4D or Blender) is a massive plus. Experience with Final Cut Pro and DaVinci Resolve is helpful.
• Design Systems: Deep experience creating, scaling, and maintaining comprehensive digital and motion design systems.
• Strategic Intuition: Strong understanding of UX/UI principles, digital accessibility standards, and multi-platform social media optimization.
• Culture Fit: A thriving-under-pressure mentality with strong judgment for managing competing priorities across multiple concurrent projects. Working knowledge of AI-integrated creative workflows, including comfort operating within human-in-the-loop guardrails for AI-supported concepting and production.

Pay

The salary range for this position is $110,000 to $135,000, with the final offer based on a combination of factors, including education, relevant experience, skills, prior training, internal equity, and local geographic market data. This role also includes a competitive benefits package with medical, dental, and vision coverage, 401(k) matching, generous paid time off, and additional perks designed to support your overall well-being and growth.

About Highwire

Highwire is a strategic marketing communications agency at the intersection of innovation and industry. We partner with ambitious companies and established brands to navigate complexity, lead markets, and grow with purpose. With integrated expertise in strategic marketing and communications, corporate reputation, creative, and insights, we cut through the noise to deliver bold ideas and measurable impact across B2B technology, healthcare, cybersecurity, energy, professional and financial services, and more.

Location & Work Environment

Highwire offers both remote and hybrid work options, depending on where you live.

Hybrid: Candidates located within commuting distance of our New York, NY or San Francisco, CA offices follow a hybrid schedule, with three in-office days per week.

Remote: We hire for fully remote roles in the following states: California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Washington, and Washington, D.C..