Creative Director

We're looking for a strategic, people-focused Creative Director to lead our talented creative team. We know the role means different things at different studios, so we've tried to be as clear as possible about what it means at Buff. Have a read, and if it feels like the kind of role you'd thrive in, we'd love to hear from you.

We're growing our creative leadership to better support our creative team and help shape the next chapter of Buff. Our ambition isn't to become the biggest agency. It's to build one that's here for the long term, continually striving to be better, and recognised as the best motion studio for people.

About Us

We're an established motion-first creative studio based in Brighton on the South Coast. We believe motion is fundamental to how a brand shows up in the world, and we partner with brands and agencies to create everything from motion systems and brand toolkits to product storytelling, promos and advertising campaigns.

Beyond creating great work, we're committed to creating a positive impact. We're a Certified B Corp and 1% for the Planet member, using our business for positive social and environmental good. Those commitments shape how we make decisions, work with clients and build our studio.

Read more about the studio and watch our reel to see what we’re all about.

Role Profile

As our Creative Director, you'll provide strategic leadership for our studio while helping our creative team do the best work of their careers. Working closely with the Executive Creative Director (ECD), Head of Production and the whole Creative team, your focus will be split across two areas: leading client creative strategy and execution, and advancing the growth of our team.

This is a people-focused role designed for a strategically minded heavyweight creative who thrives on collaborating with clients and getting the best from their team. Internally, you'll mentor and develop our creative team, helping people grow while continually raising the quality of our work. You'll empower our Creative Team Lead (CTL) to run the day-to-day studio workflow while retaining final creative sign-off, leading proposal narratives and shaping high-level client partnerships.

You'll help define what ‘better’ looks like at Buff, challenging briefs, elevating ideas and ensuring every project leaves the studio at the highest creative standard. You'll help shape the studio's creative direction, uncover new opportunities for our clients and play a key role in developing long-term relationships through strategic thinking and creative excellence.

You're someone who knows that the best creative work doesn't come from having all the answers. It comes from asking better questions, creating clarity and building an environment where people can do their best work.

Key Responsibilities

• Creative strategy & pitch leadership: Own the conceptual response to incoming briefs. Partner with the ECD to decipher complex client requests, create compelling proposal narratives, define strategic campaign frameworks, and confidently present our vision to secure the work.
• Final creative approval & sign-off: Hold ultimate accountability for the visual and narrative quality of all studio output. While you will delegate day-to-day execution and best practice standards to the CTL, you are ultimately accountable for creative sign-offs.
• Talent growth & senior mentorship: Take direct responsibility for the growth of our creative team through skills development and focused 1:1s. Crucially, you will personally coach and develop our CTL, guiding them through the strategic, non-craft elements of moving into a director track.
• In-project client stewardship: Act as the trusted strategic partner for our clients during production. Step in to handle complex client feedback with empathy and authority, protecting the integrity of the team’s work while engineering smart solutions to client concerns.
• Studio culture & future pipeline: Direct the studio’s inspiring, ego-free critique culture by overseeing creative reviews and skillshares. Look outward to spot and vet an elite network of freelance talent, collaborate with our Studio Manager on team skills mapping, and co-explore forward-thinking tools to keep the studio ahead of the curve.

About You

• Roughly 8+ years of total creative agency experience, with at least 2 years explicitly operating at a Director level.
• An exceptional conceptual thinker who loves the upstream phase of a project. Someone who can translate business problems into brilliant visual hooks and written proposal narratives.
• High in emotional intelligence and an active listener. You derive genuine professional joy from teaching others, giving constructive feedback, and watching your team step up.
• A highly collaborative leader who is excited to share daily project review loops with an ambitious CTL, empowering them rather than micromanaging.
• Sharp strategic instincts, client gravitas, and a deep appreciation for the finer points of design, illustration, and motion craft.

What we offer

We always want our team to feel supported, valued and rewarded. Here are some of the ways we do that:

• Private medical insurance
• Profit-share bonus and a festive December bonus
• Enhanced workplace pension scheme with 5% employer contribution
• 25 days holiday (plus bank holidays)
• 1 additional day of holiday for each year of service
• Extra time off between Christmas and New Year when the studio closes
• Enhanced parental leave
• Option to work from home 2 days per week
• 10 ‘working vacation’ days from any location
• Regular socials and away days
• Monday team breakfasts to start the week together
• Monthly development days to work on personal development goals
• Funded training opportunities
• Regular team surveys and a virtual suggestion box
• Paid opportunities to volunteer at local nonprofits