Freelance Associate Creative Director, Design Keynotes & Events (Contract)

Role description 

The freelance Associate Creative Director, Design at Article Group leads creative concepting, visual styling, design, and client workshares on assigned technical keynote presentations and event collateral.  You will work directly and autonomously with clients among your direct collaborators, and be accountable for creative problem-solving, design direction, PowerPoint presentation design and animation, and collaboration with other designers and animators. You will be accountable for selling through a consistent design direction for each asset you are assigned, while contributing to all client-facing deliverables in a “hands-on” manner. This is a leader/doer role.

You will drive creative excellence across design-centric workflows and deliverables. In close collaboration with Article Group management, you will represent Article Group to clients and own accountability for creative decisions. You will demonstrate consultative listening to grasp client objectives, persuasive presentation of creative concepts, and adaptive problem-solving when incorporating feedback.

Your background skews toward keynote and presentation design, art direction, and visual storytelling. You are capable of direct partnership with clients, including senior C-suite or VP executive speaker stakeholders. You can lead creative efforts as both a doer and delegator of tasks while giving concise, actionable feedback to collaborators of all levels. Ultimately, you are responsible for crafting and advocating for the integrity of the core creative vision of assigned deliverables with team members and clients.

This role requires advanced PowerPoint design capabilities. Candidates should be comfortable designing high-visibility executive-level presentations, designing polished slides from blank pages, and iterating rapidly in live client sessions. 

This role frequently requires direct, 1:1 collaboration with clients. Designers will be expected to work with clients as partners in the creative process, and become trusted, embedded members of the client keynote development team.

This is a freelance, project-based contract role with variable hours based on client demand and event schedules. You will work in a remote environment. Travel for on-site events and rehearsals will be required. You will find success in this role if you are senior enough to design and iterate quickly in PowerPoint with a high taste level in close, personable collaboration with client stakeholders. 

Key responsibilities: 

• Provides creative expertise in client pitches, work shares, and brainstorms, to establish a clear vision and direction for all assigned deliverables.
• Designs creative output inclusive of data visualizations, technical diagrams, and conceptual, informational slides within brand guidelines. 
• Moves ideas past the obvious and brings teams and clients along with them.
• Delegates as needed to project teams and manages creative processes and deliverables from conception through final delivery.
• Enforces and improves Article Group standards and processes for audience-first visual storytelling in slide and motion design.
• Designs storyboards for animated sequences as needed, in adherence with Article Group best practices for motion design.
• Workshops ideas in direct collaboration with client stakeholders, assesses feedback, and communicates clear paths forward after every client conversation.
• Escalates project risks and concerns regularly to senior Article Group leadership.
• Expert in Microsoft PowerPoint and Adobe Creative Suite (specifically Photoshop and Illustrator). Working knowledge of Keynote, Google Slides, Figma is expected. Knowledge of After Effects and Media Encoder is nice to have.
• Knowledge of AI tools such as Midjourney, Firefly, Runway, Claude, and Gemini is a bonus.

Minimum requirements:

• 6+ years of design experience with at least 3 in an Associate Creative Director or senior creative leadership role
• A portfolio that specifically showcases keynote and large-scale event presentations will be required for consideration
• Experience leading creative execution in live event environments, maintaining composure and driving solutions under pressure during production.
• Expert-level PowerPoint and Adobe Creative Suite (Photoshop, Illustrator) proficiency, with working knowledge of Keynote, Google Slides, and Figma
• Demonstrated experience managing and mentoring designers, motion designers and other creatives across levels, including giving direct, actionable feedback that actually improves the work
• Cross-functional collaboration experience, specifically partnering with strategy and account leads