Creative director with 15 years in agency and in-house roles, leading integrated campaigns for consumer brands. Leads a 16-person team of designers, writers and producers. Directed a brand platform relaunch that lifted unaided awareness by 9 points and earned two One Show merits.
Experience
Creative Director, Ironbridge Creative (Chicago, IL)
Nov 2020 – Present
Lead 16 designers, copywriters and producers on campaigns for food, beverage and retail clients
Directed a beverage brand platform relaunch that lifted unaided awareness by 9 points
Manage annual production budgets up to $4M across TV, digital and out-of-home
Won 2 One Show merits and retained 3 accounts worth $8M in fees
Associate Creative Director, Windy City Partners (Chicago, IL)
Apr 2016 – Oct 2020
Led art and copy teams on a national retail account
Developed a holiday campaign that drove a 14% sales lift in Q4
Pitched and helped win 5 new business accounts
Senior Art Director, Lakefront Studio (Chicago, IL)
Jun 2011 – Mar 2016
Art directed print, digital and broadcast work for 12 clients
Directed photo and video shoots across 3 states
Education
BFA, Visual Communication, School of the Art Institute of Chicago (Sep 2007 – May 2011)
Skills
Creative leadership: brand platforms, integrated campaigns, team leadership, pitching
Craft: art direction, concepting, copy review, production oversight
A strong Creative Director resume shows the problems you framed, the decisions you drove, and the user or business outcomes they produced. Show the organization you ran (team size, budget, revenue) and the business results you are accountable for.
Sections, in order
Summary
Experience
Projects
Skills
Education
Length: Two pages are common for leadership roles; keep the first page strong enough to stand alone.
Summary: Lead with your leadership scope and the business outcomes you are known for.
Skills to feature
User research
Product strategy
Prototyping
Figma
Design systems
Usability testing
Roadmapping
Experimentation (A/B testing)
Stakeholder management
Accessibility
Example bullet points
Redesigned onboarding from 9 steps to 4, lifting week-one activation from 31% to 44%
Built a 120-component design system adopted by 5 squads, halving UI build time for new features
Ran 40 user interviews and a pricing test that informed a packaging change worth $1.2M ARR
Tips from recruiters
Put a portfolio link in the header; for product roles, link a case study or launch write-up instead.
Describe your role in shared outcomes precisely ("led", "co-owned", "contributed").
Keep visuals for the portfolio: a clean, readable resume signals design judgement better than decoration.
Recommended templates
Modern (ATS-friendly): Clean single column with accent headings and rules
Timeline (ATS-friendly): Clean accent layout with a dated career timeline
Vanguard (ATS-friendly): Bold display name, accent-led headings with line rules
Creative Director resume FAQ
What should a Creative Director resume include?
A Creative Director resume should show the problems you framed, the decisions you drove, and the user or business outcomes they produced. Use these sections in this order: Summary, Experience, Projects, Skills and Education. Show the organization you ran (team size, budget, revenue) and the business results you are accountable for.
What is the best resume template for a Creative Director?
Modern, Timeline and Vanguard work well for Creative Director roles. They are single-column with standard headings, so applicant tracking systems (ATS) parse them reliably.
How long should a Creative Director resume be?
Two pages are common for leadership roles; keep the first page strong enough to stand alone.
Which skills should a Creative Director put on a resume?
Prioritize the skills named in the job posting. Common ones for Creative Director roles are User research, Product strategy, Prototyping, Figma, Design systems and Usability testing.
How do I write strong Creative Director resume bullet points?
Start with an action verb, say what you did, and end with a measurable result such as activation, conversion and retention. For example: "Redesigned onboarding from 9 steps to 4, lifting week-one activation from 31% to 44%."