SHADOW is seeking an Associate Creative Director (Copy) with 8+ years of multidisciplinary creative experience, ideally within agency environments and for consumer brands. This cross-divisional agency role is responsible for leading the ideation and development of culturally relevant campaign concepts and executing copy vision across SHADOW’s full roster of clients. The ideal candidate is a fast, strategic thinker who understands how ideas live, travel, and evolve in culture, and knows how to write for that reality.
What You Bring:
Cultural Fluency & POV: You live and breathe internet culture. You understand how conversations move across platforms, how brands earn attention (as opposed to buying it), and how to contribute meaningfully to cultural moments without chasing them. Your work demonstrates taste, restraint, and strong creative conviction.
Dynamic Craft: You are an expert with fluency writing across formats: scripting, long-form storytelling, campaign narratives, taglines, headlines, captions, memes, and reactive copy. You understand social platform nuance (TikTok, Instagram, X, YouTube, Reddit, emerging channels) and how to write natively for each.
Conceptual Thinking: You have a proven ability to originate big, sticky ideas that are born in culture and scalable across channels. You can translate strategy and cultural insight into clear, compelling concepts and sharp copy systems.
Leadership: You are a senior creative voice for both clients and internal teams, setting the standard for social excellence.
What You Do:
Creative Development: Lead the development of social-first and culture-driven campaign concepts for new and existing clients in close collaboration with art directors, copywriters, strategists, social leads, and producers. Shape the narrative, voice, and messaging across all creative expressions.
Platform-Native Execution: Oversee copy across integrated campaigns, real-time/reactive moments, video and short-form scripted series, experiential extensions, and digital/web touchpoints. Ensure work feels native, timely, cohesive, and distinct.
Cultural & Editorial Direction: Guide brand participation in cultural moments, trends, and conversations with clarity and authenticity. Balance speed with strategy, ensuring reactive and always-on copy maintains brand voice and creative integrity.
Brand Voice & Messaging Systems: Own and evolve brand voice across social ecosystems. For select clients, help build or refine messaging frameworks, tone-of-voice guidelines, and campaign/social playbooks that empower consistency while leaving room for spontaneity.
Team Leadership & Development: Manage, mentor and develop a team of copywriters. Provide clear, constructive feedback, encourage experimentation, and raise the overall quality and ambition of the creative output.
Client & Creative Relationships: Build trusted creative relationships with clients, acting as a strategic and cultural partner. Grow and maintain a network of writers, editors, creators, and cultural collaborators to support fast, relevant execution when needed.
Please note that if you are to progress in the interview process, an assignment will be included as part of the candidate assessment.
A quick note: This job description is meant to provide an overview of the role and its core responsibilities, but it’s not a complete list of everything the position may involve. As our teams and business continue to grow, responsibilities may shift and evolve based on company and client needs.
Annual Compensation:
$135K - $170K (commensurate with experience)
What We Provide:
- Medical + dental + vision insurance
- Generous PTO and paid holidays
- Dedicated mental health days
- Unlimited sick time
- Give Back. We want SHADOWs to extend their hearts and give back to their various communities and interests, on the clock! We offer 40 hours of paid VTO annually (voluntary time off)
- 401(k) retirement plan with matching
- Pre-tax commuter and healthcare benefits
- 12 weeks paid leave for new parents
- Individualized career mapping
- Summer Fridays (early close Fridays Memorial Day - Labor Day)
- Hybrid work schedule (1-3 days in office per week, depending on role)
While SHADOW intends to maintain these employee benefits, the Company reserves the right to modify, amend or terminate these benefits at any time and for any reason.
Additional Information
SHADOW promotes a diverse and high performing company culture. SHADOW is dedicated to providing equal opportunities to all qualified persons, and to recruit, hire, train, promote, and compensate persons in all jobs without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability, or sexual orientation.
All your information will be kept confidential according to EEO guidelines.
Skills Required
- 8+ years of multidisciplinary creative experience
- Experience within agency environments
- Fluency in writing across formats
- Ability to lead and mentor a team of copywriters
- Proven ability to originate big ideas
What We Do
SHADOW is a creative marketing and communications agency with integrated disciplines across media relations, influencer marketing, experiential and event production, social media management and content development. Using these services, we shape insights and ideas into stories, animate stories into moments and engineer moments into movements. We are also connectors – we create inter-client synergies to maximize opportunity as well as leverage industry relationships for introductions, partnerships, business development and more. With a robust portfolio of brand campaigns, cross-categorical experience, and a deep rolodex of industry relationships, we have captured the loyalty of some of the world’s most prestigious companies, including luxury and lifestyle brands, retailers, tech start-ups, publishers, personalities, non-profit organizations and hospitality groups. We are a New York-based agency, with a west coast presence made possible through our SHADOWest suite of services.
