Creative Director at Engine

Job description

About Engine Engine is the AI-native platform for intelligent travel. For a decade, Engine has built the proprietary technology and supply behind modern business travel, serving over 40,000 customers and nearly 2 million travelers, along with leading travel and AI companies that build on Engine's infrastructure. One system powers business travel, group travel, human agents, and AI agents. That work has earned Engine recognition as TravelTech's Reservation Platform of the Year (2026), a spot on Inc.'s Power Partners list (2026), and one of Built In's Best Places to Work (2020–2026). We're looking for bold, ambitious people to help redefine how businesses manage and experience travel. Working here, you can expect exponential growth, an ambitious pace, full ownership, and high-caliber colleagues who push you to do the best work of your career. Every hire raises the bar. Come outpace the ordinary and build the future of travel with us. Your Mission Create across the entire customer journey. Growth touches every stage from the first impression in a paid ad, printed asset, or event through the website, lifecycle, in-product moments, and beyond. You’ll own the creative that shows up across all of it and build the automation, tooling, and workflows behind a creative engine capable of producing distinctive, high-performing, on-brand work at scale. You’ll make AI a core part of how we create while maintaining a high bar for taste, craft, and originality. This is a role for a creative leader who wants to build as much as they lead shaping the work, the systems, and ultimately the team behind it. What You'll Own The AI-assisted creative engine. Design the end-to-end creative pipeline: workflows, prompt libraries, components, guardrails, asset databases, and tool stacks that allow us to ship high volumes of quality creative quickly. Drive real innovation in how we apply AI to stand out, and establish the QA systems that keep quality high as output scales. New tools and approaches to creative production. Continuously experiment with emerging creative technology, agencies, and production models. Partner with Growth’s technical resources to leverage open-source libraries and build new capabilities that increase the speed, quality, and scale of creative production. Creative as targeting. Treat creative as an audience filter and a growth lever. Build frameworks for high-performing creative territories, connect testing insights and customer behavior to new ideas, and diagnose what’s working through signals like hook rate, hold rate, conversion, and creative decay. The bridge between brand and scale. Work closely with Engine’s Brand team to translate creative and narrative into Engine’s brand systems while finding new ways to scale performance without losing what makes the brand distinctive. In-person and experiential creative. Lead creative for events, conferences, activations, and field moments. Design experiences that make the brand felt, earn attention in the room, and create stories and assets that travel far beyond the event itself. Brand-distinctive, entertainment-first work. Ship creative that earns its media spend: bold, memorable, and unmistakably Engine. Bring flagship ideas that break category conventions while keeping the creative pipeline fresh ahead of fatigue. Testing velocity. Partner with Growth on structured testing frameworks, concept logs, and learning agendas so every cycle compounds into smarter, stronger creative. The creative team. Lead and develop designers, editors, AI specialists, and producers. Set the creative bar, stay close to the work, and deploy your own craft when it counts. Build a culture that values experimentation, speed, accountability, and exceptional creative standards. How We'll Measure Success Leading indicators include testing velocity, volume of test-ready assets shipped, creative performance signals such as hook rate and hold rate, and reach generated from in-person moments. Lagging indicators include efficient acquisition and pipeline driven by creative and events, with creative quality and brand fit maintained as output scales. What You'll Bring Extensive experience in creative strategy or creative leadership, with a track record of innovation and measurable business impact. A portfolio that spans both experiential or event creative and performance-driven digital work. Hands-on fluency with generative AI and creative technology including tools like: Midjourney, Runway, Firefly, ElevenLabs, automation platforms and the ability to turn them into scalable creative systems. Strong direct-response instincts: you can diagnose hooks, understand why creative performs, and know what makes work effective platform by platform. A systems-builder mindset. You naturally think in workflows, SOPs, pipelines, and ways to increase creative velocity without compromising quality. Craft pedigree in copy, art direction, design, or video that grounds your strategic judgment. Strong performance fluency: you’re comfortable with the metrics and know how to translate data and creative signals into the next iteration. Experience leading and developing creative talent while remaining close enough to the work to contribute directly when needed. Visionary and pragmatic, with high agency and an appetite for building in a fast-moving, AI-forward environment. We accept applications for this role on an ongoing basis. We review applications as they are received and encourage interested candidates to apply early. Compensation Our compensation packages are based on several factors, including your experience, expertise, and location. In addition to a competitive base salary, all roles receive equity. Depending on the role, total compensation may also include an annual bonus. Your recruiter will share your complete compensation package as you move through the process. Base Pay Range $157,505 — $218,000 USD The Engine Edge: Perks & Compensation We believe in rewarding great work with great benefits: Compensation: Competitive base pay tied to role and experience, with equity for all employees. Some roles are also eligible for bonuses or commissions. Benefits: Check out our full list at engine.com/culture Environments for Success: Different roles have different needs in terms of the environments that drive success which is why we have a hybrid-hub model. Whether you are in one of our amazing offices or fully remote, we'll make sure you have what you need to succeed. Perks and benefits may vary based on employment type, location, and more

Requirements

Must-haves

Extensive experience in creative strategy or creative leadership, with a track record of innovation and measurable business impact.
A portfolio that spans both experiential or event creative and performance-driven digital work.
Hands-on fluency with generative AI and creative technology including tools like: Midjourney, Runway, Firefly, ElevenLabs, automation platforms and the ability to turn them into scalable creative systems.
Strong direct-response instincts: you can diagnose hooks, understand why creative performs, and know what makes work effective platform by platform.
A systems-builder mindset. You naturally think in workflows, SOPs, pipelines, and ways to increase creative velocity without compromising quality.
Craft pedigree in copy, art direction, design, or video that grounds your strategic judgment.
Strong performance fluency: you’re comfortable with the metrics and know how to translate data and creative signals into the next iteration.
Experience leading and developing creative talent while remaining close enough to the work to contribute directly when needed.
Visionary and pragmatic, with high agency and an appetite for building in a fast-moving, AI-forward environment.
Compensation: Competitive base pay tied to role and experience, with equity for all employees. Some roles are also eligible for bonuses or commissions.
Benefits: Check out our full list at engine.com/culture
Perks and benefits may vary based on employment type, location, and more

Nice-to-haves

None flagged.

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Platform: greenhouse
Effort: quick

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