Summary
Microsoft is seeking a Creative Director for Visual Media Strategy, focusing on Product, Design & Marketing. This role requires exceptional taste, strategic instinct, and the ability to anticipate visual trends. You will translate cultural and product signals into clear creative direction, leveraging generative AI as a tool. Responsibilities include nurturing talent, developing new ways of working, and setting creative direction across large brand or product ecosystems. Experience building and directing visual content strategy for large-scale media libraries or digital platforms is essential. Strong people leadership and communication skills, with experience presenting to senior leadership, are required.
Description
The right person has exceptional taste and strong strategic instinct. You anticipate shifts in the visual landscape before they fully emerge, translate cultural and product signals into clear direction, and know how to make generative AI a serious tool within each domain area to drive ever-better work. And you know how to bring people along with you, nurturing talent and paving new ways of working.
12+ years in visual media leadership (photo, video, illustration, or multimedia) within creatively driven environments such as consumer technology, publishing, streaming/media, or creative agencies serving those industries.
Strong editorial judgment and demonstrated ability to set creative direction across a large brand or product ecosystem, not just select content within it.
Experience building and directing visual content strategy across large-scale media libraries or digital platforms.
Proven people leadership: experience managing, developing, and unifying creative teams.
Demonstrated ability to synthesize domain expertise with business needs to identify improvement opportunities and drive them to completion with initiative, even without pre-defined roadmaps.
Experience defining or evolving a visual media strategy that directly influenced product direction, brand perception, or user engagement.
Clear, effective communicator with experience presenting to senior and executive leadership and aligning cross-functional partners.
Proficiency in generative AI image tools and workflows (prompting, evaluation, governance), with the ability to maintain brand integrity and quality standards.
Experience with CMS, automation tools, metadata standards, cataloging, and taxonomy practices.
Familiarity with a wide range of content sources, from enterprise providers (Getty, AP, Shutterstock) to boutique agencies to individual contributors and AI-driven platforms.
Experience with enterprise-level vendor negotiations and partner management in media/content.
Experience overseeing art buying, illustration commissions, or artwork licensing programs end-to-end.
Track record on high-visibility, executive-facing creative projects with cross-functional senior stakeholders.
Understanding of image and video rights, licensing, and clearance processes.
