Associate Creative Director - DickersonBakker at Dickerson Bakker – Raleigh, North Carolina

About the Company

DickersonBakker is seeking an Associate Creative Director (ACD) to provide senior-level creative direction and quality control across direct response fundraising, major gift, and campaign communications. This role serves as a critical layer of creative oversight, ensuring work is polished, accurate, on-brand, and strategically sound before final delivery.

About the Role

The Associate Creative Director role exists to take ownership of the rounds of creative review, approving or redirecting content in all stages of development so senior leaders remain focused on strategic alignment and high-level brand and quality checking. The ideal candidate is an experienced creative professional with sharp editorial judgment, strong design and copy instincts, deep familiarity with direct response fundraising, and an exceedingly high bar for detail and quality. They are confident making decisions, comfortable pushing back when needed, and motivated by elevating work from “good” to “exceptional.”

Responsibilities

Creative Direction & Approval

• Serve as the primary reviewer and approver for creative work in its final stages, ensuring readiness for client presentation or production.
• Apply a consistently high standard for clarity, accuracy, tone, visual execution, and alignment with strategy.
• Make informed decisions to approve, refine, or redirect creative before it reaches senior leadership.
• Ensure creative work reflects client brand, donor psychology, and direct response best practices.

Creative Development and Execution

• Provide hands-on creative direction across copy and design for direct mail, email, digital, video, and integrated campaigns.
• Review and refine messaging, layouts, and storytelling to strengthen donor engagement and response.
• Partner with writers, designers, and freelancers to improve work quality through clear, actionable feedback.
• Ensure creative briefs and concepts are executed faithfully and effectively.
• Write video outlines to detail concepts and then execution for video needs like CTV, digital ads, and campaign videos.
• Prep for upcoming shoots with details like schedules, shot lists, and communication.
• Draft interview questions to help guide video requests.

Quality Control & Risk Reduction

• Catch errors, inconsistencies, or strategic misalignment before work reaches clients or production.
• Protect the organization from last-minute creative risk through disciplined review and attention to detail.
• Ensure compliance with client requirements, legal considerations, and internal standards.
• Reduce rework and escalation by resolving issues at the appropriate level.

Cross-Functional Collaboration

• Collaborate closely with Creative Services leadership, Digital, Project Management, Account, and Production teams to support smooth execution.
• Serve as a reliable creative partner who understands timelines, constraints, and operational realities.
• Maintain clear communication around approvals, revisions, and decision rationale.

Creative Standards & Continuous Improvement

• Help uphold and reinforce creative standards, best practices, and brand consistency across Fundraising Solutions.
• Identify recurring creative issues or gaps and recommend improvements to workflows or guidelines.
• Stay current on trends in fundraising, marketing, and creative execution relevant to nonprofit audiences.

Education & Professional Background

• Bachelor’s degree (B.A. or B.S.) preferred.
• 7–10 years of experience in creative roles within fundraising, marketing, or agency environments.
• Prior experience serving as a senior creative contributor or informal creative lead strongly preferred.
• Experience in direct response fundraising, proposal development, or major gift/campaign communications highly desirable.

Skills & Experience

• Strong creative judgment across both copy and design, with the ability to evaluate work holistically.
• Deep familiarity with direct response fundraising, donor-centric messaging, and multi-channel campaigns.
• Exceptional attention to detail and low tolerance for errors or ambiguity.
• Ability to synthesize strategy into clear creative direction and actionable feedback.
• Confidence making final decisions without relying on consensus or escalation.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
• Comfort working with freelance and contract creatives.
• Ability to travel up to 25%

Working Style & Culture Fit

• High personal standard for quality and accountability.
• Comfortable operating as an authority without formal people management.
• Calm, decisive, and constructive under deadline pressure.
• Collaborative, but willing to push back to protect the work.
• Aligned with DickersonBakker’s mission-driven work and faith-based nonprofit clients.
• Motivated by strengthening creative output rather than owning the spotlight.