The posting
Senior Creative Director
ALONGSIDE/ Global is an international post-production, VFX and design studio covering every discipline under one roof. We are a collective of specialist studios where elite creative thinking meets production technology, helping brands and network agencies make work that stands out.
Our established team of 15+ VFX, CG and AI artists works across Blender, Flame, Nuke and Houdini. We are pushing hard into AI and actively building new production workflows, not waiting for them to arrive.
We recently acquired ELMNTL, the UK top-10 VFX & colour studio,collaborating with brands, agencies and production companies to deliver across all media The studio collective now spans high-end stills through to broadcast finishing, and we want a Creative Director to set the bar across all of it.
Overview
We are looking for a Senior Creative Director who can win pitches, solve difficult briefs and set a high creative and finishing standard across stills and motion. The role is approximately 60% static imagery and photography for print and social, and 40% motion across TVCs and brand films.
This is a hands-on senior creative role from initial research and concept through to final quality control. You will develop ideas yourself, research clients and categories, write treatments, build pitch decks and shape visual approaches for live projects. You will also direct multidisciplinary artists and work with clients, agency creatives, production and technical specialists to turn those ideas into finished campaigns.
You will bring a clear point of view to client conversations, challenge ideas constructively and help build new AI workflows with our artists. Your creative judgment will connect strategy and craft with the practical demands of timing and budget.
This is a UK-based role, working from our London studio.
Key Responsibilities
- Pitch Development and New Business: Research each brief, client and category; develop concepts, write treatments and build pitch decks yourself; then present the work with a clear point of view to help win new business.
- Hands-on Project Work: Develop visual routes, narratives, references and treatments for live projects. Work directly with artists and production to refine ideas as the work evolves, from concept through to delivery.
- Stills and Photography (60%): Direct key visuals, CGI, AI imagery, retouching and photography, and shape their rollout into print and social deliverables.
- Motion (40%): Direct TVCs and brand films with directors, agency creatives and the ELMNTL team
- Creative Problem Solving: Listen to client and agency ideas, bring a strong creative perspective and find workable routes through creative, technical, timing and budget constraints.
- Campaign Development: Build on agency campaigns and push the work further across commercial, healthcare and pharmaceutical projects.
- Client Leadership: Lead presentations and creative reviews, make your case with senior clients, build trust and identify opportunities to do more together.
- AI and Innovation: Develop and test AI-led creative and production workflows alongside our artists, applying them where they strengthen the work.
- Quality and Finishing: Own final creative quality control across stills and motion, working with the team to ensure each project meets the brief and our finishing standard.
- Team Leadership: Direct and support our multidisciplinary VFX, CG and AI artists, giving clear feedback while staying close to the work yourself. Mentoring experienced and developing artists to continue to develop their skills.
- Awards and Studio Development: Recognise award-worthy opportunities, lead entries and contribute to portfolio development and proactive creative ideas.
Who You Are
- A Creative Problem Solver: You enjoy challenging briefs and can turn a strong idea into a workable plan.
- Confident in the Room: You pitch with conviction, make your case with senior clients and challenge ideas constructively.
- Hands-on and Resourceful: You are comfortable doing your own research, writing treatments, building decks and developing project work alongside the team.
- Open to Change: You are excited by the creative potential of AI and keen to develop new ways of working with our artists.
- Exacting About Finish: You have a sharp eye for detail and take responsibility for the work through final delivery.
- A Committed Team Leader: You lead from within the team, step in when needed and bring people with you.
Key Qualifications
- 8+ years in creative direction, art direction or a comparable senior creative role within a studio, post house, agency or production company.
- A strong portfolio of high-end commercial stills and motion, showing your own concepts, treatments, pitch materials and delivered work.
- Experience directing TVCs and brand films, ideally through post-production and broadcast finishing.
- Experience developing key visuals and taking them through print and social rollout at scale.
- A track record of pitching and winning work with agencies and brands.
- Hands-on experience of, or a clear appetite for, AI-led creative and production workflows.
- A solid understanding of post and VFX pipelines, including Blender, Houdini, Nuke and Flame, and the ability to balance creative ambition, client needs, timelines and budgets.
- UK based, working primarily from within our London studio.
Desirable
- Industry awards or shortlists, including work you helped shape or lead.
- Experience in healthcare and pharmaceutical creative.
- Experience working within a post-production or VFX studio.
- Experience working with US and international clients across time zones.
Why Join Us
Shape New Workflows: Help define how AI and established craft come together in production.
Work Across Stills and Motion: Direct key visuals, TVCs and brand films with in-house CG, VFX, AI and Colour
Make Ambitious Work: Join a studio with award ambitions and the specialist team to pursue them.
Lead an Established Team: Work alongside a growing team of VFX, CG and AI artists and help shape the studio’s next chapter.
