Creative Director, AIX Creative Studio

Overview

About AIX

Hundreds of millions of people start their day with something AI Experiences (AIX) built: asking Copilot a question, searching on Bing, opening a new tab in Edge. Parents planning a trip. Students cramming for an exam. Engineers debugging ll business owners writing their first pitch deck. AIX is the part of Microsoft that makes AI feel intuitive, useful, and people-first in all of those moments.

About the Role

We're looking for a Creative Director to lead creative for AIX at Microsoft: someone who can set a visual and narrative point of view for how people experience AI, and drive a team capable of bringing that vision to life across every surface: product, marketing, campaigns, and physical/live moments.

This is a rare hybrid role. You'll need the taste and craft of a world-class art director, the instincts of a storyteller, the leadership of someone who's run creative teams before, and a real, lived connection to culture - music, entertainment, fashion, internet culture - so the work feels of-the-moment rather than corporate. You should be equally comfortable critiquing a typeface choice, sharpening a product screen, and briefing a launch campaign that spans a keynote stage, a product surface, and a social feed.

We're specifically looking for someone who is still a maker, not just a manager. The best creative directors we've worked with never stopped making things themselves. They can jump into the work, sketch a direction, or push pixels when it matters, and then step back into setting vision, building teams, and partnering with executives. That range is a defining trait we're hiring for, not a nice-to-have.

Responsibilities

* Set the creative vision for AI Experiences - the visual language, tone, and narrative point of view that shows up consistently across product, brand, and marketing

* Art direct at the highest level - reviewing, shaping, and elevating design work across visual identity, motion, typography, and UI, with an eye that can tell the difference between "good" and genuinely distinctive

* Stay hands-on with the craft - personally jumping in to sketch a direction, design a key visual, or push a concept forward when the moment calls for it, rather than directing exclusively from a distance

* Lead and grow a visually-focused creative team - hiring, mentoring, and directing creative designers and art directors, and fostering an environment where world-class visual work thrives

* Shape story and language alongside the visuals - partnering closely with the Creative Strategy and Brand Writing leads so that strategy, words, and images are developed together as equal parts of one idea

* Build and leverage relationships with top-tier creative agencies, production partners, and creative talent

* Bridge product and marketing - ensuring the creative thread is unbroken from the first-run product experience to the campaign that introduces it to the world

* Design across digital and physical - from in-product moments and digital campaigns to launch events, physical installations, and experiential brand moments

* Partner cross-functionally with product, engineering, research, and marketing leadership to make sure creative ambition and product reality stay in sync

* Represent the creative studio internally and externally - presenting work, building conviction, and advocating for craft at every level of the organization

Qualifications

Required Qualificiations:

* Master's Degree in Industrial Design, Product Design, Human Computer Interaction, User Experience, Interaction Design, or related field AND 7+ years experience working in product or service design

* OR Bachelor's Degree in Industrial Design, Product Design, Human Computer Interaction, User Experience, Interaction Design, or related field AND 9+ years experience working in product or service design

* OR equivalent experience (e.g., demonstrated experience working in product or service design or using design thinking to solve problems).

5+ years people management experience.

Preferred Qualifications:

* 15+ years in design and art direction, including significant time as a creative leader (Creative Director, Executive Creative Director, or equivalent) at an agency, in-house studio, or brand

* A distinctive visual point of view - a portfolio that shows range across brand identity, digital product, campaign, and (ideally) physical/experiential work

* The ability to operate at both ends of the spectrum - equally credible sketching in a notebook or a design tool as you are setting strategy in a room with senior executives, and able to move fluidly between the two in the same day

* Have exceptional presentation skills and the gravitas to champion bold creative ideas with senior leadership

* A strong sensibility for story and language, even if writing isn't your primary craft, you know a good line when you see one and can push a narrative to be sharper

* Experience leading and growing creative teams, including hiring, mentoring, and managing multidisciplinary talent…