VP – Creative Director

Golin Chicago is looking for a VP, Creative to supercharge a marquee account with earned‑first ideas that break culture. In this role, you’ll be the hands‑on, Chicago‑based partner to our ECD, shaping the work from the first strategic spark through launch and lift‑off.

Golin has been on a winning streak of recognition: PRWeek’s Best Place to Work, Provoke Media’s Global Agency of the Year, PRWeek’s Large Agency of the year and winning two Grand Prix at Cannes. 

Riding the wave of recognition and award-winning work, the VP, Creative has an incredible opportunity to toggle between real‑time activations, social‑led brand storytelling, passion projects, and the occasional logo or visual system that helps promote and protect the brand in Chicago and keep Golin on top. 

It’s an exciting time for the agency to continue to deliver impactful earned work that builds brands and reputations, and we know other brands can benefit from the award-winning work we create.

Our ideal candidate is equal parts player and coach: the kind of thinker who can see a trending moment then guide it to a full launch campaign. You see a single insight, craft the sharp “what‑if,” and transform it into a deck clients buy on the spot.

What really sets you apart? You thrive inside the swirl of multiple stakeholder voices, you’re a mentor who elevates junior talent, all while keeping your own creative muscles flexed. You know how to sell—calibrating “safe but smart” through “wild and audacious” concepts—and you relish the moment a headline drops.

What you’ll do:

• Generate and shepherd earned‑first, culture‑breaking ideas across assignment briefs, real‑time social moments, design craft, and proactive passion projects.

• Lead and mentor cross‑disciplinary teams—pushing insight, storytelling, and design craft while acting as the senior creative voice in Chicago.

• Package ideas into full‑bleed, minimal‑copy decks that clients can’t resist; present, defend, and refine them with confidence.

• Balance multiple stakeholder inputs, championing a clear creative POV while keeping collaboration friction‑free.

• Set the bar for craft and culture, fuel ongoing trend‑spotting, and model a “builder” mindset for the team.

What you have:

• 8 –10  years of creative leadership with a portfolio of social‑led, earned‑media ideas that grabbed headlines or trophies.

• Strategic chops to interrogate insights, distill the “one thing,” and turn it into big yet executable solutions.

• Deckcraft mastery: full‑bleed visuals, concise copy, and storytelling that makes complex ideas feel effortless.

• A collaborator’s spirit and an “adult‑in‑the‑room” presence—able to mentor, push back, and keep teams aligned.

• Real‑time social fluency and a pulse on cultural trends; data‑curious enough to speak ROI when needed.

• Chicago‑based (hybrid; 3-days in the office), ready to jump on opportunities within hours—not days—and hungry to make both the agency and yourself famous.

About Golin: 

Golin is a global, award-winning public relations agency that helps the company create change that matters. Together, we discover powerful human truths that bind us, create with bravery, and collaborate inclusively and obsessively. Golin's 1700 global employees operate across 50+ offices worldwide, allowing us to provide our clients with comprehensive solutions for multi-market, regional and global communications programs.

Every agency is talking about AI. At Golin, we are using AI to rewrite the rules of PR. We’re even promising to become the first fully AI-integrated agency by 2026. We are committed to upskilling our workforce, democratizing access to tools, and integrating AI into our daily work to maximize the value we deliver to our clients.

We're especially committed to going all in for our people. We challenge our employees to be courageously happy and have empowered them to do so by offering our LifeTime benefits program. LifeTime offers flexible time off, enhanced family care, generous health and wellness benefits, workplace hybrid flexibility, and a monthly LifeTime stipend for the gym or hobbies.

Our expertise ranges from brand-building and cutting-edge digital content to corporate reputation, healthcare advocacy and measurement. Golin aligns earned-first, data-driven creative with the customer journey through our collaborative G4 Model to deliver maximum impact for clients. Our roster includes many of the largest CPG, retail, food, healthcare, technology and consumer service companies in the world.

Please note: This is a hybrid role located in Chicago, IL. You will have an opportunity to collaborate in-person two to three days a week at our Chicago office while maintaining flexibility for remote work. 

Salary range: $120,000 - $219,000.

Golin has included the base salary range or hourly rate for this role. Actual compensation offered within the range will depend upon, among other factors: a candidate’s skills, qualifications, and experience; actual ranges for current or former employees in the role; and market considerations.

Any request to schedule an interview and any legitimate offer of employment will only come from an authorized representative of Golin. We will never require an applicant to provide sensitive personally identifiable information in order to conduct an interview.

Qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability, protected veteran status or other characteristics protected by law.