Associate Director of Creative

About the role

Access Your Potential.

Join us to create and deliver experiences that inspire people, spark connection, and bring imagination to life-while having a lot of fun doing it.

Associate Director of Creative - Arizona

We’re looking for an Associate Director of Creative to join our team! This position will be based in Arizona and work closely with our Director of Creative in Denver.

The Associate Director will manage their own book of business while also supporting and leading a team. Candidates should be comfortable traveling throughout the territory as needed to meet with vendors, collaborate with team members, and support business needs.

About the Job

The Associate Director of Creative Services (Live Events) is the senior leader responsible for defining, scaling, and driving the creative vision, strategy, and execution standards for live events, meetings, and experiential programs across all markets.

This role ensures that all creative output is grounded in real-world event execution, translating bold ideas into experiences that can be successfully produced on-site. The Associate Director leads the organization in designing immersive, scalable, and operationally sound event experiences that drive revenue, client satisfaction, and brand differentiation.

As the creative authority for live events, this role partners closely with Sales, Event Operations, and Executive Leadership to ensure all concepts are not only innovative, but feasible, profitable, and executable within venue, budget, and production constraints.

What You'll Be Doing

Live Event Creative Leadership & Execution

• Define and lead the creative vision for live events, meetings, and experiential programs across all markets
• Ensure all creative strategies are rooted in how events are physically built, produced, and experienced by guests
• Establish standards for immersive environments, staging, entertainment, guest flow, and multi-day program design
• Drive innovation in event formats, environments, and experiential storytelling, not just visual design
• Translate industry trends and cultural insights into real-world event applications that elevate the guest experience
• Ensure consistency in delivering high-impact, executable event concepts across all destinations

Proposal & Experience Strategy for Live Events

• Oversee the creative direction of high-value, complex event proposals, ensuring they clearly communicate the live experience
• Ensure proposals demonstrate how ideas come to life on-site, not just how they look on paper
• Guide teams in developing guest experience narratives, spatial layouts, and experiential moments
• Partner with Sales and Events to align on scope, feasibility, and pricing for live programs
• Elevate proposal quality by reinforcing execution confidence, operational clarity, and storytelling impact

Operational Alignment & Feasibility

• Serve as the executive bridge between Creative, Sales, and Event Operations
• Ensure all creative concepts align with venue capabilities, production timelines, labor, and logistics
• Establish frameworks that require creative teams to design with execution, safety, and guest flow in mind
• Oversee alignment between creative vision, budget, and operational delivery
• Anticipate execution challenges across markets and implement scalable solutions and best practices

Creative Partner & Production Partnerships

• Lead the national strategy for event-focused creative partners, including production, entertainment, fabrication, and technical partners
• Build partnerships that support large-scale, high-quality live event execution
• Drive initiatives around exclusive offerings, custom builds, and scalable event solutions
• Partner with Procurement and Finance to ensure creative partner strategies align with creative ambition and financial performance
• Ensure all partners are equipped to deliver experiential programs, not just design services

Team Leadership & Development

• Lead and develop a national team of creative leaders with a focus on live event expertise and experiential thinking
• Establish a culture where teams design for real environments, real guests, and real-time execution
• Mentor Associate Directors and senior leaders to balance creative vision with operational accountability
• Implement training programs that deepen team knowledge in event production, logistics, and experiential design
• Build a leadership pipeline of talent capable of delivering complex, high-value live programs

Strategic & Business Impact

• Lead the long-term creative strategy to support revenue growth, client retention, and market differentiation through live experiences
• Ensure all creative output contributes to winning business and delivering exceptional on-site execution
• Partner with Executive Leadership to position Access as a leader in experiential design and live event innovation
• Drive consistency in how we deliver high-quality, executable event experiences across all markets
• Influence company strategy by aligning creative direction with operational realities and financial goals

Productivity & Scalability

• Establish systems and processes that support efficient, scalable development of live event programs
• Lead capacity planning and resource allocation across markets to support complex event pipelines
• Drive consistency in tools, workflows, and creative systems that improve speed-to-market and execution quality
• Anticipate shifts in client demand and industry trends, ensuring the team is prepared to adapt and deliver at scale
• Champion continuous improvement in how we design, sell, and execute live experiences

Access Values

• Consistently displays the Access Values (Imagine First, Demand Integrity, Embody Excellence, Always Collaborate, Service Obsession)

About You

• We know that there’s no one in the world like you.
• And we know that you have a lot to offer the next company you work with.
• Below is a list of “nice-to-haves”, but don’t let those deter you from applying.
• Access believes that an inclusive team and culture is important.
• We seek applicants from all backgrounds to ensure we get the best, most creative talent on our team.

Nice-to-haves

• 5+ years of proven success in a creative-focused role in a DMC or related industry.
• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent experience in the DMC or hospitality industry.
• Advanced understanding of client strategy, creative leadership, and operational impact.
• Proven ability to mentor, coach, and manage Creative team workloads, training, and KPI performance.
• Strong financial and pricing strategy capabilities, including budgeting, vendor negotiations, and profitability management.
• Ability to lead teams through innovation, brand alignment, and creative excellence.
• Experience collaborating with Sales, Events, and vendor partners to develop creative solutions that meet client expectations and business goals.
• Familiarity with Salesforce, creative presentation tools, and event design platforms.
• A collaborative, culture-driven leadership style aligned with Access Values.

Why Access?

We’re a women-owned, award-winning destination management company with teams in cities coast to coast. For 50+ years, we’ve been producing high-impact events and experiences for global brands-and we’re just getting started.

Culture & Extras

• Certified as a Great Place to Work - 3 years in a row!
• 55+ years in the industry!
• Women-owned and women-led
• Fun, creative, and supportive culture
• Focus on recognition and employee value - including annual and quarterly awards
• Paid day off to serve your local community
• Annual all-company retreat to connect, learn, and have fun together
• Annual qualifier-based incentive trip for top performers (certain departments eligible)
• Regional team outings
• Monthly companywide meetings to connect, learn, and celebrate wins

Compensation

• Highly competitive total compensation, including strong base salary and quarterly bonuses
• Very strong performance-based quarterly commission plans
• 401k with company match (eligible after 1 year - up to 4% of salary matched, vested immediately
• Monthly cell phone stipend

Work Life Balance

• Work from home opportunities and flexibility (including full home office setup)
• Flexible schedule opportunities
• Generous PTO
• Sick days
• 9 full holidays
• 5 half days off prior to holidays to unplug early
• 2 floating holidays off to be used on holidays of your choice
• ½ day Fridays in July & August (based on achievement of goals)

Health, Wellness, and Family

• Extensive menu of health plans to choose from
• Paid parental leave
• Pet insurance program
• Employee Assistance Plan (EAP)

Professional Development

• Mentorship program
• “Masterclasses” in industry/department-specific topics
• State-of-the-art technology platforms and tools - including training
• Annual and monthly meeting content that focuses on professional development

Ready to ACCESS your next big opportunity? Apply today!