Creative Lead

Creative Lead

Stocksy United | Remote | Full-time

Lead the Creative Vision of Something Real

Real artists. Real work. Real impact for brands.

Stocksy is an artist-led visual media co-operative with over 1,800 co-owner artists around the world—photographers, directors, illustrators—who make real work for premium brands you know and love. And by the way, our artists don’t just contribute content; they own the company.

For over a decade, Stocksy has quietly powered some of the world’s most compelling brand work. Now we’re ready for our next chapter: growing a deeply loved, design-forward business into a globally recognized creative brand—without losing who we are.

We’re looking for a Creative Lead who can tell that story to the world. Someone who believes that real visuals, made by real artists who care deeply about their work, still matter in a world of AI where everything starts to look the same. Someone who can lead with taste, shape narrative at scale, and translate cultural insight into creative direction that resonates with the world’s best brands and agencies. You’ll help shape the future of an artist-owned company that believes creativity deserves respect, context, and fair compensation. You’ll have real influence, real ownership of the creative vision, and the chance to build and scale a brand that truly stands for something. If you’re a Creative Lead who wants to leave a meaningful mark on the industry, not just your portfolio, this is that role.

The Opportunity

As Creative Lead at Stocksy, you will own and evolve the creative vision of the brand—how Stocksy looks, feels, and shows up across every touchpoint. You’ll shape big-picture storytelling while guiding a small, talented creative team and collaborating closely with Content, Marketing, Sales, and Technology. You’ll sit at the intersection of:

Brand storytelling

Creative strategy

Artist-led content

Commercial growth

This is a role for a Creative Lead who wants more than campaigns. It’s for someone who wants to shape a brand with real cultural weight.

Your Purpose:

The Creative Lead is responsible for shaping, stewarding, and scaling Stocksy’s creative vision—ensuring our brand and collection remain meaningful, culturally relevant, and commercially powerful for today’s and tomorrow’s clients.

Reporting to the Head of Revenue Marketing, you will lead Stocksy’s creative stream, define how our work shows up in the world, and help translate our artist-owned model into a compelling, differentiated brand narrative that fuels growth.

You will champion creative excellence while balancing art, data, and business—helping Stocksy stand apart in a crowded, increasingly commoditized visual landscape.

Role Structure:

Department: Creative

Reports to: Head of Revenue Marketing

Key stakeholders: Marketing, Content, Sales, Technology

Direct reports: 2+

Job type: FT Employee (Canada) or Dependent Contractor (outside of Canada)

Location: Remote, preference to those able to work within North American timezones

Hours: This is a full time position with the standard hours of 40 hours per week. Typical office hours are 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Monday to Friday. Overtime may be required as part of annual compensation.

We Offer:

A salary range of $70,000 to $90,000 per year, reflective of experience and expertise.

A fully remote role that empowers you to shape a work environment where your creativity and productivity thrive.

Generous paid time off, including six weeks of paid vacation, unlimited paid sick days, and a paid volunteer day.

Comprehensive health and dental benefits (or a health spending account for team members outside Canada).

An annual $1,000 allowance dedicated to your education and wellness.

What You’ll Do:

Lead the Creative Vision

Define and evolve Stocksy’s creative and visual direction across brand, marketing, and platform experiences.

Tell a cohesive, emotionally resonant story about who we are, why we exist, and why our work matters.

Ensure Stocksy’s creative output consistently reflects our values: human, thoughtful, culturally aware, and artist-led.

Build & Lead a High-Performing Creative Team

Mentor, inspire, and lead a team of creatives, designers and copy writers through clarity, trust, and high standards.

Foster a culture of collaboration, accountability, and continuous creative evolution.

Scale creative capability thoughtfully as the company grows.

Shape Strategy, Not Just Execution

Define Creative OKRs and success metrics in alignment with company goals.

Partner with the Head of Revenue Marketing to translate business objectives into clear creative strategies.

Use insight, data, and cultural awareness to guide creative decisions—not trends for trend’s sake.

Steward the Collection & Artist Relationship

Work closely with the Content team to ensure the aesthetic integrity and long-term relevance of Stocksy’s collection.

Help guide artist recruitment and acquisition strategy, ensuring Stocksy continues to attract world-class talent.

Act as a creative advocate for our artist-owners while balancing commercial needs.

Be a Creative Voice in the Industry

Collaborate with senior leadership, including the CEO and Board, on long-term brand and growth strategy.

Identify creative opportunities, risks, and innovations that support Stocksy’s evolution.

Bring a strong point of view—and the ability to articulate the “why” behind it.

Be a creative leader and represent Stocksy in public speaking opportunities, panels, pitches, podcasts and events.

Who You Are:

You’re a big-picture Creative Lead with taste, conviction, and curiosity. You likely come from a creative agency, media, or brand environment—and you’re excited by the idea of working closer to the product, the artists, and the long-term story. You:

Believe creativity is a strategic advantage, not a decorative layer

Are energized by building, not just maintaining brands

Can hold vision and detail at the same time

Are as comfortable presenting to clients as you are mentoring creatives

Care deeply about culture, authorship, and creative integrity

Experience & Capabilities:

6+ years of progressive senior leadership experience in creative content, brand, design or related fields.

High visual literacy, strong awareness of current and emerging aesthetic movements, and a working knowledge of how photography functions in editorial, commercial, and cultural contexts.

Strong creative writing (both long and short form) and brand narrative development skills. 

A robust, online portfolio showcasing a diverse range of high-quality, executed creative projects that demonstrate both strategic thinking and technical skill.

Proven ability to develop and execute creative strategies that drive brand and business outcomes.

Experience leading small, high-impact teams of designers, copywriters and creatives in remote and/or international environments.

Strong analytical mindset with experience using OKRs, KPIs, and performance metrics.

Experienced in using design tools like Adobe creative suite.

Excellent cross-platform fluency (Figma, Asana, modern creative workflows).

Confident presenter and communicator, internally and externally.

Comfortable operating in Agile, fast-evolving environments.

Key Success Metrics:

Drive creative ideation, delivery and measure creative performance for brand and demand campaigns.

Deliver high value insights driven content in both long and short form.

Deliver thought leadership narratives and insights shaping our industry at speaking engagements like events, webinars and podcasts.

Stocksy supports a global membership of employees, contractors, and contributors from all walks of life. We find strength in what makes us different. We are committed to building a diverse membership and cultivating an inclusive environment where every one of our Co-op members can thrive.

We are actively seeking any member who may have taken a road less travelled to get to where they are now. Experience and education comes in many forms; so long as you are excited about working with us and feel you could be your best self in this role, then we want to hear from you!