Director, Creative Technology (AI & Innovation)

About R/GA

In our 40-year history, we’ve changed a lot—from a culture-defining film title studio (Superman, Alien, Ghostbusters); to an interactive advertising agency; to an award-winning product and marketing agency with design, technology, communications, ventures and IP practices. We like change, and like to navigate our clients through it too.

Our approach to work is always human first. This unwavering focus helps us create meaningful and memorable experiences that live across digital platforms and often blur the line between the digital and real worlds. We believe disruptive thinking happens when you collide experts in design, technology and culture.

About the role

We are seeking a senior-level Creative Technologist who is passionate about the frontier of Artificial Intelligence and prepared to lead our creative output into its next evolution. This is a hands-on leadership role; you are a primary builder and a visionary who operates at the intersection of conceptual strategy and functional demonstration.

In this role, you will be the principal architect of unique AI-driven concepts, directing a multi-disciplinary team to refine ideas while serving as the authority bridging creativity and tech with clients.

Here’s what you need to know to be a Director, Creative Technology (AI & Innovation) at R/GA:

On any given day you might

Drive AI Ideation & Innovation

• Principal Contributor: Serve as the primary architect for AI-centric concepts, translating theoretical ideas into functional, scalable prototypes.

• Innovation Catalyst: Maintain a deep commitment to the technological cutting edge. You will be responsible for keeping up to date with and experimenting new models, and translating their capabilities into tangible creative opportunities.

• Creative Lead: Direct the ideation process and inspire contributors across creative, design, content, and development to ensure the team is leveraging AI tools effectively and maximizing the innovative potential of every project. You are able to distill high level ideas and business and brand needs into tangible creative solutions that can be quickly developed to prove their impact.

Prototype & "Vibe Code"

• Rapid Prototyping: Employ AI-assisted development workflows (Claude code, Gemini cli, codex) to build demos, tools, and experiences with extreme agility. You should be capable of delivering a functional proof-of-concept for a client within an accelerated timeline.

• Early Access Experimentation: Leverage early access to emerging features and APIs to develop pioneering experiences that provide our clients with a distinct competitive advantage.

• Technical Direction: Validate the feasibility of complex AI workflows—including RAG (Retrieval-Augmented Generation), and multi-modal agents—ensuring they align strictly with the creative and strategic vision.

Lead & Partner with Clients

• Creative Tech Representation: You will serve as the primary technical lead representing AI-driven concepts to clients. You must be able to articulate complex AI logic in a way that feels transformative and accessible.

• Consultative Strategy: Partner with clients to identify business challenges that can be uniquely addressed through sophisticated and creative AI applications.

The ideal person

• Is a creative leader who leans heavily into the technical possibilities of AI—ranging from Large Language Models and diffusion models to emerging "vibe coding" workflows, and everything in between.

• Is comfortable working in high-velocity environments, experimenting with early-access features, and utilizing AI to accelerate the transition from initial concept to high-fidelity prototype.

You bring

• 10+ years of experience in creative technology or a high-level hybrid creative-technical role.

• A distinguished track record of creative tech execution and development. (We are looking for a history of AI-driven experiments, sophisticated side projects, and high-impact agency work.)

• Communication Excellence with an exceptional ability to present to executive stakeholders and bridge the gap between technical complexity and creative impact.

• Agency Experience and familiarity with working agency-side to service clients, and the specific requirements of the creative lifecycle.

• AI & Machine Learning:

• Advanced Prompt Engineering: Mastery of prompt engineering across text, image, video, and audio generation platforms.

• Model Proficiency: Expert-level knowledge of LLMs (Anthropic, Gemini, OpenAI) and generative media frameworks (Runway, Kling, Suno/Udio).

• Agentic Workflows: Experience designing and building AI agents and multi-step automated creative pipelines.

• Modern Development (The "Vibe Coding" Stack):

• Accelerated Development: Proficiency in utilizing AI coding assistants (e.g., Claude, Gemini CLI / Antigravity, Cursor, etc.) to streamline the build process.

• Full-Stack Prototyping: Ability to rapidly deploy front-ends (ex: React, Next.js, Tailwind) and back-ends (ex: Python/Node) to integrate AI models into polished, user-facing interfaces.

• Creative Technology Foundations: While focused on AI, you should possess a strong understanding of core creative technologies, including WebGL, AR/VR (Unity/RealityKit), and immersive web standards.

This role is primarily based in our New York City or San Francisco hubs. We have a strong preference for candidates currently located in the NYC tri-state area or the SF Bay Area, or those willing to relocate. We operate on a hybrid work model to facilitate in-person collaboration and workshops. However, for the right candidate, we are open to discussing fully remote arrangements within the United States.

The hiring range for this position is $210,000 to $ 250,000. Where an employee or prospective employee is paid within this range will depend on, among other factors, actual ranges for current/former employees in the subject position; budgetary considerations; tenure and standing with the company (applicable to current employees); as well as the employee’s/applicant’s applicable skills, pertinent experience, and qualifications.