Associate Creative Director (Freelance to Full-Time)

Fanatics — Global leader in licensed sports merch, collectibles & fan culture. Fanatics is rewriting what it means to be a modern brand in sports. Across licensed apparel, athlete collaborations, collectibles, live events, and global fan experiences, we’re building a world where creativity drives the business. And we’re looking for an Associate Creative Director to help shape the next era of social storytelling for our commerce business. The Role Fanatics is seeking an Associate Creative Director (Art-based) focused on organic social, sports fashion, and e-Commerce. This position will be freelance to full-time. What You’ll Do: You’ll lead the creative charge for one of the most culturally active brands in the world — using social as your canvas and fandom as your fuel. • Set the creative vision across our commerce-first everyday social and campaigns - including product drops, launches, brand and athlete collaborations and championship merch. • Develop ideas that flex across platforms — while also driving best-in-class performance within platform-specific behaviors on Meta, TikTok, X, and more. • Lead and elevate a team. Mentor a dynamic group of designers, writers, editors, and creators, building a high-performing culture obsessed with sports, creativity, and craft. • Blend storytelling + fashion. Make product releases feel like entertainment — building hype, shaping demand, and driving conversation. • Partner closely with strategy, production, marketing, and e-comm teams to deliver work that drives relevance and social KPIs. • Bring a strong creative POV grounded in experience of how fashion brands best show up on social media. • Push Fanatics into new creative territories — new formats, new aesthetics, new ways of earning attention. • Champion creative standards across the org: conceptual rigor, impeccable taste, and scroll-stopping craft. Who You Are: A builder. A taste-maker. A creative leader who sees around corners. • Minimum of 8 years of creative experience in advertising, social, content and specific expertise in fashion and sports — with at least 4 years leading teams. • A conceptual thinker with an art/design background. • A self-driven leader who can independently move projects from concept to execution while keeping partners aligned. • Highly hands-on with the practical skills to execute an idea from scratch when needed — from concept to design to finished social-ready execution. • Deep understanding of social media, fashion moments, and e-commerce storytelling. • A portfolio full of ideas that have resonated in culture, that showcase your socially native thinking, and are beautifully crafted. • Comfortable collaborating with talent, athletes, creators, and cross-functional partners. • A leader who raises the bar, pushes teams, and builds environments where ideas can go from cool to cultural. • Highly skilled at using Adobe Creative Suite to deliver highly crafted post-ready assets. Preferred Qualifications: • Recommended Bachelors degree in a related field (e.g. communications, arts, graphic design). • Knowledge of, and passion for AI creative tools • Industry recognized / Awarded work Achieving our goals requires strong collaboration and partnership between our teams and our internal stakeholders. To best support this, the person who accepts this role is expected to be on site, in office four days per week. To provide our employees with flexibility, we offer a unique benefit where employees at Fanatics corporate entity can work remotely for up to four weeks per year, which can be taken in daily or weekly increments. The salary range for this position is $110,000 to $166,000, which represents base pay only and does not include short-term or long-term incentive compensation. When determining base pay, as part of a final compensation package, we consider several factors such as location, experience, qualifications, and training. Fanatics is building a leading global digital sports platform. We ignite the passions of global sports fans and maximize the presence and reach for our hundreds of sports partners globally by offering products and services across Fanatics Commerce, Fanatics Collectibles, and Fanatics Betting & Gaming, allowing sports fans to Buy, Collect, and Bet. Through the Fanatics platform, sports fans can buy licensed fan gear, jerseys, lifestyle and streetwear products, headwear, and hardgoods; collect physical and digital trading cards, sports memorabilia, and other digital assets; and bet as the company builds its Sportsbook and iGaming platform. Fanatics has an established database of over 100 million global sports fans; a global partner network with approximately 900 sports properties, including major national and international professional sports leagues, players associations, teams, colleges, college conferences and retail partners, 2,500 athletes and celebrities, and 200 exclusive athletes; and over 2,000 retail locations, including its Lids retail stores. Our more than 22,000 employees are committed to relentlessly enhancing the fan experience and delighting sports fans globally. Apply tot his job