Creative Director

Position Summary:

Penn Foster Group is seeking a bold, strategic, and hands on Creative Director to lead our creative vision across brands, channels, and audiences. This role is central to how we show up in an increasingly AI driven discovery world and how we translate our mission into work that drives both emotional connection and measurable growth.

As Creative Director, you will set the creative north star for Penn Foster, evolving our brand system while ensuring execution at scale across performance marketing, lifecycle, product, enterprise, and corporate communications. You will lead a team of designers and creative partners while collaborating closely with marketing, product, growth, and enterprise teams to deliver work that moves the business forward.

You are a rare mix of creative visionary and business minded leader. You believe great creative is not just beautiful, it performs. You know how to connect brand storytelling to outcomes like enrollment, engagement, completion, and long-term learner value.

Essential Job Functions:

Set and scale the creative vision

• Develop and articulate a clear creative vision that aligns with Penn Foster’s brand promise, learner mission, and growth priorities. Ensure that vision is consistently executed across channels and platforms.

Evolve and protect the brand system

• Lead the evolution of Penn Foster’s visual identity and design system, maintaining high standards for craft, clarity, and consistency while allowing flexibility for diverse audiences and verticals.

Lead AI ready creative innovation

• Champion new creative approaches designed for AI powered discovery, performance media, and emerging platforms. Partner with marketing and growth teams to design creative that works across paid, owned, earned, and in model environments.

Inspire and manage creative teams

• Serve as a people leader and creative mentor, guiding designers and collaborating with copy, content, video, UX, and agency partners to elevate the quality and impact of work.

Deliver excellence at scale

• Oversee the development and execution of campaigns, brand assets, product storytelling, and lifecycle creative across digital and offline channels, ensuring work is delivered on time and to a high standard.

Collaborate to drive business impact

• Partner closely with senior leadership and cross functional teams including Growth, Product, Enterprise, and Communications to translate business needs into compelling creative solutions.

Be a creative advocate and educator

• Act as a visible champion for the value of strong creative across the organization, helping teams understand how brand and design drive trust, differentiation, and results.

Knowledge, Skills, Abilities:

• Deep expertise in brand strategy, visual identity systems, and integrated marketing across digital and offline channels
• Strong understanding of performance marketing, lifecycle marketing, and conversion focused creative
• Experience leveraging AI driven discovery, creative automation, and emerging design tools and platforms
• Ability to translate business strategy and learner insights into clear, compelling creative direction
• Proven leadership and people management skills, including mentoring, coaching, and elevating creative teams
• Strong art direction and creative execution skills across design, video, UX, and campaign development
• Ability to collaborate effectively with cross functional partners across Growth, Product, Enterprise, and Communications
• Excellent communication, presentation, and storytelling skills with senior stakeholders
• Ability to manage multiple priorities while maintaining high standards for craft, consistency, and speed
• Data informed mindset with the ability to evaluate creative effectiveness through performance and business outcomes
• Comfort operating at both strategic and hands on levels in a fast paced, evolving organization
• Strong judgment balancing brand consistency, experimentation, and innovation

About Us: At Penn Foster Group, we are transforming online learning to help learners by bringing together Penn Foster, CareerStep, Ashworth College, James Madison High School, the New York Institute of Photography, the New York Institute of Art and Design, and other education platforms. Together, we create an accelerated path to greater economic mobility through real-world skills and knowledge that enable learners to achieve long-term success in the workplaces of the future. Our history dates back to 1890 when our founder, Thomas Foster, pioneered distance education by offering training by mail for coal miners to get the necessary skills for safer jobs. Today, with the partners who use our education and training programs, we continue that mission of providing accessible training and education for in-demand skills and are building a workforce that’s prepared for the future job market. Equal Employment Opportunity: We strive toward Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion at Penn Foster Group by intentionally building diverse teams – in identities, lived experiences, and ideas to create a culture where people feel connected to each other and have a sense of belonging. We value diversity, equity, and inclusion because it is the foundation that enables us to achieve what we set out to do as an organization – from maximizing the number of learners who can reach their goals while giving them the kinds of experiences we want them to have, to becoming the type of company we want to work in. What We Offer: We offer a robust benefits package that includes medical, dental, vision, flexible spending, generous paid time off, sponsored volunteer opportunities, a 401K with a company match, and free access to our online programs.