VP, Story (Earned Creative)

Looking for something fresh? Day One Agency is hiring. Day One is a creative agency committed to bringing fresh thinking to our work. Every. Single. Day. For us, every day is Day One: a new opportunity to start from the beginning, find a new angle, and let creativity and curiosity lead us to earn the unexpected. We’ve built a reputation as a creative partner tuned for navigating culture today; helping brands build legacy through relevance. We’re looking to expand our team with a VP, Story (Earned Creative) to lead ambitious, integrated creative work for one of our luxury financial services clients and beyond. This is a senior creative leadership role for someone who believes the best earned ideas don't look like "PR ideas." They look like great ideas: culturally relevant, strategically sharp, creatively ambitious and built to make people care, talk and participate. At Day One, the job description is truly just the start. Our best team members are enthusiasts who opt-in, bring a point of view and make the work — and the people around them — better. Ready to join a team that's been on Fast Company's Most Innovative list for three years running, made the Ad Age A-List, been named Agency to Watch 2025, and took home Campaign AOY in 2025 and PRWeek Midsize AOY four years in a row (2023, 2024, 2025 and 2026)? Keep reading. This position is full-time, requires a hybrid work schedule, and is only available in New York. Responsibilities As the VP, Story (Earned Creative) , you are accountable for the creative outcome . You set the creative bar, establish the point of view and lead teams from ambiguity to a clear, compelling answer. You’ll shape the creative vision for a major luxury financial services brand, partnering closely with strategy, media, PR, social and client leadership to identify opportunities where culture, creativity and earned attention intersect. You’ll know what makes an idea worth pursuing — and what will make it impossible to ignore. You are equal parts creative leader, cultural observer, client partner and editor-in-chief of the work. You can see the bigger picture, understand what senior clients and agency leadership need before they fully articulate it, and translate disparate inputs into a simple, actionable creative direction. You won't wait to be told where to go. You'll define what success looks like, create clarity around the work and mobilize the team to get there. Own the creative outcome across major earned creative assignments — from the initial brief through the idea, sell-in, development and execution. Set the creative vision and standard for the work, acting as a true north for teams and partners. Lead ideation and creative development, identifying the ideas with the potential to become culturally relevant, creatively exceptional and genuinely earned. Translate complex briefs, business challenges and senior stakeholder input into simple, compelling creative direction — or define the brief from scratch when one doesn’t exist. Read the tea leaves — understanding what clients, consumers and agency leadership need, often before they can articulate it themselves. Lead senior client conversations and serve as a trusted creative partner, bringing a distinct POV and the confidence to push when the work needs to go further. Know when to protect a great idea, when to evolve it and when to kill it. Push teams beyond the obvious execution and toward ideas that can earn attention, participation and conversation. Lead and mentor creative teams, including creative strategists, writers, designers, art directors. Create clarity in moments of ambiguity — defining the problem, the creative opportunity, the path forward and what "great" looks like. Bring outside inspiration, talent and thinking into the agency to continually raise the creative bar. Represent Day One's creative POV in client meetings, new business and agency-wide creative moments. Help build a culture where ambitious ideas are expected, rigor is celebrated and everyone feels accountable for the quality of the work. Qualifications 10+ years of experience developing and leading creative work within an agency, brand or related creative environment. 4+ years of experience leading creative teams and major campaigns or integrated assignments. A strong portfolio of earned-first, culturally relevant and creatively ambitious work. Deep understanding of earned media and what makes an idea genuinely newsworthy, shareable and conversation-worthy. Exceptional conceptual and storytelling abilities, with the ability to move fluidly between the big idea and the details that make it work. A sharp creative point of view and demonstrable taste and cultural fluency. Proven ability to lead senior clients and confidently represent a creative POV in the room. A “good idea comes from anywhere” mentality. Equally comfortable as an individual contributor or a team lead. Ability to synthesize multiple perspectives and turn complex feedback into a clear, actionable creative direction. Demonstrated ability to lead through ambiguity and independently drive work forward. Experience collaborating across creative, strategy, PR, media, social, production and account teams. Familiarity developing ideas across platforms, including social, digital, experiential, film, design and emerging formats. Agile, nimble and comfortable operating in an environment where briefs and ideas evolve quickly. Have IAT experience. Bachelor's Degree from an accredited university or equivalent professional experience. Major Bonus If You Have experience building work for luxury, financial services or premium brands . Can move beyond writing and conceptual thinking into visual storytelling, filmmaking, design and art direction. Have a strong understanding of how brands can participate in culture without feeling like they're trying too hard to be part of it. Have a point of view on where earned creativity is going next — and the curiosity to keep figuring it out. Understanding of production or experience in launching fully integrated, social-first campaigns. Have award-winning work and/or a track record of work that has generated meaningful cultural attention. Compensation + Benefits We value all of our employees and are happy to provide comprehensive benefits to help support them holistically in the best way we can. We offer all our employees: Health Care (Medical, Dental, Vision) Paid Time Off and Company Paid Holidays Summer Fridays 401K Retirement Plan with Company Match Lifestyle Spending Account Paid Parental Leave Commuter Benefits New Business Referral Bonus Employee Referral Bonus The Company is committed to fair and equitable compensation practices. The base compensation range for this role is $160,000 - $180,000 and this position is eligible for benefits that include medical insurance (health, dental, and vision), retirement plan, paid time off, paid parental leave, new business and employee referral bonuses, etc. Please note that the compensation information provided is a good faith estimate for New York City based hires only and is provided pursuant to the New York City Pay Transparency Law. Final compensation for this role will be determined by various factors such as candidates' relevant work experience, skills, qualifications, and location.