Associate Creative Director, KAYAK
North America
$120-155k
+ Eligible to be considered for an annual bonus
3 days a week in office ( Cambridge, MA)
Travel search engine
Be an early applicant
Travel search engine
1001+ employees
Be an early applicant
$120-155k
+ Eligible to be considered for an annual bonus
3 days a week in office ( Cambridge, MA)
1001+ employees
Company mission
To help millions of travelers around the globe make confident travel decisions.
Role
Who you are
- You are someone that sees it before they say it - you think in moodboards
- You bring a high level of taste and craft to everything you do and even find yourself “art directing” your daily life
- You love big picture thinking but know how to ground it in reality and execution
- You believe in the power and impact of visual storytelling, and know how to make the brand the hero of the story
- You love to mentor others and are passionate about driving new ideas while still understanding legacy
- You’re organized and thoughtful - you don’t delay file clean up. Oh, and bright orange is welcome on your creative palette
- 8+ years of art direction and/or creative direction experience at a creative agency or fast-paced in-house brand studio, with a proven track record of developing integrated, multi-channel campaigns
- A portfolio demonstrating integrated campaign experience, alongside strong concepts, craft, and results
- Fluency in Adobe Creative Suite and Figma; comfort with AI-driven creative capabilities
- Solid understanding of typography, composition, color, motion and digital design fundamentals
- Experience partnering with production teams, directors, editors, photographers and content creators
- Comfortable presenting creative ideas to senior audiences and cross-functional partners
- Experience with systems management - both from the perspective of building or adapting brand guidelines and organizing assets
- Experience mentoring or leading other designers, with a collaborative and inclusive approach
- Proven organization, prioritization and project-management skills
- A proactive, solutions-oriented mindset and enthusiasm for travel, technology and creative innovation
What the job involves
- Concept and direct multi-channel campaigns across OOH, digital, social, film/video, experiential, CRM, and web
- Produce polished, high-impact design work that reinforces KAYAK’s visual identity and elevates the consumer experience
- Apply strong storytelling and brand-building instincts to every stage of creative development
- Partner with the Senior Creative Director to shape creative direction, refine brand expression and develop campaign platforms
- Ensure visual coherence and craft across all touchpoints, from big ideas to detailed execution
- Evolve and maintain brand design systems, templates and guidelines
- Provide day-to-day guidance, inspiration and support to your direct reports, fostering growth and ensuring high standards
- Collaborate with writers, producers, strategists and marketing partners to bring integrated ideas to life
- Translate strategic briefs into creative ideas that meet business ambitions and differentiate KAYAK
- Present concepts and rationale confidently to senior cross-functional partners
- Manage multiple projects simultaneously, balancing hands-on work with team leadership
- Use performance data and user insights to refine creative approaches
- Support experimentation across digital formats, AI tools and new storytelling methods
Our take
KAYAK is a travel agency and metasearch engine owned and operated by Booking Holdings. KAYAK processes over 6 billion queries across its platforms each year for travel information - as one of the world’s leading travel search engines, KAYAK searches other sites to show travellers the information they need to find the right flights, hotels, rental cars and vacation packages. It offers a variety of tools and features such as KAYAK trips, explore, and price forecast.
There’s been speculation over the years about online travel companies getting into the hotel business, and KAYAK is no exception. The company is expanding its hospitality offerings beyond its traditional hotel referral and booking services, but despite speculation through the 2020s, has stopped short of opening hotels under its own brand, preferring to partner with preexisting companies on their hotel tech.
Since being acquired by Booking Holdings, the global leader in online travel, in 2013, KAYAK has continued to expand and innovate, enhancing the travel experience for users all around the world. And now KAYAK manages a portfolio of metasearch brands including SWOODOO, checkfelix, momondo, Cheapflights, Mundi and HotelsCombined. With the aim to make it easier for everyone to experience the world - it now operates sites in more than 70 countries and territories.
Steph
Company Specialist at Welcome to the Jungle
Insights
6% employee growth in 12 months
Company
Company benefits
- Work flexibly: Our global flexible work policy lets our teams decide if they head into one of our offices or work from anywhere else
- Team-wide time off: Most of our team disconnects at the same time each year to recharge and reconnect
- Global volunteer week: Take VTO (Volunteer Time Off) to support the organizations and charitable efforts you believe in
- Wellness: We take care of each other - providing opportunities and spaces to live that work-life balance
- Resource groups: Our five ERGs are employee-led groups for underrepresented communities and their allies
- Career growth: We provide opportunities for our team to develop their skills – or learn new ones – on their own terms
Company HQ
East Side of Stamford, Stamford, CT
Leadership
Steve Hafner
(Co-Founder & CEO)Previously Board Member of Trulia, Blade and SeatGeek and currently an Executive at OpenTable.
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