Creative Director at Navan

<p>At Navan, our mission is to power the in-person connections that move people, ideas, and businesses forward. We help our travelers focus on being there, not getting there.</p> <p>Navan’s Marketing team is looking for a <strong>Creative Director </strong>to lead a talented, high-output creative studio that balances the prestige of a world-class brand with the relentless speed of a social-first newsroom. You won't inherit a playbook or manage "the look"—you will have greenfield creative authority to shape the brand and business impact of every creative asset.</p> <p>This role requires someone comfortable operating in a dual-audience world, possessing a consumer-grade storytelling sensibility. You understand that enterprise creative doesn’t have to be boring, and you know how to switch registers to make both corporate buyers (CFOs, procurement) and end-users feel seen across their emotional and rational journeys.</p> <p><strong>What You’ll Do</strong></p> <ul> <li><strong>Own the Creative Vision:</strong> Drive the global creative strategy and brand consistency across all marketing assets, platforms, and physical experiences—from TV, OOH, Digital, and Social to flagships like our Navigate conference.</li> <li><strong>Lead a High-Output Engine:</strong> Oversee and scale our in-house design, copy, video, and animation team.&nbsp;</li> <li><strong>Integrate Creative into the Business:</strong> Help writers and designers deeply understand Navan’s business model, sales cycles, and customer pain points. You are fluent in the metrics of conversion and business impact, not just aesthetics.</li> <li><strong>Pioneer AI-Driven Efficiency:</strong> Act as a champion for generative innovation. You will operationalize AI tools to automate ideation, rapid prototyping, mood boarding, and asset generation—enabling your team to move 10x faster and stay focused on "big-rock" ideas.</li> <li><strong>Cross-Functional Partnership:</strong> Act as a strategic peer to Demand Generation, Sales, and regional teams to translate complex functionality into powerful, persona-centric campaigns.</li> </ul> <p><strong>What We’re Looking For</strong></p> <ul> <li><strong>Seniority &amp; Growth Experience:</strong> 10+ years of creative leadership with a proven track record of building and mentoring high-performing design/creative teams. You have scaled creative operations through significant growth inflections (e.g., Series C+, rapid headcount expansions, or post-IPO environments).</li> <li><strong>The "Scrappy-Scale" Paradox:</strong> Big-brand pedigree leading multi-channel, integrated campaigns for global brands, paired with an infrastructure-agnostic mindset. You don't need a massive agency bench to scale; your formative years were spent in fast-paced environments like newsrooms, agencies, or social-first shops.</li> <li><strong>Transparent Culture:</strong> You thrive in an environment of candor and assertive leadership. You provide direct, objective feedback and expect the same from your peers and team.</li> <li><strong>Conviction + Flexibility:</strong> You hold a "strong opinion, loosely held". You will fiercely defend the best creative concept, but you possess the humility and speed to pivot instantly when stakeholder needs or business data dictate a new direction.</li> <li><strong>Target Industry Background:</strong> Ideally, you have run creative inside design-forward travel/hospitality brands (e.g., Airbnb, Away, Expedia), category-norm-breaking B2B SaaS spaces (e.g., Stripe, Figma, Brex), or consumer lifestyle brands with a distinct B2B reach (e.g., Squarespace, Notion).</li> </ul> <p><strong>What Will Excite You About Navan</strong></p> <ul> <li>A post-IPO company with real momentum and an internal culture that always asks "Can we go bigger?" rather than one that hedges.</li> <li>Travel as a creative canvas: rich, emotional visual territory that most B2B corporate creative functions never get access to.</li> <li>An execution-strong, capable team that is hungry to be pushed, elevated, and expanded.</li> </ul><div class="content-pay-transparency"><div class="pay-input"><div class="description"><p>The posted pay range represents the&nbsp;anticipated&nbsp;low and high end of the compensation for this position and is subject to change based on business need. To determine a successful candidate’s starting pay, we carefully consider a variety of factors, including primary work location, an evaluation of the candidate’s skills and experience, market demands, and internal parity.<br><br>For roles with on-target-earnings (OTE), the pay range includes both base salary and target incentive compensation. Target incentive compensation for some roles may include a ramping draw period. Compensation is higher for those who exceed targets. Candidates may receive more information from the recruiter.</p></div><div class="title">Pay Range</div><div class="pay-range"><span>$164,700</span><span class="divider">&mdash;</span><span>$366,000 USD</span></div></div></div><div class="content-conclusion"><p>&nbsp;</p> <p>Navan uses AI-assisted Automated Employment Decision Tool (Metaview) to assist with evaluating resumes against job qualifications for this role. All final decisions are made by human recruiters and hiring managers.&nbsp;</p> <p><strong>Human oversight:</strong>&nbsp;<span style="color: #000000; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Metaview does not automatically reject candidates or make final hiring decisions. Our recruiters and hiring managers review all outputs and make the final hiring decision regarding every application.&nbsp;</span></p> <ul> <li> <p><strong>Your rights: </strong>If you prefer to have your application reviewed without AI assistance, you may request a human evaluation by entering your email <a href="https://my.metaview.app/applications/opt-out?organization=15dd7e883f">here</a>. Your decision to do so will not affect how your candidacy is evaluated.&nbsp;</p> </li> </ul> <p>Please refer to our<a href="https://navan.com/candidate-privacy-notice"> Candidate Privacy Notice</a> for more information about our processing of personal data, and your rights.</p></div>