Associate Creative Director (Organic Social Specialist)

We’re looking for someone who really gets social. The kind of person who knows what content works and why. Who can take an insight from TikTok or an upcoming cultural trend and turn it into something original that performs. Someone who sees the algorithm not as a blocker, but as a brief.

About Us - The Social Shepherd 🐑 We’re a Social-first agency helping global brands, household names, and high-growth scale-ups accelerate their business growth. Having won Best Large Social Agency in the UK (2 years in a row!) and continued growth, we’re now looking to take on our next member to enhance our Social team!

Our service offering includes:

• Social Media Management
• Paid (Social & Search)
• Creative
• Influencer
• Strategy

We’re a team of 70+ across Bath, London and New York, with big ambitions to continue delivering industry-leading campaigns.

The Role As an ACD who specialises in Organic Social, you’ll take charge of the creative direction across some of our biggest organic social clients alongside the wider team. You’ll lead a team of Social Creatives and Content Creators – helping them turn data, search intent, and cultural trends into smart, standout content. You’ll set the tone for creative across our organic output, making sure every piece of work is strategic, sharp, and built for the platform it lives on. This is a director-level role – so we’ll look to you not just to lead the work, but to help lead the business. You’ll help grow the team, raise the creative bar, shape process and thinking, and be someone others look to, to set the standard. We’re not after someone who just talks a good game or sees themselves above the doing. We want someone who’s just as happy in a pitch as they are on-set, directing edits or jumping in to write a hook when the moment calls for it.

What You’ll Do:

• Own creative strategy and execution for organic content across TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, and whatever’s next
• Build and lead content plans that are rooted in platform insight, search intent, and audience behaviour
• Lead ideation, scripting, and content planning – making sure the work’s grounded in data, cultural relevance, and brand voice
• Write or review platform-first copy, hooks, and scripts that engage and convert
• Direct shoots and oversee pre-production – from creative briefs and shot lists to call sheets and campaign delivery
• Collaborate with Paid, Influencer, Video, and Performance teams to create joined-up, high-performing campaigns
• Coach and mentor creatives and managers – developing their creative instincts, storytelling, and leadership skills
• Contribute to new business and pitches – bringing creative firepower and platform expertise to win work
• Help shape how we work – including creative operations, delivery process and team resourcing
• Stay ahead of trends, platform updates, content formats and algorithm changes – and bring that thinking into the room

What We’re Looking For:

• 5+ years in a creative role focused on organic social – ideally agency-side
• A portfolio that shows strong ideas, great writing and smart use of platform trends
• Deep knowledge of TikTok, Instagram and YouTube – what’s trending, what performs and how the algorithms work
• Strong storytelling, scripting and social copywriting skills
• Confident directing content on-set and overseeing pre-prod and post
• Experience leading and mentoring creative teams, including line management and performance development
• Able to interpret and apply social and search data to shape strategy and optimise creative
• Calm, collaborative and commercially aware – able to balance ambition with delivery
• A strong sense of what ‘great’ looks like on social – and the ability to make it happen

Why Join Us?

• We’ve been named Best Large Social Media Agency in the UK two years in a row
• We work with ambitious, culture-driven brands like Uniqlo, Premier Inn and BarkBox
• You’ll be part of a growing team of sharp, curious, genuinely lovely people
• Hybrid working, regular socials, clear progression plans, and actual career growth
• 25 days annual leave, plus bank holidays, plus your birthday off
• Enhanced maternity/paternity policies to support you during life’s big moments
• You’ll help shape the creative direction of one of the fastest-growing social agencies across Europe and North America
• Salary range: £45,000 - £55,000 depending on experience