Creative Director in London

This is a temporary contractor opportunity at Novartis. Novartis touches the lives of a tenth of the world’s population. Every role here, regardless of contract type, makes an impact on human life! Novartis partners with external managed service provider Magnit Global to offer engaging temporary contractor opportunities to those who are looking for flexibility in their career while gaining new skills and experiences providing services to an inclusive global medicines company.

Experienced Creative Director who will be responsible for the E2E delivery of creative campaigns from the in‑house Novartis creative team. This role combines strategic thinking, creative leadership, hands‑on creative development, internal stakeholder management and modern production knowledge to deliver stand‑out and effective campaigns. Confident using AI‑powered tools to streamline workflows, accelerate delivery, and elevate creative quality, with a strong emphasis on speed, clarity, and effectiveness.

• Campaign Development
  • Lead the development of creative ideas from initial concepts through to fully formed creative campaigns.
  • Translate strategy into clear, compelling creative directions – ensuring creative work is insight‑led, distinctive, and fit for purpose.
  • Contribute directly to creative delivery where needed, including: creative concepting and ideation, copywriting and/or visualization, presentation development.
  • Ensure creative outputs are polished, coherent, and ready for stakeholder or participant review.
  • Oversee the preparation of creative stimuli for qualitative and quantitative research, including: concept boards and narratives, visual territories and mock‑ups, early‑stage campaign ideas.
  • Oversee the production of creative assets and campaign materials, ensuring deliverables meet quality standards and brand guidelines.
• Team & Workflow Management
  • Supervise cross‑functional teams (art directors, copywriters, designers, copywriters – internal and freelance), assigning tasks and monitoring bandwidth to balance workloads.
  • Manage creative processes from brief to delivery, working with Creative Operations leads and Project Managers to create timelines, scope documents, and track creative hours.
  • Prioritize projects based on business needs, facilitate inter‑departmental communication, and refine SOPs for smooth project flow.
  • Collaborate closely with internal stakeholders, cross‑functional teams and key markets – taking on and managing feedback to refine creative work according to business challenges and needs.
  • Track project progress, identify risks, and implement tools or processes to optimize efficiency and continuous improvement.
  • Ensure projects are delivered on time, in scope, on brief, and to a high creative standard.
• AI‑Enabled Creative Workflow
  • Use AI tools to accelerate ideation, iteration, and production.
  • Apply AI responsibly to enhance creative quality, efficiency, and consistency.
  • Continuously explore and integrate new tools that improve creative workflows and delivery speed.
• Creative Leadership
  • Contribute to creative thought leadership within Novartis through active development of creative forums and internal creative events.
  • Initiate and lead creative projects outside of traditional brand campaigns, finding and developing opportunities for award‑winning creative work that solve real needs across the business.

• Proven experience as a Creative Director in pharmaceutical and healthcare advertising.
• Strong concept development and storytelling skills.
• Hands‑on capability in copywriting, design and creative production (not purely conceptual).
• Strong working knowledge of AI tools for creative development and production.
• Ability to balance strategic thinking with practical execution.
• Comfortable working at pace and managing multiple projects simultaneously.
• Experience working with cross‑functional teams.
• Background in brand, innovation, research, or insight‑led creative work.
• Familiarity with both qualitative and quantitative research environments.

• Creative campaigns and content from the internal creative team are elevated, effective and celebrated.
• Creative projects move quickly and smoothly from concept to delivery.
• In‑house creative team capacity is managed and scaled with agility through high‑delivery periods.
• Creative leadership is established and the in‑house Novartis creative team are known internally for cut‑through creative solutions.
• AI tools are used to save time without sacrificing creative quality.
• Stakeholders trust creative outputs to be both inspiring and practical.
• Projects feel well‑led, well‑paced, and creatively strong from start to finish.

Payroll Inside IR35 Workload 35 hours/week Role type Hybrid Required start date 15 June 2026 Contract 18 months.

Why Novartis Helping people with disease and their families takes more than innovative science. It takes a community of smart, passionate people like you. Collaborating, supporting and inspiring each other. Combining to achieve breakthroughs that change patients’ lives. Ready to create a brighter future together?

EEO Statement The Novartis Group of Companies are Equal Opportunity Employers. We do not discriminate in recruitment, hiring, training, promotion or other employment practices for reasons of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, marital or veteran status, disability, or any other legally protected status.

Accommodation If you require reasonable accommodation in completing this application, interviewing, completing any pre‑employment testing, or otherwise participating in the employee selection process, please direct your inquiries to Magnit.