Executive Creative Director, SEA

Monks is seeking an inspiring Executive Creative Director to lead our creative vision across the region for some of the world's most influential brands.

As the creative helm of an integrated agency, you'll be responsible for delivering world-class ideas and experiences across brand, digital, social, experiential, media, and film.

You'll shape ideas that transcend borders, blending local cultural insights with global creative standards to create work that resonates, wins hearts, and earns recognition on the world stage.

In this pivotal role, you will be a strategic partner to the regional leadership team and lead the creative direction for groundbreaking campaigns that captivate audiences and earn accolades. You'll collaborate closely with cross-functional teams to turn client briefs into innovative concepts while staying on top of the latest cultural and digital trends. Craftsmanship is key, and you'll champion excellence in execution to bring creative visions to life. Additionally, you'll be a key partner to business leadership, fostering strong client relationships and contributing to the growth of our creative department. Thus, elevating Monks position as a creative powerhouse in Southeast Asia.

Key Responsibilities:

Creative Leadership & Vision

• Set and drive the creative vision for Southeast Asia across all agency disciplines: brand, advertising, content, digital, social, media and film.

• Translate business and marketing objectives into powerful, integrated creative ideas that connect with diverse audiences in the region.

• Champion award-winning creativity and push boundaries while ensuring commercial relevance and measurable impact.

Client & Business Partnership

• Serve as the senior creative face of the agency for key clients, building trust with C-suite stakeholders and marketing leaders.

• Partner with business and strategy leads to grow client portfolios, shape long-term creative strategies, and identify opportunities for innovation.

• Lead major local, regional and global pitches, bringing bold creative thinking that wins business and strengthens client relationships.

Regional Team Leadership

• Oversee, inspire, and mentor multi-disciplinary creative teams across markets, ensuring consistent quality and creative excellence.

• Nurture a culture of innovation, collaboration, and continuous learning.

• Develop and elevate senior creative leaders, empowering them to grow and lead within their markets.

Executional Excellence

• Guide creative development from concept through production, ensuring every output meets the highest creative and craft standards.

• Collaborate with production, media, and technology teams to bring ideas to life across channels and formats.

• Ensure creative solutions are rooted in cultural insight, platform relevance, and audience behavior unique to Southeast Asia.

• Guarantee all work aligns with campaign objectives and client expectations, improving the work by offering fresh angles, inspiration, and best practices.

Innovation & Future Readiness

• Stay ahead of cultural, technological, and industry trends, with a focus on emerging creative technologies (AI, AR/VR, experiential innovations).

• Lead experimentation with new creative formats, platforms, and partnerships to keep the agency's work fresh and future-proof.

About You

The Essentials:

• At least 12 years of experience in advertising or at an agency with proven track record in integrated brand and campaign development.

• Proven experience in managing regional and international campaigns, with a demonstrated ability to create award-winning concepts on a local, regional and/or global scale.

• International exposure and participation in creative and effectiveness awards are highly valued.

• Skilled in storytelling across channels: from big brand platforms to social-first campaigns, from live experiences to film/video production.

• Expertise in giving POVs in monthly reports/QBRs on why creative asset performs/doesn't perform.

• Exceptional presentation skills, with a digital-native mindset and familiarity with social platforms and content production.

• Strong creative ownership: You will drive the creative vision and maintain leadership throughout the project lifecycle.

• Strong client relationship skills, including experience presenting to and influencing C-suite executives. Clients can't get enough of you.

• Natural leader: Provide clear direction to in-house teams, empowering them to take ownership of their briefs.

• Comfortable operating in a fast-paced, high-growth agency environment.

• Hands-on, needs to be able to do the work not just mentor, guide & delegate.

• A knack for snappy writing and a natural feel for visual design.

Not a must, but a plus:

• Experience in experiential marketing and/or emerging creative technologies (AI, immersive media).

• Proficiency in additional Southeast Asian languages (e.g., Mandarin, Bahasa, Thai).