Advertising salary guide—inside the rise of hybrid creative technology jobs

This is part of a recurring series of stories that examine the hottest ad industry jobs and what they’re paying. Much of the talk on the Croisette at Cannes last week was around the ways in which advertisers are fusing technologies, including AI, into creativity. While much is being said about its potential to reduce roles, there is also an opportunity for people with the skills to manage the tech revolution coming to the industry. This has prompted Ad Age to do a deep dive into the hybrid creative-technology roles that are in rising demand. Ad Age searched ad agency and marketing listings in June for creative-technology jobs in New York across various sites including LinkedIn, ZipRecruiter, Indeed and others. Highlighted below are some of the more senior and interesting roles shops and brands are looking to fill in this area, along with sometimes very broad salary ranges they posted. Note that some of these listings may have been filled or adjusted since they were posted, and Ad Age has not detailed the benefits offered with each role. Check out the latest Ad Age events and award programs What exactly are creative technology jobs? Most of the open advertising roles in this area are called creative technologists, who are tasked with using new technologies including AI in the creative process. These employees “are connecting the dots between the two. It’s much like the emergence years ago in another department where comms planners knit together media, technology and strategy,” said Tony Stanol, president of global recruiter Sarasota. Most of these employees sit within creative or design departments but partner with engineers and others on the tech side, according to job listings. Many creative technologists are currently focused on generative AI and how it’s going to affect how agencies work, as well as how it impacts clients, said 4A’s President and CEO Marla Kaplowitz, calling them “unicorns” at their companies. Also read: AI restrictions added to ad agency contracts Essentially, creative technologists (or employees with a similar title including senior design technologist) are “already in the sandbox of the new tools and technologies coming out,” including OpenAI’s ChatGPT, Runway’s Gen-3 Alpha and Midjourney, said Christie Cordes, founder of executive search firm Ad Recruiter + Consiglieré. “These are our immediate futures creative tools to help bring craft and concept to new heights for the industry. “Pretty much all creatives in the very near future will be creative technologists,” Cordes said, encouraging all creative employees to start “playing” with these new technologies. Why are these hybrid roles in demand? Even if “technology” is not expressly written into a creative title, knowing the ins and outs of such tools as AI is increasingly a mandatory skill for most candidates, Cordes said. “Ten years ago, CEOs were calling my search firm because none of the [chief creative officer] candidates used social media technology,” Cordes said. “Now they are calling us for CCOs who understand the new technology tools and participate in using them. The need for strategy, conceptual prowess, taste and bravery has never been more important.” AI “isn’t a fad; it’s our future,” she said. Stanol was more skeptical about agencies’ drive to hire creative technologists. “Agencies are more and more hyper-focused on eking out a competitive edge in technology,” he said. “This is an attempt to fortify the creative product and for bragging rights, not for technology itself. Adtech and martech do not solve fundamental creative problems; you still need creativity and a fundamentally sound strategy.” Still, demand for these types of creatives is coming from clients, Stanol said. “Agencies are feeling the nudge from clients incessantly asking about the latest advances in AI and digital technologies for a marketplace advantage.” Also read: Creativity still matters While Stanol and Cordes said shops are hiring in creative technology roles, Ad Age’s search found that opportunities, at least currently in New York, are at more tech-forward branding studios or companies versus traditional agencies. Job opportunities are scarce across the board at agencies that are undergoing mass layoffs. Digitas New York did have a recent opening for a VP and creative technologist role, that has since closed, according to a LinkedIn post from Breda McGing, associate director of recruiting for the agency in North America. According to the post, “robust expertise in artificial intelligence and Generative AI would be primary, but spatial computing, experiential tech, Web3 and related/adjacent areas would be invaluable in this role.” Outside of New York, Ad Age did observe several openings for creative technologists at ad agencies. Independent Portland, Oregon-based shop For Good & Company, for example, is looking to fill such a role. This person will be expected to use emerging technology in creative, including events and activations, according to the job post, which did not include a salary range. What skills are desired for creative-technology roles? Skills “under the umbrella of creative technology are web and mobile application technologies, computer graphics, digital cinematography, VR and augmented reality, 3D printing, the Internet of Things devices and other wearable technology,” Stanol said. “Job descriptions usually contain a number of these requirements. More digital tools are helping content creators make engaging online experiences that connect with people in new ways.” Some of the skills listed in the job postings included experience in creative coding and graphic design, as well as an understanding of best SEO practices. Kaplowitz said many creative technologists come from digital agencies or are in a traditional role but are demonstrating an “aptitude“ for emerging tech. “Create, create, create in AI and share, share, share across social platforms,” Cordes advised people interested in such a role. “People like me are watching.” Ad Age Salary Guide The hottest ad industry jobs and what they’re paying Read more here How much do these jobs pay? Stanol said creative technology salaries are currently “comparable with creative titles.” But that could change. Cordes said she predicts “deeply talented traditional creatives who use all the AI technologies and new platforms” will eventually command much higher salaries than creatives who do not. “Think of it as what happened with the salaries before the dot-com era,” she said. “I was salary negotiating tech executives back then with C-suites who wanted their new digital expertise, saying ‘Please, Mr. CFO, can we give them a Porsche as a sign on bonus?”” Ad Age’s search found some companies paying robust salaries to senior-level creative technologists—with a wide range of between $65,000 and $312,200 a year. There were some extra perks, including bonuses and options for equity for some of the listings, which were not necessarily seen in job listings for other industry disciplines. Much depends on the specific role and the company, but here’s a glimpse, thanks to a law in New York that went into effect Nov. 1, 2022 requiring companies to include good faith pay ranges for all job listings. Job title: Creative technologist, Duolingo Salary range: $144,500 - $294,000 a year Duolingo, a popular app for helping people learn other languages, is seeking a creative technologist to help build interactive animations and creativity around the app's other tools, such as its math and music courses, with the goal of driving more customers to those products. This person will report to the director of design and partner with other departments including product, animation and engineering, according to the job listing, which also noted that there is an opportunity to get equity in the company. Skills desired for this role include: “Experience delivering delightful visuals; writing plugins, scripts and tools; with interactive animation for mobile content; [and] a minimum of five years experience in a role similar to creative technology.” See the job post here. Job title: Creative technologist, Instagram Salary range: $153,000 - $212,000 a year plus bonuses and equity Meta’s Instagram is hiring a creative technologist to partner “with designers and engineers to ship creative tools and experiences in product,” according to the job listing. This person will collaborate with creative, design, engineering, research, data and marketing teams “to identify and implement creative/technical solutions throughout all phases of the product development cycle,” per the post. Skills desired for this role include: At least five years of experience as a creative coder, creative technologist or similar role; a “solid understanding of computer graphics fundamentals and experience authoring shaders; experience with creative coding frameworks like Open; experience designing and prototyping with Figma, Cinema 4D and After Effects; [and] experience programming with JavaScript, Java, C++, C# or other relevant coding languages.” See the job post here. Job title: Junior creative technologist, FCB Global Salary range: $20 - $28 per hour Interpublic Group of Cos. agency FCB Global is seeking a junior creative technologist with a “primary focus“ on “front-end coding and styling,” according to the job listing. This person “will be expected to provide senior development teams with support in coding, including updates to existing code and helping to debug flagged errors.” The candidate should be able to “apply copy edits and fixes in markup to digital projects” and will be expected to collaborate with various teams including user experience, engineering and creative design, per the post. Skills desired for this role include: “Front-End development skills including hand-coded HTML, Javascript and CSS; experience with CSS preprocessor SASS, CSS3 transitions and animation;” the ability “to isolate and fix bugs in websites and applications; [and] understanding of SEO best practices and content hierarchy.” See the job post here. Job title: Senior design - technologist, Warner Bros. Entertainment Salary range: $90,000 - $120,000 a year Warner Bros. Entertainment is searching for a senior design technologist to “create a range of products that are engaging, inspiring and visually stunning.” The film and entertainment studio is looking for someone to “help bring our projects to the next level,” per the job post. Skills desired for this role include: An unspecified “years of experience in design and the technical knowledge to apply the latest technologies, tools, and processes [and this person] should be a strong communicator with a passion for user experience and an ability to creatively solve problems.” See the job post here. Job title: Creative technologist & solution architect, enterprise, Adobe Salary range: $173,300 - $312,200 a year Adobe is seeking a creative technologist and solution architect in its enterprise division to come up with and “code creative enterprise product and workflow prototypes using knowledge of creative production, Adobe APIs, external APIs and customer needs,” according to the job post. Some of the responsibilities listed include being able to “script and record compelling technical demo videos that bring product truth to life” as well as using “other emerging technologies.” Skills desired for this role include: A “deep technical and customer knowledge across creative, document, digital experience, generative AI and workflow/low-code spaces; adept at using data to advise decisions; [and] experience across creative, document and marketing workflows (image editing, video, audio, 3D, analytics, work management, pdf).” See the job post here. Job title: Creative technologist, Arena AI Salary range: $135,000 - $200,000 a year Arena, an AI-powered platform designed to help company leaders make business decisions, is looking for a creative technologist in-house. This person “will design, prototype and implement new product features in production,” according to the job listing. “You will push the bar higher for animation, motion, and craft in AI experiences.” Skills desired for this role include: “Experience building software (or prototypes for software) that has been successfully delivered to enterprise customers; enough engineering experience to be able to own the creation, implementation and deployment of new react-based UX features across a variety of products; [and] you are competent with Typescript—you can define types, debug typescript issues and enforce type-safety in code.” See the job post here. Job title: Creative technologist - XR and interactive experiences, WLabs Innovations Salary range: $80,000 - $100,000 a year WLabs, the hub of innovation at Whirlpool Corp., is looking for a creative technologist; someone who is “pivotal in conceptualizing and executing avant-garde XR experiences, projection mapping and interactive experiences,” the job post said. This person will be researching and using new technologies and will “lead the development and execution of XR experiences, projection mapping projects and interactive installations from concept to completion.” Skills desired for this role include: A “Bachelor’s degree in computer science, digital media, interaction design or a related field; more than three years of experience in creative technology, interactive design or a similar role; [and] proficiency in programming languages such as C++, Python, JavaScript or Unity/Unreal Engine.” See the job post here. Job title: Design technologist, visual innovation services, Amazon Salary range: $105,400 - $205,000 a year Amazon is looking to hire a design technologist with “experience designing and building artist tools that extend digital content creation software packages” and someone who will “act as a bridge between art and engineering disciplines to solve multi-disciplinary problems,” according to the job listing. This person will work with art leadership and “collaborate with other tech artists and engineers to build and maintain a centralized suite of artist tools.” Skills desired for this role include: Knowledge of “modern programming language; experience building and maintaining internal pipelines and tool sets, including user documentation and education; developing tools for Maya/Substance to creating an automation workflow that advances the fidelity of 3D/CGI experiences; broad knowledge of Maya, Unreal, Blender, Houdini and Adobe Substance Suite; [and] experience with VRay, Unreal, Unity or equivalent renderers.” See the job post here. Job title: Principal PM-tech, creative building, advertiser and creative experiences at Amazon Salary range: $144,000 - $279,900 a year Amazon Advertising is also looking to hire a leader to define and execute “a new vision for how we scale creative production to generate high-quality creatives and frictionless advertiser experiences to deploy them,” according to a job post. This person will “set a worldwide vision for scale creative production“ and “inspire and empower innovation and thinking big in those around you.” The role sits within the tech giant's new VP-led department, Advertiser and Creative Experiences, under Amazon Advertising. The mission of that department is “to democratize access to high-quality creatives (images, videos) by building generative AI-driven solutions for advertisers,” according to the company. Skills desired for this role include: “Experience owning/driving roadmap strategy and definition; experience with feature delivery and tradeoffs of a product; experience technical product management; [and] a Bachelor's degree.” See the job post here. Job title: Design technologist, Adelaide Salary range: $65,000 - $80,000 a year Adelaide, which helps marketers understand real-time attention measurement, is seeking a design technologist in its marketing department. This person will handle “high-quality web design and functionality; own the design and build of digital touchpoints, including email designs and social media posts; [and] work with the marketing team to implement site updates and new campaigns,” according to the job post. Skills desired for this role include: A website portfolio of work; “expertise with Webflow content styling, animation, and CMS capabilities; expertise with Adobe Creative Suite; [and] proficiency in HTML, CSS and JavaScript.” See the job post here.

Advertising salary guide—inside the rise of hybrid creative technology jobs

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