NOW HIRING A HUMAN JUGGLER (AKA ACCOUNT MANAGER)

Look, we’re Ostrom Creative. We’re small but scrappy. Pint-sized but caffeinated. The kind of outfit that gets called “boutique” when people can’t figure out how we’re pulling off agency-level work with a team that could fit in a decent-sized lifeboat. (Including appropriate flotation devices.)

We create things that people notice. Brands. Campaigns. Websites. Words. Pictures. Ideas. The stuff that helps good companies become harder to ignore. We think. We question. We make. And when everyone else starts heading in the same direction, we have a tendency to wander off. That’s what Free Thinking for Hire™ is all about.

What we need:
Someone who can juggle flaming chainsaws while keeping a smile plastered on their face. (Okay, not literally. Insurance won’t cover that.)

You’ll manage timelines, budgets and deliverables. That’s the job. But we’re looking for someone who wants to get further upstream than that. Learn the clients' business. Understand what keeps them up at night. Spot opportunities they haven’t. Help shape the strategy before everyone starts making stuff.

You’ll be expected to bring ideas. Lots of them. We expect you to have a point of view. We expect you to contribute. And every once in a while, toss a chainsaw of your own.

What you’ll be doing while your friends wonder what “agency life” even means:

• Babysitting grown adults (managing client relationships).

• Translating client-speak into things our creative team can execute.

• Taking messy ideas and shaping them into strategies that make sense.

• Offering feedback that’s honest, smart, and doesn’t crush souls.

• Keeping projects on time, on budget, and out of the ditch.

• Writing briefs, timelines, and recaps that make you sound far more organized than you feel.

• Light accounting (don’t panic—just spreadsheets and QuickBooks, not Wall Street).

What you’ll need to survive this gig:

• 3-5 years of agency experience (the real kind, not “my cousin’s start-up once had a logo”).

• A client-facing poker face.

• The ability to manage multiple spinning plates without letting them smash on the floor.

• Communication skills sharper than a Ginsu knife.

• Time management, problem-solving, and enough organizational sense to keep color-coded calendars from looking like abstract art.

• And yes—you have to play nice with others. Even on Mondays.

Bonus points if you:

• Know your way around Microsoft, Google, Slack, Dropbox, QuickBooks, and the other usual suspects.

• Can dabble in Google Ads or Meta Ads without breaking the internet.

• A working knowledge of semicolons.

Location: We’re in Minnetonka, Minnesota and rolling out a small office in Chicago. If you’re local to either of those places, awesome. If not, and you’re the right kind of awesome, we might consider remote.

If this sounds like you, send your resume (and a little something that makes us want to keep reading) to jobs@ostromcreative.com.

Ostrom Creative is looking for a Junior Art Director. We need someone who may be light on experience but laden with ability. A budding art director who isn't afraid of hard work, wearing multiple hats or occasionally embarrassing themselves at karaoke. If you're a meteoric talent just waiting for a chance to blast off, we might have the place to do it.

Our ideal candidate has a lot of tools in their toolbox—and the curiosity to keep adding more. Print-to-digital. Utilitarian to editorial. Brand identity to banner ads. Someone equally comfortable discussing the fine art of foul language and whether reality TV qualifies as either. Exposure matters. Curiosity matters. Ideas matter most.

YOU MUST:

- Have at least two years of experience in an agency or in-house creative environment.

- Have some real-world experience with things like brand strategy and identity development, corporate communications, advertising, digital marketing, direct mail and the assorted creative stuff.

- Be fluent—and we mean freakishly good—in Adobe Creative Cloud, especially Illustrator, InDesign and Photoshop.

- WordPress or After Effects? Digital animation? Photography? Drawing skills? All frosting on the cake.

- Have a healthy disdain for AI-generated anything while also knowing your way around it. It's a tool.

- Have an eye for the big idea and an almost unhealthy appreciation for the small stuff.

- Work and play well with others. Duh.

- Be excited about being part of a small, nimble team where you'll actually have a voice.

- Like dogs. This one comes up more than you’d think.

We're a tight-knit group of thinkers, strategists, writers, designers and get-shit-doners. There aren’t a lot of layers here. Every person matters. Every person contributes. So, if you love design and are curious about pretty much everything, we'd like to meet you.

Send your resume and a portfolio of your best work to jobs@ostromcreative.com