AI Creative Director

The Mandate

PhonePe Group is building one of India’s first fully AI-native marketing organizations. We are not just looking for someone to experiment with AI. We want a leader who will change how our team of over 100 marketers thinks, works, and delivers. The AI Creative Director is the architect of this transformation. You will own the strategy, infrastructure, and culture change needed to empower every marketer at PhonePe. You will build a team of AI specialists, create the playbook, and set the metrics. You will be accountable for measurable improvements in marketing speed, creative quality, and operational efficiency. This is a strategic leadership role, not just a hands-on position. You will report directly to the HOD and help design the future of our marketing.

Core Competencies

• Visionary Curiosity: You anticipate AI trends rather than just tracking them. You have been building with AI tools since the early days. You can see where the industry will be in a year and prepare the organization to get there first.
• Focus on Architecture: You have moved beyond simple prototyping. You think in terms of scalable workflows, governance frameworks, and team structures that will last.
• Executive Influence: You can confidently explain to senior leadership why AI needs budget, headcount, and strategic priority. You focus on business outcomes instead of just tool features.
• Culture Engineering: You understand that new tools fail without a change in mindset. You have successfully built cultures of experimentation in the past.
• Innovation with Accountability: You push boundaries while measuring everything. You can link every AI initiative to time saved, revenue growth, or improved quality.
• Macro Understanding: You have a deep understanding of consumer behavior. You can spot cultural shifts and turn them into marketing strategies that connect with our diverse users.

What You Will Own

1. AI Transformation Strategy & Roadmap

• Define the annual AI adoption plan for the entire marketing organization.
• Identify and prioritize the most impactful AI use cases based on feasibility and team readiness.
• Build the business case for AI integration by projecting efficiency gains, resource optimization, and quality improvements.
• Share quarterly progress and recommendations with executive leadership using clear metrics.

1. Building & Leading the Team

• Hire and develop a team of AI specialists and prompt engineers to work alongside marketing squads.
• Design the best organizational structure for the AI function.
• Create performance frameworks and career paths for this entirely new team.

1. AI Infrastructure & Tooling Ecosystem

• Manage the marketing AI stack by evaluating and integrating tools like language models, image generators, and workflow automation.
• Build and maintain a central playbook containing prompt libraries, workflow templates, and compliance guidelines.
• Design workflows using tools like N8N, Zapier, Make, and custom APIs to automate marketing tasks.
• Set up quality control processes, including brand safety checks and human review for AI-generated content.

1. Cross-Functional Enablement & Change Management

• Run a structured training program with onboarding, skill assessments, and ongoing learning for over 100 marketers.
• Work closely with Product, Engineering, Data Science, and Legal teams to ensure tools are compliant and scalable.
• Track adoption metrics closely, including active usage, completion rates, and team satisfaction.
• Act as the internal champion for AI transformation by presenting at meetings and building excitement.

1. Creative & Performance Impact

• Drive measurable improvements in creative output speed and campaign iteration.
• Work with performance marketing leads to integrate AI into media buying and creative optimization.
• Collaborate with brand and content teams to produce higher-quality content faster while protecting brand integrity.

Skills Required

Gen AI Mastery

• You have built reliable, production-grade AI workflows at scale.
• You have deep experience with language models like GPT, Claude, and Gemini.
• You are experienced with image generation tools like Midjourney and DALL-E, and video tools like Runway.
• You understand prompt engineering, architecture frameworks, and when to build versus buy.
• You can quickly evaluate new AI tools and make confident decisions.

Marketing Domain Depth

• You have 8 to 12 or more years of marketing experience across areas like performance marketing, brand strategy, or growth.
• You have managed large-scale marketing operations with high budgets and teams of over 10 people.
• You understand the full marketing stack, including paid media, CRM platforms, analytics, and creative production.
• Experience in fintech or high-growth consumer apps is highly preferred.

Leadership & Stakeholder Management

• You have a proven track record of building teams in fast-moving environments.
• You can communicate clearly and effectively with executives and the board.
• You are an expert in change management and driving the adoption of new processes.
• You collaborate seamlessly with technical and legal teams without needing close supervision.

Mindset to Succeed

• Total Ownership: You take responsibility for the outcome of AI transformation across the entire marketing organization. If a team is not adopting AI, you step in to help them.
  
  
• Comfort with Ambiguity: You thrive in a constantly changing landscape where there is no existing playbook. You are energized by building processes from scratch. You make strong decisions with incomplete information and adjust quickly.
  
  
• Systems Thinking: You focus on building repeatable systems and frameworks that solve problems across the entire organization.

Ideal Candidate Profile

• 8 to 12 or more years in marketing, with at least 2 to 3 years leading teams of 5 or more.
• Hands-on experience building AI workflows and automation systems.
• Proven success in driving process or culture changes across an organization of over 100 people.
• A strong builder's mindset.
• A background in fintech, consumer tech, or high-growth digital businesses.
• Public speaking experience or published thought leadership on AI in marketing is a bonus.

Why This Role Matters

This is not just an innovation experiment. PhonePe believes AI-native marketing will be a major competitive advantage over the next three years. The AI Creative Director will be the leader who makes this happen. You will have the resources, budget, and executive support to change how one of India's largest consumer tech companies operates. If you want to build a new function from the ground up with real ambition, this is the opportunity.