We’re an AI company that actually makes creative things. Our products generate video content, power digital screens, and coach frontline teams — and we need a visual creative who can keep up with the technology. If you get restless when things look “just okay,” you’re always experimenting with new tools and new mediums, and you light up at the intersection of design and AI — keep reading.
About XQai
XQai is the Execution Intelligence Platform. We build AI products for retail operators, restaurant groups, and sports organizations — and creative output is baked into what we sell. Our product suite includes an AI-powered video production studio (Spotlight), a digital display network that delivers content to screens across partner locations (Vista), gamified AI coaching for frontline teams (LvlUp), and real-time operational analytics (Lighthouse). Creative isn’t a support function here — it’s core to the product.
We’re a small, fast-moving founding team backed by serious technology. We don’t do bureaucracy. We ship. And we’re looking for our first dedicated creative to help define what XQai looks, sounds, and feels like as we scale.
The Role
As Associate Creative Director, you’ll be the creative engine behind XQai — and that means two things. First, you’ll be hands-on producing creative assets that live inside our products: video content for Spotlight, visual content for Vista’s display network, and design work that our clients and their customers actually see. Second, you’ll own the visual identity of XQai itself — marketing, sales collateral, social, brand, all of it.
This isn’t a role where you execute someone else’s creative brief and call it a day. You’ll work across mediums — motion graphics, video editing, graphic design, presentation design, social assets — and you’ll be expected to bring ideas to the table, not just pixels. We want someone who has opinions about what “great” looks like and isn’t afraid to push for it.
What You’ll Do
- Create video content and digital series for our AI production studio (Spotlight) — from concept through post-production — using Premiere Pro and After Effects
- Design and produce visual content for our digital display network (Vista) that runs on screens across partner locations in retail, restaurants, and sports venues
- Build creative assets that support client engagements — pitch decks, demo videos, case study visuals, campaign creative, and sales collateral that help close deals
- Leverage AI-powered creative tools (generative imagery, AI video, automated design workflows) to multiply your output without sacrificing quality — this is an AI company, and we use it
- Own XQai’s brand identity across every visual touchpoint — website, social, marketing materials, product UI — making sure we always look sharp, modern, and unmistakable
- Design high-impact graphics, one-pagers, presentations, and social content in Photoshop, Illustrator, and modern design tools
- Collaborate directly with the founding team on campaign concepts, product launches, and go-to-market creative
- Bring fresh creative ideas to the table — you’re not waiting for assignments, you’re spotting opportunities and proposing concepts
What You Bring
Your portfolio is your resume. We care about the work and the person behind it — not how many years you’ve logged or how many bullet points are on your LinkedIn. Show us what you’ve made.
- Proficiency in Adobe Creative Suite — specifically Premiere Pro, After Effects, Photoshop, and Illustrator. These are non-negotiable daily drivers.
- A portfolio that demonstrates range across video, motion graphics, and graphic design — personal projects, freelance work, school projects, side hustles, all count
- A genuine excitement for AI creative tools and a willingness to experiment with new technology to push your work further and faster
- An eye for quality and detail that borders on obsessive — you notice when kerning is off, when a color is slightly wrong, when a cut doesn’t land
- The ability to move fast without sacrificing craft — startup speed with agency-level polish
- Strong instincts around visual storytelling, brand design, and what makes content actually stop someone mid-scroll
- Comfort working autonomously in a small team — you don’t need layers of approval to do great work
Who You Are
You’re early in your career — maybe recently out of school, maybe a year or two into your first role — but you’ve been making things for as long as you can remember. You’ve got a YouTube channel, a personal brand, a side project, a freelance portfolio, or all of the above. You didn’t wait for permission to start creating.
You’re not looking for a safe corporate gig. You want to be at a company where your work matters on day one, where you can grow with the company, and where the technology you’re working with is genuinely exciting. You care about craft, but you’re not precious — you’d rather ship something great today than agonize over perfection for a month.
You’re curious about AI, not threatened by it. You see tools like generative AI, AI video, and automated design workflows as creative superpowers — not shortcuts.
Why XQai
- Your creative work lives inside the product — this isn’t a “make the deck pretty” role. You’re building content that ships to real screens, real clients, real audiences.
- Ground floor at an AI company playing in retail, restaurants, and sports — verticals that are massive, tangible, and fun to work in
- Direct access to the founding team — no middle management, no creative-by-committee. Your work ships.
- AI-native culture — we don’t just talk about AI, we build with it every day. You’ll be on the cutting edge of creative AI tooling.
- Real ownership and creative autonomy from day one — this isn’t a “junior designer supports the team” role. You’re the team.
- Hybrid flexibility with a team that values output over hours logged
How to Apply
Send your portfolio and a short note about why this role excites you to [email protected]. Skip the cover letter — we want to see your work. Include links to anything you’re proud of: videos you’ve cut, designs you’ve shipped, social campaigns, personal projects, weird experiments. Show us how you think and what you make when nobody’s telling you what to do.
Pay: $60,000.00 - $70,000.00 per year
Benefits:
- Dental insurance
- Health insurance
Work Location: Hybrid remote in Columbia, MD 21046
