Seeking skilled people

Business need for the role

Our Art Directors are capable of generating impactful and effective conceptual work with an eye for outstanding design.

• They will be insight-driven and able to follow an idea through from star to finish.
• Working with other creative team members, they will deliver high-quality work for any given client across any given channel.
• They will be able to collaborate with and work alongside copywriters and other team members to answer client briefs to the full, championing the importance of great design and inspiring colleagues to produce the same.
• They will be confident in their work and in their ability to present and sell it to clients where necessary.

Essential skills and attributes

• Display a passion for all things creative
• Driven by insight
• Curious and imaginative
• Enjoy advertising and design as a business
• Have an interest and awareness of social and cultural trends and their influence on all types of design
• Have a great eye for detail
• Display strong oral and written communication skills
• 1st class design skills
• A self-starter, highly motivated, able to multi-task and work efficiently under sometimes demanding deadlines
• Effective and confident communicator at all levels
• Excellent team player while maintaining the ability to work independently
• Deliver the role with the flexibility required to succeed in this industry

What good looks like

• Show interest and motivation - you should practice care and attention in every aspect of your role.
• Look out for each other – take responsibilities for yours and the actions of others, pull together towards a common goal.
• Think BIG – think beyond expectations or convention. Through inspiring creative briefs, bring new ideas to life.
• Do the right thing – show a sense of responsibility to yourself, your colleagues and our clients. Commit to getting the job done in a positive way, even when the pressure is on, never defaulting to the path of least resistance. 
• Be happy – be approachable, contribute to a positive and enjoyable working environment. Bring enjoyment and passion to the team.

Key responsibilities of the role

• Creative skills
• Able to produce outstanding conceptual and creative ideas on and offline
• Able to produce rough sketches on paper and competent visuals on MAC or PC
• Able to work with photographers, illustrators and other creative services providers to execute the highest quality work for clients
• The ability to fully understand and interpret a creative brief and proposition
• The ability and self-confidence to debate and challenge the above
• Think laterally to come up with great conceptual work and surprise or inspire others with your breadth of thinking and execution
• The ability to critique work and debate constructively with agency colleagues
• Develop a comprehensive knowledge of each client's business, their products/services, markets and competitors
• Demonstrate the talent to persuade: put together a compelling argument for a given product or execution
• The confidence to meet and converse with clients, either to develop a brief or to present creative work
• Produce print-ready artwork for your own work if and when required
• Be competent in common industry and agency packages such as Adobe (e.g. InDesign, Photoshop, Illustrator, Acrobat, XD)

Client service skills

Liaise with Client Direction and Campaign Management to find appropriate solutions to clients' marketing challenges.

Organizational skills

• Manage your own time in order to produce your agreed workload.
• To ensure your work is signed off and approved as required according to the agency’s approval system (e.g. via Creative Director).
• To have a full understanding of the agency approval system and specifically the parts your discipline is responsible for.
• Where required, ensure amends are thoroughly checked before returning proofs to the Client Service team.
• Follow procedures for filing work on live jobs in an orderly and timely manner where it may be backed up and accessed by others.

Financial ownership

• To ask for and adhere to any budgetary restrictions on any given project.
• Display a commercial understanding regarding the impact of time, etc. on budgets.
• Be committed to estimating hours required as accurately as possible.
• At the earliest stage possible, inform the Creative Director or Account Director of any previously unforeseen issues which could possibly have an impact on costs (e.g. extra hours required).

People and presentation skills

• The ability to confidently stand up and sell creative work on behalf of the agency, along with the quickness of thought to defend it when questioned.
• Able to take constructive criticism and find solutions to adverse client feedback.
• Able to work with, motivate and inspire creative colleagues to produce better work.
  
  

Communication skills

• The interpersonal skills to work positively with colleagues at every level throughout the agency, and with suppliers.
• Capable of formulating a compelling argument to defend any given piece of work, either internally or in front of client.
• Maintain and uphold good interdepartmental relationships.
• Find the time to liaise with others in the creative team to make any given job as good as it can be.