Associate Director, Art Direction

The Associate Director, Creative

The Associate Director, Creative is a visual visionary and tactical leader responsible for defining aesthetic direction across key accounts and ensuring every touchpoint—including social content, integrated campaigns, and other client deliverables—exhibits outstanding visual quality and strategic relevance.

• Lead the visual evolution of brands, overseeing art direction for pitches and flagship projects and maintaining world‑class standards of design, typography, and composition.
• Guide and mentor junior‑ to mid‑level Art Directors and Designers, providing craft‑based feedback and fostering their visual voices.
• Own the visual narrative across multi‑channel campaigns, ensuring a cohesive look and feel across film, digital, social, and physical experiences.
• Lead the visual side of production, including selection of photographers, directors, color grading, retouching, and motion design, to realize the creative vision.
• Act as the visual authority in client meetings, presenting design systems and art direction clearly and persuasively.
• Partner with Creative leadership to evolve design workflows, establish quality standards and explore new tools or AI‑driven technologies.
• Foster an inclusive, design‑forward culture that encourages experimentation and persistence in visual excellence.

• 5+ years of experience in art direction or design within a creative agency or high‑growth brand environment.
• Mastery of art direction, layout, typography and integrated visual storytelling across multiple platforms.
• Experience leading small teams or managing freelancers and junior creatives.
• Expert‑level knowledge of Figma, Adobe Creative Suite (Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, etc.), motion design or AI image generation.
• Ability to align every visual choice with the client’s business goals and brand identity.
• Strong communication skills to articulate complex visual concepts to non‑visual stakeholders and clients.

• Healthcare, Dental and Vision coverage
• 401(k) plan with matching
• PTO and paid company holidays
• Parental leave

DEPT® is an equal‑opportunity employer. We are committed to an inclusive and barrier‑free recruitment and workplace for all identities, backgrounds, beliefs, lifestyles or disabilities. We welcome accommodation requests as part of a confidential process.