Senior Art Director

At a glance:

This mid-to-senior-level creative role involves delivering exceptional visual storytelling and design that aligns with each client's brand voice. As part of a small, collaborative team, your work will directly impact both the agency's reputation and client success.

The Senior Art Director develops integrated campaigns across industries, partnering with Creative Directors, Copywriters, Editors, Animators, and cross-functional teams. Strong design, typography, and photo art direction skills are essential, along with expert knowledge of design tools. You’ll lead and execute projects from concept to production across digital and broadcast platforms, thriving under tight deadlines.

While a remote position, accommodating meetings in Pacific Time is required.

To be considered, you must include an online portfolio showcasing broadcast and digital designs. Please add this at the “Portfolio Link” section of the application.

What does a Senior Art Director do at Rain the Growth Agency?

Develop creative visions and designs, making decisions on elements like images, typography, layout, and written content

• Partner with talented Copywriters and Creative Directors through every phase of the Transactional Brand Building cycle.
• Take projects from initial strategy through concepting, presentations, design, development and production. The Senior Art Director is essential at each stage of development and execution.
• Make persuasive concept presentations to clients and Rain teams, telling a story to tie the concept back to audience needs, insights and client goals.
• Create new and unique ideas and adapt key elements across channels while maintaining overall brand consistency and voice.

Manage multiple projects, while flawlessly executing the visual details

• Deliver high-quality creative art direction on every project and manage multiple projects simultaneously.
• Deliver on project timelines and ensure adherence to the timeline for overall project completion.
• Lead presentations and effectively communicate a creative vision.
• Learn our proven approach to DTC advertising called Transactional Brand Building, positioning brands for the long term while selling their products and services in the short term.
• Demonstrate deep brand and subject matter expertise: know the data, claims, core references, competitors, customers, and strategy associated with your brand.
• Deep knowledge of brand objectives, styles, and industry. Apply this knowledge to creative expressions and informing strategic decisions.
• Advocate for the overall concept while precisely applying design elements to meet the constraints of each medium. Understand where boundaries can be pushed and the power of "our idea" vs. "my idea”.
• Mastery in balancing design elements within the concept to meet all the needs of the project (audience, client, concept, design).
• Ability to develop strong visual elements irrespective of medium. With limited direction, address client feedback or provide logical rationale as to why agency option is stronger.
• Mastery of co-writing effective music briefs with little supervision. Ability to communicate and give direction around music composition to achieve a desired emotion and tone.
• Mastery of participating in the full casting process. Able to objectively rationalize talent selections that will achieve a desired performance and story.
• Mastery of supervising commercial filming, including collaborating with director and creative leads ensuring achievement of the right narrative and desired performances.
• Proactively lead projects with creative and extended team. Fully accountable for creative and related parts of projects.
• Comfortable in client-facing presentations and discussing how creative work aligns with brief, audience needs, insights, and client goals. With insight and detail, present copy and design elements, explaining rationale for copy and conceptual decisions.
• Continually build on core skills. Open to experimenting, adopting, and gaining proficiency in new tools, particularly those that are AI-powered.
• Versed in creating content for broadcast, digital, social and beyond.

Build relationships

• Develop productive partnerships with copywriters, designers, illustrators, developers, photographers, animators, composers, and other valuable contributors to best-in-class work.
• Establish and build trusting relationships with key client stakeholders. Human to human. Over the phone, over zoom calls and occasionally in person.
• Be able to work independently and in a team.

Look to the future

• Maintain a strong understanding of the industry and keep abreast of emerging technology.
• Champion the integration of pre-market testing tools to explore new creative formats and ideas.
• Keep up with industry shifts and cultural trends with a drive to share great work and help inspire others.

What makes a great Senior Art Director at our agency?

• Self-motivation and accountability are essential.
• 5+ years’ experience as an art director– digital and non-digital channels -- with an ad agency or a major brand’s in-house creative department.
• Exceptional skills in creative strategy, project management, and team leadership, with a strong commitment to delivering exceptional design solutions that exceed client expectations.
• Strong conceptual, graphic design, type, and page layout skills for projects including interactive, broadcast, and print.
• Examples of exceptional visual storytelling, visual concept, and outstanding design.
• Thrive in a collaborative, fast-paced, and demanding environment.
• Ability to multi-task, balance multiple projects and manage time and workflow to meet aggressive deadlines while having strong attention to detail.
• Strong communication skills, both written and verbal – not afraid to provide a point of view.
• Skilled in the following software: Figma, Adobe CC (Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, After Effects, Premier, Acrobat): motion graphics and/or animation skills a plus
• Full understanding of workflow between print, digital, and video asset creation
• Full understanding of all color modes (CMYK, RGB, SPOT etc.)
• Knowledge of Information Architecture (IA) and User Experience (UX) methods for responsive web and mobile app design a plus
• Demonstrated experience presenting creative concepts clearly and confidently to clients and stakeholders.
• Solid understanding of best practices for broadcast and digital placement across social, search, web, email, and other direct-to-consumer channels.
• Approachable, collaborative, results-oriented, problem-solver who can both provide and take direction well.
• Team building skills, proactively seeking opportunities to develop team members.
• Subject matter expert in Direct-To-Consumer (Performance) advertising.
• Working knowledge of ChatGPT, Midjourney, Runway, Veo and other emerging AI tools a plus.
• Portfolio school and/or undergraduate degree in design, Communications, Advertising, Marketing, and/or relevant work experience
• Come to work with a team-oriented attitude and abide by our core values.

Why work at Rain the Growth Agency?

• We are a national leader in DTC marketing and a fully integrated creative and media agency. With a 25+-year history and around 250 employees, we are established enough to have all the bells and whistles, but small enough for an entrepreneurial and welcoming culture where everyone is heard.

• Our Flexible First environment empowers us to work from where we’d like, but still connect with one another virtually and in-person when possible.

• We proudly invest in our employees, technology, and tools, ensuring the best possible work experience. As such, we offer a rich benefits package including the following:

• Medical, Dental, and Vision insurance

• Quarterly profit-sharing program

• 401(K) plan with employer match (and immediate eligibility)

• 4-6 weeks PTO

• 12 paid holidays

• 12-18 weeks fully-paid Family and Medical Leave

• Monthly Work-From-Home allowance

• Additional benefits details can be found here

• Transparency is valued. We actively ensure employees know how we are doing and where we are going. We encourage open communication, share our successes, and hold each other accountable.

• We are passionate about our clients and deliver simultaneously on their brand and sales objectives, an approach we call Transactional Brand Building. To learn more about our work and proprietary philosophy, please check us out here.