Senior Art Director Job Description, Key Duties and Responsibilities

This post provides in-depth information on the job description of a senior art director, including the key tasks, duties, and responsibilities that they commonly perform.

What Does a Senior Art Director Do?

Senior art director is a higher position in the creative industry, it therefore requires more than the natural talent for illustration or graphic design.

Thus, you will need a blend of competitive technical skills and hand-on experience, knowledge and education to earn this upper level job title.

The job description of the senior art director entails executing and delivering on time, high quality creative materials.

He/she will have one or more departmental directors and some indirect staff to work on the project assigned to his/her department and reporting to him/her.

He/she will commute with the management and executives of his/her organization, as well as with sits client companies.

The role also involves focusing on budgets, strategic plans, timelines, as well as performing day to day operations of the department.

The services of senior art directors are required in various industries, such as printing and publishing, specialized design services, advertising, motion pictures, and movie production.

They are also needed in technical consulting services, scientific, public relations, and related services.

As long as a company has an advertising department, the services of art directors will be needed.

However, small to medium sized companies may not make use of senior art directors due to their inability to pay them.

Though typical art directors have Bachelors of Arts or of Fine Arts degrees, however, most of them start their career as artists or graphic designers for few years before getting promoted to art director position.

Likewise, an experienced art director is promoted to the senior position when they have proven management capability.

Senior Art Director Job Description Example/Sample/Template

The following job description example shows major duties, tasks, and responsibilities senior art director are normally required to carry out on a daily basis in the course of their work:

• Manage and contribute to a variety of projects
• Produce creative thought leadership in the creation of high-quality broadcast and print, as well as experiential, environmental, and digital design
• Develop, create and lunch brands
• Evaluate marketing and campaign strategies
• Work with Account Managers to ensure each project, in accordance with briefing, are clearly outlined and estimated
• Review all art creation
• Suggest the best practice to be adopted
• Suggest and/or approve best quality job for delivery
• Adhere to internal processes, budgets, and timelines for each project
• Come up with creative thinking during brainstorming sessions, creative wall reviews, and project kick-off meetings
• Guide, influence, and motivate others with thought-provoking ideas and recommendations
• Crack new ideas for creative team management and processes
• Assist in the supervision of the creative department to promote an inspiring atmosphere and desirable work flow to achieve the best work
• Recommend required resources and technology needed to execute assigned projects to junior staff

Senior Art Director Job Description for Resume

If you need a new job as senior art director, you will need to have a good resume prepared to show to employers.

The sample work description presented above can be helpful in writing a resume for the role. The duties and responsibilities for the position that have been highlighted can be applied in producing the work experience part of the resume.

Senior Art Director Requirements: Skills, Abilities, and Knowledge for Career Success

Presented below are vital skills, and other qualities senior art directors need to have to excel on the job, which also employers mostly require from applicants for them to be considered for the job:

• Team Player: The senior art director must be able to manage and work with various team of artists
• Flexibility: He/she should be able to manage work flow, and at the same time directing the work of others
• Fast thinker: The director must be able to think fast, particularly during critical or stressful times
• He/she must have the ability to work independently, and should be a self-starter
• Possess outstanding knowledge of MAC, as well as strong PC skills
• Possess excellent uses of Microsoft Office application, i.e. Word, Power Point, and Excel
• Great in creative cloud i.e. Adobe Photoshop, InDesign, and illustrator
• Great communication, negotiations, and presentations skills, both verbal and written
• Strong ability to multi-task
• Excellent skills in creating unlimited concepts
• Strong organizational and time management skills
• Possess in-depth knowledge and experience in developing and creating brands
• Ability to make use of market research to influence strategic marketing and advertisements
• Ability to embrace working with cross-functional artist teams
• Proficient in layout composition
• Excellent knowledge of required ecommerce best practices
• Passion for design platforms, i.e. interactive design, mobile, and touch-screen
• Demonstrated ability to take projects from initial stage to delivery of final product
• Understanding of the enormous capabilities of the web
• Extreme attention to details plus the ability to communicate clearly and briefly
• Smart, self motivated, articulate, diplomatic, approachable, confident, passionate, curious and fun
• Great in digital and video disciplines
• Exceptional layout, typography composition, and production skills
• Demonstrated knowledge of a range of art or design styles and history
• Ability to be current with the latest trends of visual influencers across the entertainment and tech industries

Eligibility Requirement

Considering the volume of experience needed for this coveted post, persons under legal age of 18 years will not be considered.

A minimum high school diploma or its equivalent in arts and designs can be enough academic requirements to get the job, together with at least 5 years of experience coordinating interactive projects from initial stage to final execution.