Senior Art Director

**VML**

VML is a global creative company - formed from the unification of Wunderman Thompson and VMLY&R - two of the most-awarded creative agencies in the world.

Our Commerce practice is VML's newest and fastest growing end-to-end Creative Commerce proposition. Built on the commerce expertise of Geometry and scaled through VML's connected brand promise, we help modern brands grow by unifying marketing strategies around commerce. We believe the space of commerce holds the most untapped creative potential to grow brands and people.

By understanding how, when and why people buy, we deliver the most engaging and culturally-relevant creative commerce experiences across Retail, Experience, Design and Innovation. We do this as part of a global network of over 30,000 people across 60+ markets. In Australia and New Zealand, VML has 350+ employees across 6 offices.

**What we are looking for**

A Commerce experienced Senior Art Director who is a thinker that can concept and develop integrated ideas, with a focus on design and executions that solve client problems across retail campaigns and experiential briefs.

You are as comfortable in the physical world as you are ideating in the digital space. You are able to present and speak to the design and ideas in front of clients. You have a good work ethic and demeanor and get along well with others. You will be highly proficient in the key Adobe Creative Suite software, and independent in getting things done.

The Senior Art Director is on the front line of the work being tasked to our Creative Team. They collaborate with Copywriters and other Creatives to brainstorm, design, and develop concepts and executions that solve client problems.

**Key responsibilities**
- Develop concepts to solve unique client problems
- Building upon other team members ideas
- Designing creative executions in a variety of formats
- Attending project briefings with creative team members, account service and strategy
- Creating presentation material to help sell ideas
- Further exploring and/or revising concepts per creative lead's direction
- Actively participate in project, team, training, and research meetings
- Prepare awards materials, occasional new business opportunities and other agency-related projects
- Mentoring junior art directors and/or designers
- Timely completion of timesheets on a weekly basis
- Other responsibilities as needed.

**Required experience/skills/behaviours**
- Experience in developing retail, experiential and integrated campaigns
- 10+ years of experience as an art director in a retail/ shopper specialist agency or retail/ shopper practice within an integrated agency
- Originality - willingness to generate new ideas
- Strong conceptual thinking with knowledge of the shopper and digital landscape
- Collaboration - a willingness and ability to work with others and share your thoughts and ideas openly
- Integrity - behave with integrity at all times
- Accountability - you will take responsibility for your own projects and set an example to the broader team.

**Competencies**
- Deep understanding of advertising and marketing principles
- Strong skills in typography, layout and design principles and a keen eye for detail
- Knowledge of current trends, pop culture, current and past design themes
- Able to communicate clearly, thoroughly and succinctly both verbally and in writing; can clearly articulate an idea and the reason(s) behind a specific creative direction
- Current knowledge and understanding of where and how people interact with media, including at home, on the go, while shopping, mobile, broadcast, print, event, etc.

**VML highlights**

There are many things that make VML an awesome place to work, but we think these are worth a special mention:

- Birthday Leave - a paid day off to celebrate your Birthday each year
- Summer Days - 5 paid half days off each year during daylight savings time
- Loyalty Leave - a paid day off each year to celebrate your work anniversary
- Employee Assistance Program access and 24/7 support