Art Director, Contract

Critical Mass; Calgary; Hybrid; CAD 75,000 - 95,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading creative agency in Calgary is seeking an experienced Art Director responsible for guiding the conceptual development and execution of creative deliverables. You will lead diverse teams, manage client relationships, and contribute to strategic brainstorming sessions. The ideal candidate has over 4 years of education and 2 years of experience in interactive design. This role offers competitive benefits and a commitment to employee growth through mentorship and learning opportunities.

Benefits

Maternity and parental leave extra days

Competitive benefits packages

Diversity and Inclusion Board

Internal learning and development programs

Enterprise-wide employee discounts

Qualifications

• Proven experience leading a team of designers and writers.
• Ability to work on multiple projects simultaneously under deadlines.
• Experience in strategic brainstorming and campaign development.

Responsibilities

• Develop concepts and communicate ideas to the team.
• Mentor and coach team members for performance and growth.
• Build relationships with clients and external partners.

Skills

Leadership abilities

Creative thinking

Communication skills

Interpersonal skills

Attention to detail

Education

4+ years education in design

2+ years experience in design and interactive

Tools

Mac OS

Photoshop

Illustrator

Flash

After Effects

Job description

As an Art Director, the conceptual development and execution of creative deliverables is on your shoulders—including creating and communicating concepts, implementing marketing strategies, and developing interactive design solutions. Balancing creative thinking with interpersonal skills, you champion creative concepts to clients and project teams alike. There’s a line between creative expression and commercial reality—but you’ve got that covered. You want to keep learning, but you want leadership experience, too. Good news—you’ll have mentorship from a Creative Director to help you grow, and you’ll lead a team of designers, copywriters, information architects, content analysts, audio designers, and production specialists to excellence. Most importantly, you are driven by a passion for design and visual communication.

You Will

• Develop concepts and communicate ideas.
• Balance strategic development with client business objectives.
• Direct and delegate to core creative services disciplines.
• Directly contribute to project design and development including creating storyboards and initial graphic concepts, conceive functional design solutions, create site grids and interface demos, and provide QA of all creative deliverables.
• Mentor and coach teams through project development and performance management.
• Build relationships with clients, partner agencies, photographers, model agencies, and other vendors.
• Contribute to the innovative development of the creative department.
• Lead and partner with designers, production artists, writers, content analysts, planners, and Information Architects.
• Participate in strategic brainstorming, concept development, creative brief development, and creative execution.

You Have

• 4+ years education, 2+ years experience in design and interactive.
• Experience leading a team of designers, production specialists, and writers.
• Experience meeting clients and presenting your work.
• Experience with strategic brainstorming, campaign development, creative brief development, and creative execution.
• An ability to work on multiple projects simultaneously.
• A proven aptitude for quick creative thinking with acute attention to detail within demanding deadlines.
• Knowledge of the latest versions of Mac OS, Photoshop, and Illustrator.
• Understanding of the strengths and limitations of Flash, After Effects, QuickTime, Director, ImageReady, and Final Cut Pro.
• Efficient organizational skills and a motivated dedication to the creative team.
• Eagerness to collaborate with other creative people.Leadership abilities to foster learning and excellence among team members.
• Illustration skills in both electronic and traditional media.

What We Offer

• Maternity and parental leave extra days
• Competitive benefits packages
• Vacation, compassionate leave, sick days, and flex days
• Access to online services for families and new parents
• Diversity and Inclusion Board with 13 affinity groups
• Internal learning and development programs
• Enterprise-wide employee discounts

The Talent Team at Critical Mass is focused on ensuring we provide the best training, onboarding, and employee experience possible! Our new hires & employees are the future of our organization, and we want to set you up for long-term success. To do so, we expect our team to 3 days per week in our office.

Ask

The ask stems from our want to:

• Strengthen opportunity for continuous learning
• Improve collaboration and team relationships.
• Increase employee engagement

Critical Mass is an equal opportunity employer.