Senior Art Director

John Lewis Partnership; City of Westminster; Hybrid; GBP 50,000 - 60,000; Full time

Job summary

A major department store chain in the UK seeks a Senior Art Director to lead the creative direction for Home and Interiors. This role requires an experienced professional capable of managing a variety of projects, maintaining the visual identity of the brand, and mentoring junior team members. The successful candidate will work in a hybrid model, blending office and remote work, and will be responsible for the complete process from concept development to final delivery, ensuring high-quality outputs across various platforms.

Qualifications

• Established Art Director with significant experience in concepting and delivering Home shoots.
• Strong portfolio showing a diverse range of work as Art Director with a Home focus.
• Expert knowledge in home and industry trends.

Responsibilities

• Own concept through to delivery of Home shoots across both stills and motion.
• Development of John Lewis Home look and feel within the tone of voice set by leadership.
• Acting as a mentor for junior members of the team.

Skills

Art Direction

Creative leadership

Portfolio management

Team collaboration

Adobe Creative Suite

Tools

Google Slides

Photoshop

InDesign

Acrobat

Bridge

Job description

About the role

John Lewis, the UK’s leading department store, is searching for an exceptionally talented individual with a strong background in Art Direction across Home and Interiors, with fashion art direction experience highly beneficial. The successful candidate will join our busy in-house creative department working closely with our Lead Art Director and Creative Director to bring the John Lewis visual tone of voice to life through concepting and delivering stylish visuals in both moving image and stills. The role requires a confident creative leader who is constantly looking to evolve and push creative boundaries. This role covers a wide range of projects and it is essential that you are able to concept and deliver on both large scale and small scale shoots, bringing a teamwork mentality that means you roll up your sleeves when needed to get the job done on time and within budget. One day could be a full studio set build, while another could be a conceptual still life, a storytelling mini doc or room sets in a location house. The job requires a portfolio that shows this breadth and the ability to approach typical themes in an unexpected way. The Senior Art Director is a naturally curious individual who is collaborative and can work on multiple projects at one time. Being able to work in a fast paced environment while capturing assets for multiple channels across digital and print is essential. You will be accountable for each stage of a project from concept, to presentation decks, on set leadership, edits, retouch notes, crop guidelines and final deliverables.

• Salary Expectation: Up to £60,000 Depending on experience
• Contract type: This is a permanent position
• Working pattern/flexible working: The Partnership has adopted a hybrid working approach, meaning you\'ll be able to work a mixture between the office, on set and home based upon your personal needs whilst balancing the needs of the business. The team aims for around 2-3 days a week in the office and on a more ad-hoc basis to attend key meetings and the expectation to be on shoots whenever they are scheduled.
• Location: This role is based at our London Head Office campus in Pimlico. Travel costs to the office are the candidate’s responsibility. There is no travel allowance for this role. There is also a responsibility to be frequently art directing on set. You will be able to claim travel expenses for these journeys.
• Assessments: Will take place virtually at the end of February/Beginning of March.

Key responsibilities:

• Own concept through to delivery of Home shoots across both stills and motion.
• Storyboarding for motion and when appropriate room sets.
• Development of John Lewis Home look and feel within the tone of voice set by leadership.
• Presenting and pitching your work to senior stakeholders, and briefing external teams (photographers, stylists, set designers).
• Acting as a brand guardian for John Lewis supporting as needed in meetings with the home commercial team or on set with freelance or junior art directors.
• Working hand in hand with your production counterpart to interrogate briefs and provide creative solutions to fulfil the brief.
• Acting as a mentor for junior members of the team, and providing a positive and nurturing environment.
• Creating clear AD decks that show vision and assets required. These need to be robust enough to brief in an external team and enable sign off internally.
• Expert knowledge in home and industry trends. This includes seasonal colour palettes, interior design direction and cultural trends.
• Research of new talent for photography, videography, set designers, and interior stylists.
• Responding to marketing briefs with art direction that aligns with our brand vision while constantly evolving to be industry leading.
• Ability to meticulously plan a shoot and be able to quickly adapt and problem solve when unexpected challenges arise.
• Being accountable on set for the final output of assets with an eye for detail across all elements including but not limited to: lighting, set design, styling, and composition.
• Responsible for the full retouch process in post from editing to mark-ups and grade to sign off.
• Strong communication between yourself and the producer on the project to ensure the project is running to schedule and within budget.
• Presenting your concepts to senior management within the business for approval.
• Sets an example as a creative leader in the business, working in tandem and as a collective with the rest of the creative and content team.

Essential skills and/or experience you’ll need:

• Established Art Director with significant experience in concepting and delivering Home shoots.
• Strong portfolio showing a diverse range of work as Art Director with a Home focus.
• Adobe Creative Suite - Photoshop, InDesign, Acrobat, Bridge.
• Google Slides, Sheets.
• Ability to complete pre and post production within the given timelines.
• All required assets are captured on set and to a high standard.
• Final imagery has a consistent grade, and flawless product representation.
• Offers multiple directions/solutions in response to brief.
• Creates authentic work that adheres to the John Lewis visual identity.

Desirable skills and/or experience you may have:

• Experience in Fashion Art Direction.
• Ability to sketch or illustrate for scamping.
• Graphic design experience or typographic knowledge.
• Set design and product styling.

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The partnership

We’re the largest employee owned business in the UK and home of our cherished brands, John Lewis and Waitrose. We’re not just employees, we’re Partners, driven by our purpose to build a happier world. As we look to our future, there’s never been a more exciting time to join us.

We’re ruthlessly focused on being brilliant at retail. We continue to innovate, adapt and diversify. Never Knowingly Undersold on price, quality and service in John Lewis and passionately serving food-lovers in Waitrose.

As Partners we all share the responsibility of ownership and in its rewards. We use our voices to contribute to our success, working together through the good and challenging times, holding true to our behaviours and treating everyone with kindness and respect.

We all own making the Partnership somewhere we belong. Embracing our differences and creating an environment where we’re free to be ourselves and can THRIVE. Growing ourselves individually, and as a collective.

As Partners, we make all the difference. And, we all own it.

Important points to note:

It’s important to note that some of our roles are subject to pre-employment vetting (which may include DBS checks for successful candidates). If required, you’ll be informed and provided with information about vetting during the recruitment process and we encourage you to complete any vetting documents quickly to avoid delays. Any DBS checks required will be carried out by a third-party registered body and financial probity checks may also be required for some of our roles.

We occasionally close vacancies early in the event we receive a high volume of applications, and therefore, we recommend you apply early. If you require a reasonable adjustment due to a disability which means you may need longer to complete your application please contact us as soon as possible.

We want all of our Partners to have a good work-life balance and we support flexible working. This might mean flexible or compressed hours, job sharing or shorter hour contracts, where possible. Please discuss this further with the hiring manager during your interview.