Art Director

The Crossing; St. Louis (MO); On-site; USD 70,000 - 100,000; Full time

Job summary

The Crossing is seeking an Art Director to lead the Creative Team, translating ministry ideas into clear, visually compelling work. You will direct campaigns, weekend services, events, and digital content, while mentoring and developing a team of designers and videographers.

You will stay hands-on with design and video work as needed, ensuring brand integrity and high-quality storytelling that helps people encounter Jesus. This role emphasizes collaboration, humility, and strategic thinking.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent professional experience in a related field
• 10+ years of progressive experience in art direction, creative leadership, or church/nonprofit environments
• 3+ years of direct experience coaching and developing creative professionals
• Portfolio demonstrating high-level design, brand stewardship, and cross‑channel work

Responsibilities

• Lead The Crossing’s Creative Team and build a healthy culture of trust, curiosity, collaboration, and excellence.
• Provide overarching creative direction for visual storytelling across services, campaigns, events, print, video, and digital content.
• Partner with the Communications Director to manage the Creative Team budget and resources.
• Act as a working leader, contributing to design, video shoots, and production when needed.
• Review work and provide feedback to strengthen deliverables and develop team members.

Skills

Leadership across disciplines

Graphic design & visual judgment

Video production & storytelling

Strategic planning & budgeting

Education

Bachelor’s degree in graphic design or related field

10+ years in art direction/creative leadership

3+ years leading creative teams

Strong portfolio across design & video

Job description

Art Director......is a full-time position and someone who is a creative leader, strategic thinker, and working manager who brings fresh ideas to the table, challenges familiar approaches with humility, and looks for opportunities to create compelling creative experiences that help point people to Jesus.

The Art Director leads the development and execution of The Crossing’s creative projects across weekend services, ministry initiatives, campaigns, events, video, design, and digital content. This person helps turn ministry ideas, teaching themes, and organizational priorities into clear, engaging, and visually compelling work.

This person leads the Creative Team, providing creative direction, developing people, and guiding projects from concept to completion. The Art Director also remains actively involved in the work itself, stepping into video shoots, design projects, creative development, and problem‑solving when needed to help the team deliver its best work.

ESSENTIAL JOB RESPONSIBILITIES

• Lead The Crossing’s Creative Team, building a healthy team culture marked by trust, curiosity, collaboration, spiritual maturity, creative courage, ownership, and a shared commitment to excellent work.
• Lead regular team meetings, creative reviews, brainstorms, planning conversations, and project debriefs that strengthen both the work and the people creating it.
• Provide overarching creative direction for The Crossing’s visual communication and storytelling across weekend services, ministries, campaigns, events, print, video, social media, web, and other digital channels, translating ministry goals, teaching themes, organizational priorities, and stories of life change into thoughtful, compelling, and executable creative work.
• Maintain, protect, and help develop The Crossing’s brand by establishing a high standard for creativity, storytelling, design, visual quality, clarity, editorial judgment, brand alignment, and the overall audience experience.
• Review creative work and provide clear, constructive feedback that strengthens final deliverables and develops the people responsible for them.
• Serve as a working manager, contributing directly to creative development and stepping into design projects, video shoots, production problem‑solving, and high‑priority work when needed.
• Partner with the Communications Director to develop, manage, and steward the Creative Team budget, including staffing needs, contractors, equipment, software, subscriptions, freelance support, and other creative resources.
• Build relationships with leaders across all of our ministries, helping uncover ways our team can serve their needs

Spiritual Gifts Helpful for This Position

• Creative Communication
• Discernment
• Craftsmanship

Character Traits Needed for This Position

• Humble, mature, and experienced leader who develops people and builds healthy teams.
• Strong creative judgment with the confidence to set direction, make decisions, and give useful feedback.
• Curious, innovative, and proactive; notices opportunities, brings ideas forward, and looks for better ways to serve the mission.
• Collaborative and emotionally intelligent, with the ability to work well across different personalities, disciplines, and ministry priorities.
• A working leader willing to enter the details, contribute directly, and support the team when needed.
• Organized, dependable, adaptable, and able to bring calm and clarity to a fast‑moving environment.
• Passionate about using creativity, storytelling, and beauty to help people encounter Jesus.

Necessary Skills and Abilities

• Demonstrated experience leading and developing creative professionals across multiple disciplines, while setting clear direction and building cohesive work across multiple channels and audiences.
• Strong graphic‑design knowledge and visual judgment, including typography, layout, composition, hierarchy, color, brand systems, audience‑centered communication, and the ability to translate broad ministry objectives into clear creative direction, actionable priorities, and strong final work.
• Working experience in video production and visual storytelling, including pre‑production, filming, camera, lighting, audio, interview direction, editing workflows, and post‑production review.
• Strong strategic‑planning, project‑management, communication, and budget‑stewardship abilities.

Education/Training & Certifications

• Bachelor’s degree in graphic design, visual communication, marketing, media production, advertising, communications, or a related field; equivalent professional experience will be considered.
• Ten or more years of progressive experience in art direction, creative direction, design leadership, communications, agency work, church media, nonprofit communications, or a comparable environment.
• Three or more years of direct experience leading, coaching, and developing creative professionals or creative project teams.
• A portfolio demonstrating high‑level design, strategic creative thinking, brand stewardship, visual communication, and ideally, work across both design and video.

MUST HAVES FOR ALL STAFF AT THE CROSSING

• Attend a service at one of The Crossing campuses on a weekly basis
• Passionate about their relationship with God
• Baptized after making the thoughtful decision to follow Christ
• Regard the Bible as God’s final authority in all areas of Christian life and desire to be wholly obedient to it
• Wholeheartedly affirm The Crossing’s Statement of Faith, including our view on Baptism
• Live a lifestyle consistent with scriptural principles