Art Director

Gmr Marketing; United States; On-site; USD 80,000 - 95,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health/vision/dental insurance

401k

Employee stock purchase plan

Vacation time

Personal days

Job summary

GMR Marketing is seeking a senior-level Art Director to lead visual direction across experiential campaigns. You will translate briefs into distinctive visual worlds, directing 2D/3D assets, shoots, and deliverables with a strong, consistent aesthetic.

You will collaborate with Creative Directors and strategists, mentor talent, and ensure high-impact storytelling through design. A tobacco client experience is preferred. Portfolio required.

Qualifications

• Responsible for establishing visual standards and language across campaigns and brand touchpoints.
• Able to translate briefs into distinctive, owned visual worlds with cohesive systems.
• Develop mood boards, sketches, and AI-generated explorations into presentation-ready visuals.
• Direct photoshoots and video production from pre-production to delivery, balancing composition, lighting, styling, casting, and location decisions.
• Collaborate with Creative Directors, Design Directors, and strategists to align on a strong visual vision.
• Create visual systems that maintain consistency while preserving personality and impact.
• Lead and inspire teams, provide real-time feedback, and drive excellence in output.
• Present visual concepts to clients with clarity and justification of choices.

Responsibilities

• Set the visual direction for major projects and ensure consistency across channels.
• Move between 2D, 3D, experiential, digital, and physical spaces to express ideas.
• Sketch, collage, build mood boards, and use AI imagery to rapidly test concepts.
• Direct shoots and productions, overseeing production logistics and creative decisions.
• Partner with senior creatives to define or refine the creative vision.
• Develop visual systems with palettes, compositions, and imagery rules.
• Lead a team with constructive feedback to deliver outstanding work.
• Present concepts to clients with confidence and strategic rationale.

Skills

Visual direction

2D & 3D spaces

Art direction

Storytelling

Client presentation

Creative collaboration

Mentoring

Lead creative reviews

Concept development

Tools

Adobe Photoshop

Adobe Illustrator

Adobe InDesign

Adobe Acrobat

Job description

ABOUT GMR MARKETING

We are the Experience Agency Making Unforgettable Stories Born of Humanity

EXPERIENCE.

NOT JUST EXPERIENTIAL. EXPERIENCE.

The lines have blurred. People live in the physical, digital, and social worlds all at once, and your brand experiences should do the same.

NOT JUST TELLING. MAKING.

The best stories are lived, not heard. Make an immersive world for people to explore so they can experience something they’ll never forget.

NOT JUST CONSUMERS. HUMANS.

It all starts with the human. If you want to make a lasting impact, look beyond the wallet to understand what motivates and inspires people.

You see ideas visually. You understand that great art direction is about more than making something look good. It’s about creating a distinct point of view, building an aesthetic language, and knowing how every image, composition, detail, and decision works together to tell a story. You can take a concept from an early sketch or instinct and turn it into a visual world that people can see, feel, and connect with.

You’re not just executing a creative direction. You’re a creative partner who helps shape the idea from the start. You know when to push a concept further, when to challenge what is expected, and how to translate an idea across 2D, 3D, physical, and digital spaces. You can art direct a shoot, build a presentation that brings a concept to life, and give a team the clarity and confidence to see the vision.

Your visual thinking helps shape more than individual pieces. It helps shape entire campaigns. You’ll work alongside Creative Directors, Design Directors, and strategists, bringing your perspective to the table and helping establish the aesthetic direction from the beginning. You’ll also mentor emerging talent, sharing your perspective and helping others develop their own visual instincts. You’re curious enough to explore what’s next, confident enough to lead the vision, and thoughtful enough to know that great art direction lives in both the big idea and every detail that brings it to life.

A portfolio or work samples are required to be considered for the role.

Candidates must be comfortable supporting a tobacco client.

REQUIRED SKILLS

• Set the visual standard. You’ll shape the aesthetic direction for major projects, establishing the visual language, mood, and point of view that everything else builds from. You know how to take a brief and turn it into a visual world that feels distinctive, considered, and ownable across campaigns and brand touch points.
• See the whole picture. You move naturally between 2D, 3D, experiential, digital, and physical spaces, finding the right visual expression for an idea. You understand how individual images, compositions, materials, and details come together to create a larger brand experience.
• Make ideas visible. You’re an exceptional visual thinker who can sketch, collage, build mood boards, and use AI imagery to explore ideas quickly. You know how to develop those early explorations into polished presentation materials and visual systems that make a concept clear, compelling, and easy to believe in.
• Bring the vision to life. You have experience art directing photoshoots and video production at a high level, from pre-production through final delivery. You understand how to make thoughtful decisions around composition, lighting, styling, casting, location, and production while keeping the larger creative vision intact.
• Shape the work, not just the execution. You’ll partner with Creative Directors, Design Directors, and strategists. Sometimes you’ll translate an existing vision. Other times, you’ll help define it. You bring a strong point of view, ask the right questions, and know when pushing an idea further will make the work better.
• Make good ideas better. You’ll develop visual systems that give teams a clear creative foundation, from palettes and compositions to imagery and aesthetic principles. You know how to create consistency without sacrificing personality, and you’re comfortable working from the big picture down to the smallest detail.
• Lead & inspire. Set the bar for excellence and create a collaborative environment where creativity thrives. You inspire, motivate, and challenge your team to consistently deliver exceptional work, while providing clear, direct, real-time feedback that helps people grow not just improve the work in front of them.
• Present with clarity and conviction. You can lead a client through a creative idea, explain why the visual choices matter, and make a compelling case for the work. You bring both strategic thinking and artistic confidence to the room.
• Bring the craft and experience. You have professional art direction experience in an agency, production, or integrated creative environment, expert level sketching and rapid visualization skills, and mastery of Adobe Creative Suite including Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, and Acrobat. You’re curious about emerging tools and technologies and know how to use them to make the work more ambitious, not simply faster.
• Bring a point of view. Your portfolio shows aesthetic authority, diverse project experience, exceptional craft, and work produced at scale. More than anything, it shows that you can set a standard, lead a visual vision, and create work that people remember.

The annual range for this role varies between $80,000- $95,000 and may vary depending on the candidate’s experience. Benefits for this role include health/vision/dental insurance, 401k, employee stock purchase plan, vacation, personal days and paid holiday time. You are also eligible to participate in disability, life insurance, FSA/HSA plans subject to the terms and conditions of such benefit plans.

IMPACT & INCLUSION

Our workplace is for ALL. We foster a culture where every background and perspective is valued so we can create meaningful memories that resonate with everyone. We aim to cultivate belonging by meeting people where they are, removing obstacles, and building on their strengths to unlock their fullest contributions. We are committed to recognizing, nurturing, and unleashing the potential in every individual on our team. Together, we're creating something powerful with purpose and impact.

Our guiding principles can be found here.

To view our compliance policies, please go to the main menu on our site GMR Marketing: Experience Marketing Agency.