Senior Art Director, Events & Experiences Creative

Leadout Capital; Indianapolis (IN); On-site; USD 120,000 - 160,000; Full time

Job summary

Salesforce is seeking a Senior Lead, Art Direction to provide leadership and hands-on craft for our events portfolio. You will set the art direction vision and ensure flawless execution across environmental graphics, signage, stage design, and activations, translating strategy into tangible, on-brand experiences.

You will travel to major events, oversee on-site design execution, mentor designers, and present creative direction to senior stakeholders, maintaining a meticulous focus on brand

Qualifications

• 8+ years of design/art direction experience in events and brand design.
• Experience designing event footprints and user journeys for large activations.
• Proven experience leading and mentoring designers or art directors.
• Deep fluency in environmental and spatial design—stage design, signage, wayfinding, large-format production.
• Strong brand design background with an eye for how identity systems translate to physical space.
• Experience directing copy or working closely with copywriters to shape a cohesive event narrative.
• Track record of translating strategy into experience—turning briefs into tangible, on-brand spaces.
• Meticulous attention to detail and a track record of maintaining quality under tight deadlines.
• Confident presenter, comfortable pitching and aligning senior stakeholders.
• Willingness and ability to travel extensively to oversee on-site event design and setup.
• Expert proficiency in Adobe Creative Suite and Figma; familiarity with 3D/rendering tools is a plus.
• B2B and/or tech experience is a strong plus.

Responsibilities

• Set and own the art direction vision for assigned events, ensuring every touchpoint - environmental graphics, signage, stage design, activations - reflects a cohesive, on-brand story
• Design event footprints and map user journeys, choreographing how attendees move through and experience a space from arrival to departure
• Translate strategy into experience - turning a marketing or brand strategy into a tangible, well-paced physical narrative
• Direct copy across environmental and wayfinding touchpoints to ensure the event narrative holds together from entrance to exit
• Lead and mentor a team of designers and art directors, providing hands-on creative direction and a consistent bar for craft
• Partner with brand design, copy, producers, and strategists to translate concepts into production-ready creative
• Maintain strict quality control across all design deliverables, catching inconsistencies and detail issues before they reach production
• Travel to events to oversee on-site design execution and setup, making real-time creative and production calls
• Present creative direction and rationale to senior stakeholders, building alignment across cross-functional partners
• Manage multiple concurrent event programs, balancing creative ambition against production timelines and budgets

Job description

About the Team

The Global Brand & Creative team within Marketing is responsible for our brand and marketing creative. From building brand awareness campaigns to designing experiences like Dreamforce, our multi-faceted team does it all. We are a collection of thinkers, makers and doers, whose sole purpose is to bring the brand to life across our incredible portfolio of work. Within this team, the Events & Experiences Creative function is responsible for how Salesforce shows up in physical spaces - from flagship events and trade shows to brand partnerships, activations, and executive experiences.

About the Role

Salesforce is looking for a Senior Lead, Art Direction to bring creative leadership and hands-on craft to our events portfolio. This is a leadership role for someone who can set a clear art direction vision and then get in the trenches to make sure it's executed flawlessly - from first concept to final install.
You're fluent in event design and know how to translate brand identity into physical space, but you also carry real brand design chops, so nothing you ship ever feels off-brand or half-finished. You know how to design a footprint and map a user journey through it, and you can direct copy so the narrative holds together from entrance to exit. You have an obsessive attention to detail, a strong point of view, and the ability to turn strategy into experience - taking an abstract brief and making it walkable, tangible, and on-brand.
This role travels. You'll be on-site for major events, overseeing design execution and setup in real time, catching what needs catching, and making the calls that keep the work true to the vision when reality gets messy.

What You'll Do

• Set and own the art direction vision for assigned events, ensuring every touchpoint - environmental graphics, signage, stage design, activations - reflects a cohesive, on-brand story
• Design event footprints and map user journeys, choreographing how attendees move through and experience a space from arrival to departure
• Translate strategy into experience - turning a marketing or brand strategy into a tangible, well-paced physical narrative
• Direct copy across environmental and wayfinding touchpoints to ensure the event narrative holds together from entrance to exit
• Lead and mentor a team of designers and art directors, providing hands-on creative direction and a consistent bar for craft
• Partner with brand design, copy, producers, and strategists to translate concepts into production-ready creative
• Maintain strict quality control across all design deliverables, catching inconsistencies and detail issues before they reach production
• Travel to events to oversee on-site design execution and setup, making real-time creative and production calls
• Present creative direction and rationale to senior stakeholders, building alignment across cross-functional partners
• Manage multiple concurrent event programs, balancing creative ambition against production timelines and budgets

What Experience You Have

• 8+ years of design/art direction experience, with a portfolio spanning event design and brand design
• Demonstrated experience designing event footprints and user journeys for large-scale activations
• Proven experience leading and mentoring designers or art directors
• Deep fluency in environmental and spatial design - stage design, signage, wayfinding, large-format production
• Strong brand design background, with an eye for how identity systems translate into physical space
• Experience directing copy or working closely with copywriters to shape a cohesive event narrative
• A track record of translating strategy into experience - turning briefs into tangible, on-brand spaces
• Meticulous attention to detail and a track record of maintaining quality under tight deadlines
• Confident presenter, comfortable pitching and aligning senior stakeholders
• Willingness and ability to travel extensively to oversee on-site event design and setup
• Expert proficiency in Adobe Creative Suite and Figma; familiarity with 3D/rendering tools is a plus
• B2B and/or tech experience is a strong plus

You Are Excited About This Role Because:

• You love leading a team just as much as you love pulling the details tight yourself
• You get energized turning a strategy brief into a space people actually walk through and feel
• You have zero tolerance for sloppy execution and take pride in catching what others miss
• You want ownership over the full arc - from footprint and narrative to the last piece of tape on the floor

We Are Excited About You Because:

• You bring both leadership and craft - you set the bar and then help clear it yourself
• You think in journeys and narratives, not just visuals
• You're calm under pressure and decisive when things go sideways on-site
• You have an eye for brand and space, and you know how to marry the two