Social Content Art Director

JPL; Harrisburg (Dauphin County); Hybrid; USD 90,000 - 130,000; Full time

Job summary

JPL in Harrisburg, PA is seeking a hands‑on Social Content Art Director to concept and design campaigns across social channels. You will shape visual systems, lead a team of creatives, and partner with writers, strategists, and designers to realize a cohesive creative vision.

Hybrid role based in Harrisburg, PA with a strong portfolio. You will champion AI‑assisted ideation, maintain brand integrity, and present work to senior clients while driving high‑quality, on‑brief outputs.

Qualifications

• 5+ years as senior content creator or creative lead with progression to art direction.
• Bachelor’s degree or portfolio‑proven experience in design/marketing.
• Strong digital content leadership and end‑to‑end concept to execution.
• Graphic design background with social design and typography knowledge.
• Proficient in Adobe Creative Suite, Figma, AI workflows, and related tools.

Responsibilities

• Develop and articulate art direction to meet client objectives.
• Lead diverse studio creatives across projects and accounts.
• Manage fast‑paced projects and translate briefs into content.
• Guide concept briefs, ideation, edits, and finalization.
• Ensure brand identity, tone, and aesthetic across assets.
• Apply platform storytelling best practices for social content.
• Organize shoots and guide editing and production.
• Present work to clients and lead senior stakeholder discussions.
• Collaborate with writers, paid media, video, analytics, and account teams.
• Mentor content producers and designers to grow their craft.

Skills

Art Direction

Creative Leadership

Adobe Creative Suite

Figma

AI workflows

Data-informed design

Presentation to clients

Education

Bachelor’s Degree in design or marketing communications

Tools

Photoshop

Illustrator

Premiere Pro

After Effects

Figma

Job description

Social Content Art Directors are central to concepting and design of social media for the company’s clients. In the agency Studio’s spirit of curiosity, calculated risk-taking, and comfort with ambiguity, the AD is a hands‑on, native storyteller that sets the tone in projects creatively to craft everything that posts. They push themselves and others for the best, cohesive visual and tactical design.

With attention to detail and originality, the Art Director designs visual systems to create innovative digital content across channels, balancing multiple projects alongside a talented team of fellow creatives. They provide conceptual strategy, brainstorm facilitation, and native platform expertise, and work closely with designers, content writers and strategists to bring the creative vision to life across every digital touchpoint.

Hybrid role based in Harrisburg, PA. Portfolio required.

Responsibilities:

• Develops and articulates art direction to activate the client’s business objectives through inspiring campaigns and content
• Inspires, leads and directs diverse studio creatives — including content producers and designers —across a variety of projects and accounts
• Leads and works as a self‑starter who can manage projects in a fast‑paced environment and stay focused when faced with changing requirements; turns raw assets into great content
• Leads and/or participates in brainstorm sessions; briefs creative team members to ideate concepts and guides work through edits and finalization
• Ideates from creative briefs and content plans, translating direction into actionable, results‑getting creative, and elevates that work into fully realized art direction
• Ensures quality and consistency of all visual content and maintaining brand identity, tone, and aesthetic
• Knows, advocates, and utilizes platform‑specific storytelling best practices for content creation; champions, manages, and ensures the content experience meets both JPL and platform standards
• Organizes and creatively leads photo and video shoots; guides editing
• Owns technical specs in status calls, client comms, and presentations
• Works within project estimates and timelines, and ensures high quality, profitable execution
• Oversees production of campaigns and final files from beginning to end through digital, experiential, or social launch
• Understands quality expectations within design work, adhering to constraints, implementing feedback
• Presents work to clients in a succinct manner, showcasing key benefits, creative thinking and strategy; a strong presenter with experience guiding senior leaders on media best practices
• Partners closely with Content Writing, Paid Media, Video Production, Analytics, and Account Management
• Mentors content producers and designers in projects, helping them grow their craft and develop as makers
• Use data to inform and adjust art direction from strategy and performance metrics
• Regularly works with AI tools and proprietary data, aligning with JPL’s AI POV and responsible use policy, and upholding privacy and transparency standards
• Commits to ongoing training with emerging AI tech and data, and continuously grows capabilities through experimentation, online resources, and training
• Proactively stays connected to the latest industry, digital and social media trends, exploring new tools and sharing insights to elevate our work
• All other responsibilities as assigned

Qualifications:

• Minimum 5 years of experience as a senior content creator (producer, animator, editor, photographer, designer, writer) or creative lead, with a demonstrated progression from hands‑on content production into broader art direction
• Bachelor’s Degree in design, fine arts, or marketing communications, or equivalent portfolio‑proven experience
• Strong portfolio of work demonstrating digital content leadership and designs from concept to execution that tell a compelling story and link to a bigger strategy
• A graphic design background with mastery of 1–2 skillsets such as social design, photo/video editing, photography capture, video, or motion graphics, plus working knowledge of graphic design, information design, creative messaging, typography, and aesthetics
• Thorough knowledge, experience and proficiency in the Adobe Creative Suite (strong focus on Photoshop/Illustrator/Premiere/After Effects), Figma, AI workflows, and related tools/software
• Experience and/or openness to learning and using data and AI tools to improve efficiency and creativity in ideation, research, presentations and other areas of job function
• Demonstrate critical thinking skills by identifying patterns and connections in data, analyzing and breaking down complex situations and providing solutions
• Comfort presenting to and working with clients, both in‑person and remotely, from creative vision through execution
• Proven ability to manage aspects of creative production with a diverse team, and able to work independently or lead a team as required
• Ability to take strategic direction and turn it into strong creative content, and increasingly provide that direction to others with minimal oversight
• Thrives in a fast‑paced environment; a self‑starter who can manage multiple projects while staying focused amid changing requirements
• Entrepreneurial spirit with a knack for making smart creative decisions on the fly
• Ability to manage deadlines; is self‑motivated, organized and process‑oriented
• Leverages analytics, research, industry best practices, and SEO to inform design decisions

Hybrid role based in Harrisburg, PA. Portfolio required.