Senior Art Director

Location: Cape Town OR Johannesburg, South Africa
Employment Type: Permanent
Account: Major global beauty and personal care brand

Hybrid, 3 days a week in office

Role Overview

A leading global creative agency is looking for a highly conceptual Senior Art Director to join its South African creative team and work on a major international beauty and personal care account.

Working in partnership with a Senior Copywriter, you will develop original campaign ideas and lead the visual direction across digital, social and broader through-the-line channels. This role requires an exceptional conceptual thinker who can combine strong strategic ideas with outstanding visual craft and execution.

The creative standard is extremely high, so portfolios must demonstrate big campaign thinking, originality, variety and beautifully executed work.

Key Responsibilities

• Develop original campaign concepts in partnership with a Senior Copywriter.
• Lead brainstorms and translate strategic briefs into clear, relevant and ambitious creative ideas.
• Establish the visual concept, art direction and overall look and feel of campaigns.
• Develop ideas that extend beyond standard social content into broader campaign platforms.
• Lead the creative execution of ideas across digital, social and through-the-line channels.
• Create and oversee key visuals, layouts, mood boards, storyboards and visual territories.
• Guide Senior Digital Designers and other creative specialists throughout campaign development.
• Ensure ideas are translated consistently across multiple formats and touchpoints.
• Collaborate with strategists, designers, account teams, production partners and international stakeholders.
• Work with creators and influencers to develop culturally relevant campaign content where required.
• Present creative concepts and explain the strategic and visual rationale behind the work.
• Provide a clear creative vision to internal teams, clients and external partners.
• Maintain a consistently high level of craft from initial concept through to final delivery.
• Review creative work and provide clear, constructive feedback.
• Support and mentor junior and mid-level creatives.
• Manage multiple projects and deadlines within a fast-paced agency environment.

Experience Required

• Approximately 8 to 10 years of agency experience.
• Recent experience operating at Senior Art Director level.
• A standout portfolio demonstrating strong conceptual thinking and exceptional visual craft.
• Experience developing large campaign ideas rather than only standalone social executions.
• Strong digital and social campaign experience.
• Experience working across broader through-the-line campaign channels.
• Ability to develop ideas from initial brief through to polished final execution.
• Experience leading brainstorms and guiding the visual direction of creative work.
• Experience collaborating closely with Copywriters and multidisciplinary creative teams.
• Confidence presenting and selling creative ideas to clients and senior stakeholders.
• Experience working with and developing junior to mid-level creatives.
• Experience working on global brands or international campaigns is highly desirable.
• Creator and influencer campaign experience would be beneficial.
• Experience managing production partners or external creative specialists would be valuable.

Direct beauty experience is a significant advantage, but exceptional conceptual work and portfolio quality may outweigh category experience.

Portfolio Requirements

Your portfolio should demonstrate:

• Big campaign thinking.
• Strong strategic reasoning behind the creative idea.
• Original concepts rather than only polished execution.
• Exceptional visual craft and attention to detail.
• Campaigns that work across multiple channels.
• Digital and social expertise.
• Through-the-line campaign experience.
• A broad variety of styles, brands and campaign scales.
• Beautiful, simple and effective execution.
• Evidence of collaboration across creative disciplines.
• Global brand or international-market experience where possible.
• Creator or influencer-led campaign work where relevant.

Portfolio quality will be prioritised over the CV alone.

Skills and Attributes

• Highly conceptual and creatively ambitious.
• Strong visual storytelling and art direction skills.
• Excellent understanding of digital and social platforms.
• Strong awareness of contemporary culture, design and advertising trends.
• Able to balance strategic thinking with hands-on creative execution.
• Confident communicator and presenter.
• Collaborative and comfortable working as part of an Art Director and Copywriter partnership.
• Strong leadership and mentoring ability.
• Excellent attention to detail.
• Comfortable managing competing priorities and deadlines.
• Open to feedback and able to develop ideas collaboratively.
• Passionate about producing work at a global creative standard.

Qualifications

A relevant qualification in art direction, graphic design, advertising, visual communication or a related creative discipline is preferred. A standout portfolio of conceptual digital and through-the-line campaign work is essential.

Sphere Digital Recruitment currently have a variety of job opportunities across digital so feel free to get in touch with us to find out how we can help you. Please take a look at our website.

Sphere is an equal opportunities employer. We encourage applications regardless of ethnic origin, race, religious beliefs, age, disability, gender or sexual orientation, and any other protected status as required by applicable law.

If you require any adjustments or additional support during the recruitment process for any reason whatsoever, please let us know.