Art Director

Overview

The Art Director at EMF resides within Creative Services, a subset of the broader Marketing team. As the Art Director, you will have the opportunity to lead and inspire a talented team of designers while working closely with the Creative Director to concept and execute visually stunning designs for a variety of print and digital media. You will be responsible for managing a staff, department budget, resources, and project timelines, as well as ensuring that high-quality design work is delivered to clients.

Having a deep understanding of contemporary design trends and the ability to work through a team to see world-class design implemented in their work is a key to success for this role. Doing it with the heart of a shepherd as you guide and support your team members is critical. As the Art Director, you will provide feedback on design concepts, offer creative solutions to design challenges, and encourage team members to think outside the box to see world-class design executed in the work.

In addition to managing the day-to-day operations of the department, you will also be responsible for developing and maintaining relationships with clients and other industry professionals as you present concepts for approvals through various stakeholders assigned to projects. You will also have the opportunity to manage and mentor the design team, and stay current on industry trends and techniques, while working closely with the Creative Director to identify and establish brand standards for each brand, bringing them to life consistently across branded content and promotional campaigns.

This position will be located in office in Franklin, TN.

How you will contribute:

• Proactively influence our culture, leading by example in demonstrating collaboration, empowerment, innovation, creativity and service, while being a faithful witness on and off the job of EMF's mission to create compelling media that inspires and encourages our listeners to have a meaningful relationship with Christ.
• As a leading manager in Creative Services, contribute to long term planning and vision implementation through identification of strategic initiatives, collaboration, prioritization, communication, and evaluation of results, while preserving EMF's reputation for integrity and excellence.
• Assess the Design Studio department's performance against both annual goals and plans. Provide strategic recommendations based on operational analysis, research, and projections, cost identification and allocation, and resource analysis. Ensure tools and systems are in place to provide critical operational and project information to the Creative Director, and others and make actionable recommendations on both strategic goals and operational constraints.
• Oversee the daily operations of the design studio department, including managing budgets, resources, and project timelines
• Lead a team of designers and provide direction, feedback, and guidance on projects with a "hands-on-when-needed" mentality.
• Ensure the delivery of high-quality design work to clients
• Stay current on design trends and techniques, and continually seek out new ways to improve the studio's processes and output
• Manage the hiring and onboarding process for new design team members
• Manage and mentor the design team, including providing direction, feedback, and guidance on projects
• Stay current on industry trends and techniques, and continually seek out new ways to push creative boundaries. Work closely with the Creative Director in this manner.
• Work with the Creative Director to identify and establish brand standards for each brand, while consistently bringing them to life in content and campaigns
• Provide insight into modern trends in both motion and static design in social, web, email, and all forms of media.
• Recruit, develop, and manage designers by evaluating performance, providing coaching, training, and mentoring opportunities to maximize staff performance and professional growth.
• As a "hands-on" manager, create visual designs and concepts for brand content such as websites, mobile apps, promos, ad banners, custom emails, and marketing and communication pieces (internal and external work) as appropriate.
• Manage the workflow and distribution of photography for EMF
• Plan, oversee and manage all phases of the Design Studio department's projects from start to finish with minimal supervision. Establish targets and measures that adequately reflect Digital Communication objectives. Communicate objectives to staff, balancing team and individual responsibilities and productivity.
• Provide leadership in defining and communicating project scope and schedules; prioritize and establish deadlines; assign resources; assist with workflow; and manage visual and branding standards. Provide project status reports, coordinate project schedules of design team, and proactively identify and resolve creative and technical problems.
• Create and implement systems and documentation to increase efficiency of the department and ensure the quality of the products produced, including spreadsheets, forms, outlining projects and responsibilities, etc.
• Working within Marketing's SOPs for servicing internal clients, partner with internal client base (Product Teams, Customer Service, Donor Engagement, Human Resources, etc.) on graphical projects. Identify key stakeholders on projects and ensure strong customer service and "product" satisfaction by understanding the internal customer needs.
• Coordinate when needed with external contractors and other "out-sourced" resources to provide requested graphic assets and direction.
• Maintain professional competency, knowledge and skills necessary to effectively perform job duties by taking personal responsibility for professional and technical development and training.

Experience you will need:

• A bachelor's degree in graphic design, related field, or relevant experience
• Minimum of 3-5 years of experience leading a team of designers
• Strong portfolio showcasing a range of design projects
• Proficiency in Adobe Creative Suite (Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign)
• Strong project management skills and ability to multitask in a fast-paced environment
• Demonstrated ability to lead and motivate a team

What can we offer you?

Some of our amazing benefits include:

• Medical Insurance, Vision Insurance and company paid Dental
• Company paid life insurance and short term/long term disability insurance
• Company 401k with a generous company match
• Parental leave with Baby Bonding pay
• Generous paid vacation and sick leave
• Amazing company culture that includes exclusive access to concerts, movie premieres, media industry events, etc.
• Free access to LinkedIn Learning platform

"As an Equal Opportunity Employer, EMF makes employment decisions based on merit and other legitimate reasons. The Company is committed to a diverse and inclusive work environment and the promotion of equal employment opportunities regardless of protected class, characteristic or status. However, EMF is also a religious non-profit organization where all team members contribute to the Company's mission of encouraging our audiences "to have a meaningful relationship with Christ." Therefore, pursuant to the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Section 702 (42 U.S.C. 2000e I(a)), EMF has the right to hire only candidates who agree with the Company's Statement of Faith. Also, as a religious non-profit organization, the Company is not governed by the CA Fair Employment and Housing Act."