Art Director

The Art Director role at Northmarq is a blend of leadership and design. As the Art Director, you will play a key role in defining Northmarq’s brand style and – more importantly – you will work with other designers to empower all Northmarq team members (with tools, templates, guidelines and other structure) to represent the brand consistently. You will work closely with Marketing leadership to evaluate brand effectiveness and spearhead initiatives to keep the Northmarq brand fresh and relevant.

As the design leader for the entire company, you will collaborate with business line art managers, graphic designers and marketing specialists far and wide to coach, mentor and align our brand design standards. You will listen and learn how the brand is activated and find ways to evolve or expand the brand infrastructure to support the business needs.

You will establish and lead a corporate graphic design center of excellence built on the tenets of collaboration, creativity, efficiency, and impact. You will define and implement processes and standards for graphic design to ensure deliverables advance our brand and align to strategy. Your team of graphic designers will create all different types of designs – print and digital – events, collateral, advertising, gifts, environmental and more. When appropriate, you will also produce designs yourself.

Success in the role requires a careful balance of strategy-first and design-first thinking that brings the brand to life. It takes deep understanding of graphic design skills and the ability to assess them in others – a leader who can ignite creative thinking and inspire designers to do their best work to move the business forward. Someone who can see the finish line and bring others along the path to get there.

Position Responsibilities:

Strategy + Leadership

• Design leader and brand ambassador, collaborating with teams to empower consistent brand activation 
• Lead corporate design initiatives related to the development and evolution of brand tools 
• Be the leader in fundamental design principles as well as current trends; ignite and fuel a creative spirit 
• Mentor, support and help recruit graphic design talent; conduct onboarding, annual reviews and help develop performance goals for direct reports

Planning + Execution

• Assess design requests and delegate work to direct reports, coach and guide designers to the best outcome/solution 
• Plan work according to the overall workflow needs and deliver on time, without burdening downstream resources 
• Pitch/present creative concepts, influence design decisions, and respond to feedback; drive to success for all stakeholders 
• Build and manage relationships with vendors and partners (i.e., video or design agencies, printers, photographers, etc)

Systems + Processes

• Oversee design processes; advocate ways to streamline and opportunities to develop templates/guidelines; ensure all deliverables align to brand 
• Own and manage brand library and infrastructure (cloud libraries and design assets), ensure assets are easy to find and use 
• Leverage marketing PM software to organize and track projects, keep progress and project information up to date 
• Own and manage Northmarq’s brand style guide

Culture

• Be the expert, keep your knowledge fresh. 
• Bring others along, invest in team growth. 
• Take a proactive approach, leading one step ahead and providing clear communication to stakeholders 
• Advocate structure improvements and department best practice processes 
• Bring your whole self to work; build relationships and trust 
• Contribute to creating a team environment you want to be a part of 
• Be an inclusive, collaborative partner

What We're Looking For:

• Four-year degree in graphic design or related field is required 
• 8+ years graphic design experience on a corporate marketing team 
• 3+ years of experience successfully executing original designs – created independently – from concept through production 
• Experience managing the production of media and marketing materials 
• Deep, expert-level Adobe Creative Suite graphic design experience – all digital and printed media types (motion graphics a plus, but not critical) 
• Excellent design sense, able to create high quality custom designs with minimal direction 
• Able to train/coach others in technical design skills and graphic design principles 
• Strong collaboration skills, able to work with a wide range of personalities

Northmarq offers a highly competitive benefits package including: medical, dental, vision, paid time off, 401K match and an annual discretionary contribution based on business performance, paid parental leave and adoption assistance, education assistance, volunteer paid time off, charitable contribution match and so much more!