Principal Associate, Art Director, HR Communications

Principal Associate, Art Director, HR Communications

Principal Associate, Art Director, HR Communications

Capital One is a Fortune 100 finance company-built on credit cards, banking products, and best-in-class technology. But what makes us truly unique is our focus on humanity. We strive to make both our customers and our associates feel at ease, supported, and engaged.

Our internal audience-our associates-deserves the same caliber of design, clear communication and intuitive digital experiences as our customers.

We are seeking a highly collaborative Art Director, HR Communications (Principal Associate) to join our internal creative team. In this role, you will bring Capital One's brand to life for our internal community, turning complex HR, cultural and strategic initiatives into beautiful, high-impact, human-centered communications and experiences.

If you are a champion of strategic ideas with exceptional design chops, a UX-minded approach to layout, and a passion for internal brand storytelling, we would love to hear from you.

What you'll do

Conceptualize and design

• Brainstorm and execute: Lead creative brainstorming sessions and translate strategic concepts into meticulous, detail-oriented design solutions and brand stewardship.

• Design across channels: Create high-impact, integrated creative campaigns for internal digital and print channels, including executive presentations, employee intranets, web landing pages, newsletters, environmental design, internal social media platforms, video graphics and corporate events.

• Quality and process improvement: Actively pursue iterative work and maintain a high bar for quality, proactively identifying and implementing opportunities to improve design processes and elevate the overall maturity of the creative practice within the team.

Drive human-centered UI/UX

• Simplify complex journeys: Partner with HR program managers to translate complex policies, associate benefits, and tech rollouts into simple, digestible and visually engaging infographics and interactive digital experiences.

• Build inside design systems: Design within established design systems while finding fresh ways to innovate. Use digital prototyping tools (such as Figma) to map out intuitive, high-utility associate communication journeys.

• Maintain visual integrity: Act as a brand champion, ensuring all internal-facing material aligns perfectly with Capital One's core brand standards while tailoring the tone to connect authentically with associates.

Collaborate and influence

• Partnership-first mindset: Collaborate daily with communications partners, the creative director, internal marketing strategists, change management specialists, and HR business partners.

• Advocate for design: Present concepts to HR executives and cross-functional stakeholders with a human-centered approach, articulating how your design choices support associate engagement and business objectives.

• Empathy and listening: Listen to diverse viewpoints, gather feedback, and iterate to align creative strategies with both organizational goals and associate needs.

Problem-solve with tech and data

• Leverage tech capabilities: Stay current on digital communication tools, motion graphics, and emerging technologies to continuously modernize our internal communication delivery.

• Iterate with insights: Use internal analytics, survey feedback, and employee sentiment data to measure the success of communication strategies, actively refining and adjusting creative assets based on performance.

The ideal candidate has:

• A strong, diverse portfolio showcasing your design process, visual storytelling, brand integration and UX/UI thinking.

• A natural curiosity to learn about the associate audience and a desire to advocate for their experience.

• Excellent presentation and communication skills to convey strategic visual choices to stakeholders at all levels.

• Exceptional attention to detail, strong organizational skills and the agility to manage multiple projects at once in a fast-paced environment.

Candidate must provide a portfolio of their creative work for consideration

Basic qualifications

• Bachelor's degree or military experience

• At least 5 years of professional experience in visual design, art direction, UI/UX or brand marketing

• At least 5 years of experience with design and prototyping tools (such as Figma and Adobe Creative Suite)

Preferred qualifications

• 6+ years of experience as an art director, UI/UX designer or visual designer

• 4+ years of experience collaborating closely with copywriters, product leads, technical teams and internal business partners

• 4+ years of experience working with motion graphics, video editing (such as Adobe After Effects or Premiere), or designing animation for digital platforms

• 4+ years of experience working with an established design system

• Proficiency in Google Suite, including a strong understanding of Google Slides (building and applying themes)

At this time, Capital One will not sponsor a new applicant for employment authorization for this position.

The minimum and maximum full-time annual salaries for this role are listed below, by location. Please note that this salary information is solely for candidates hired to perform work within one of these locations, and refers to the amount Capital One is willing to pay at the time of this posting. Salaries for part-time roles will be prorated based upon the agreed upon number of hours to be regularly worked.

McLean, VA: $120,800 - $137,900 for Principal Associate, Art Director

Richmond, VA: $109,900 - $125,400 for Principal Associate, Art Director

Candidates hired to work in other locations will be subject to the pay range associated with that location, and the actual annualized salary amount offered to any candidate at the time of hire will be reflected solely in the candidate's offer letter.

This role is also eligible to earn performance based incentive compensation, which may include cash bonus(es) and/or long term incentives (LTI). Incentives could be discretionary or non discretionary depending on the plan.

Capital One offers a comprehensive, competitive, and inclusive set of health, financial and other benefits that support your total well-being. Learn more at the Capital One Careers website ( . Eligibility varies based on full or part-time status, exempt or non-exempt status, and management level.

This role is expected to accept applications for a minimum of 5 business days.

No agencies please. Capital One is an equal opportunity employer (EOE, including disability/vet) committed to non-discrimination in compliance with applicable federal, state, and local laws. Capital One promotes a drug-free workplace. Capital One will consider for employment qualified applicants with a criminal history in a manner consistent with the requirements of applicable laws regarding criminal background inquiries, including, to the extent applicable, Article 23-A of the New York Correction Law; San Francisco, California Police Code Article 49, Sections 4901-4920; New York City's Fair Chance Act; Philadelphia's Fair Criminal Records Screening Act; and other applicable federal, state, and local laws and regulations regarding criminal background inquiries.

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Capital One Financial is made up of several different entities. Please note that any position posted in Canada is for Capital One Canada, any position posted in the United Kingdom is for Capital One Europe and any position posted in the Philippines is for Capital One Philippines Service Corp. (COPSSC).