Art Director

Job Description

Title: Art Director III

Location: Hybrid in Newark, NJ

Duration: 6 months

Job Summary

We're looking for a Senior Art Director to support the creative development and execution of client's growing portfolio of sponsorships, events, hospitality programs, and brand activations.

This role will partner closely with our in-house creative team to concept, design, and execute high-visibility experiences across sports partnerships, music festivals, executive events, hospitality programs, employee experiences, and customer activations. The ideal candidate brings a strong background in experiential marketing, environmental design, and live events, with the ability to quickly integrate into a fast-paced creative team and contribute from day one.

This is a highly collaborative, hands-on role focused on creative execution rather than people management. You'll work alongside creative directors, art directors, designers, strategists, marketers, agencies, and production partners to create memorable brand experiences that bring our brand to life in the real world.

We're looking for someone who is naturally curious, asks thoughtful questions, and enjoys collaborating across disciplines to create the best possible work.

Creative Concept Development

? Develop creative concepts and visual systems for sponsorships, experiential activations, hospitality programs, and branded events.

? Translate strategic objectives into compelling audience experiences that align with business and brand goals.

? Contribute creative thinking throughout the ideation, design, and execution process.

Experiential & Environmental Design

? Design event environments, branded spaces, signage systems, environmental graphics, installations, and on-site communications.

? Create solutions that work across physical, digital, and hybrid experiences.

? Ensure all creative work maintains a high standard of design excellence and functionality.

Brand Activation Support

? Partner with the in-house creative team to execute large-scale sponsorship and activation programs.

? Help extend the team's capacity across multiple concurrent initiatives, supporting both creative and production needs.

? Collaborate closely with event, sponsorship, and marketing teams to ensure seamless execution.

? Balance multiple projects and deadlines while maintaining a high standard of creative quality and attention to detail.

Art Direction & Creative Execution

? Produce high-quality creative work from concept through final delivery.

? Develop presentations, mood boards, renderings, and design systems that communicate ideas effectively.

? Provide art direction to external agencies, production vendors, photographers, and fabrication partners when needed.

Agency & Vendor Collaboration

? Work closely with experiential agencies, event producers, and fabrication partners throughout the design and production process.

? Review creative deliverables and production work to ensure quality and brand consistency.

? Partner with vendors to solve design and production challenges while maintaining creative integrity. Brand Stewardship

? Apply brand standards consistently across all experiential touchpoints.

? Identify opportunities to elevate the brand through innovative and engaging experiences.

? Ensure all work reflects the quality and professionalism expected of a leading financial services brand.

Required Skills

? Strong portfolio demonstrating sponsorship activations, hospitality experiences, experiential marketing programs, environmental graphics, event marketing, or branded environments.

? Experience supporting sports sponsorships, music festivals, hospitality programs, or large-scale consumer events strongly preferred.

? Expert proficiency in Adobe Creative Suite, including Illustrator, Photoshop, and InDesign.

? Strong typography, layout, visual storytelling, and presentation design skills.

? Ability to create both conceptual and production-ready creative work.

? Comfortable designing within real-world constraints including budgets, schedules, venue limitations, and fabrication requirements.

? Strong communication and collaboration skills, with the ability to build productive relationships across internal teams, agencies, and vendors.

? Ability to present creative work, explain design decisions, and incorporate feedback from multiple stakeholders.

? Strong organizational skills and the ability to manage multiple projects in a fast-paced environment.

? Knowledge of experiential marketing trends, sponsorship activations, hospitality programs, and emerging technologies.

Qualifications

? Bachelor's degree in Graphic Design, Advertising, Fine Arts, Environmental Design, or a related field.

? 7+ years of experience as an Art Director or Senior Art Director.

? Demonstrated experience supporting experiential marketing, event design, sponsorship activation, hospitality, or live-event programs.

? Experience supporting large-scale events, sports partnerships, music festivals, hospitality experiences, or customer activations strongly preferred.

? Experience developing presentations, mood boards, renderings, and creative sell-in materials for stakeholders and leadership teams.

? Strong portfolio showcasing concept development through execution.

? Experience working with external agencies, production partners, and event vendors.

? Experience with AI-powered creative tools and emerging technologies is a plus.

? Financial services experience is a plus but not required