Senior Art Director

Odonnell Company is a full-service marketing and consulting agency with offices in New Haven, CT, and Atlanta, GA. We are committed to providing high-level strategy, creativity, brand development, communications, and results for our clients to make positive changes in the world. Our work addresses challenges in the areas of education, early childhood, public health, mental health and addiction, environment, equity, and social services.

Odonnell Company is committed to hiring and developing exceptional talent. We are focused on developing diverse teams that can bring the best solutions to everything we do. We strongly believe that celebrating what makes us different makes us better together. Join us—we look forward to getting to know you. We offer a hybrid working environment with employees able to work in the office and from home.

The Opportunity:

This is a role for a highly strategic, experienced Senior Art Director & Conceptor who is creative, collaborative, and able to bring their skills to a new and dynamic environment. Responsibilities include leading creative team members to reach deeper collaboration and grow creatively and professionally. The ideal candidate must have the ability to strategize, conceptualize, design, and direct creative solutions for a wide-range of projects and campaigns. Our campaigns are focused on making positive impacts in communities—so we need an individual who is interested in really digging in to understand and develop communications around complex challenges in education, health care, transportation, environment, and early childhood—and designing for a range of audiences across the full spectrum of communication channels.

We are open to candidates throughout Connecticut, and the greater Atlanta Georgia and Washington DC areas.

Key Responsibilities

• Collaborate with cross-functional teams to develop creative concepts that align with client objectives and brand identity.

• Conduct research and stay updated on industry trends to inform concept development and campaign strategies.

• Translate creative briefs and requirements into innovative and compelling creative concepts that push boundaries and challenge conventional thinking.

• Use collaboration and creativity to develop unique, compelling, and positive creative campaigns.

• Execute and direct high-quality creative work across diverse channels, including deliverables developed for print, digital, social, audio, video, events. Develop and present creative assets to clients.

• Work with team members to make sure all projects meet client objectives and budgetary guidelines.

• Keep team members briefed on creative projects; drive collaboration; ensure productivity.

• Analyze and cross-check information to ensure all materials are complete, accurate, and fulfill the scope.

• Communicate effectively and professionally internally and externally; foster a positive team atmosphere.

• Jump in to support the team and be a valuable creative contributor.

• Keep abreast of current interactive, mobile, advertising, design, and visual communications.

Leadership

• Develop collaborative structure; daily meetings to review creative assignments and collaborate and ideate

• Mentor and manage team members, make it fun and goal oriented

• Help on presenting to clients and help build these skills within team

• Understand trends and ensure team members are actively assessing, and adding skills: remote camera work, streaming video, content strategies—running list and ensure there is a lead that teaches others; report back

• Master our internal methodology to develop strategically sound creative that delivers on the client needs and addresses their challenges'

• Potentially develop intern program for writing, design, social, web

• Understand how to work google docs, google sheets, hive, etc

• Help with creative briefs and strategies

• Work with account team and be a creative representative for client interactions

• Assess team members, make recommendations for reviews, hiring, warning, terminations

Skills & Knowledge

• Proven experience as a Creative Conceptor, Concept Developer, or similar role in a creative agency environment.

• Exceptional creative thinking abilities with a track record of developing innovative concepts and campaigns.

• Excellent communication and presentation skills.

• Understanding of media best practices across multiple channels, including but not limited to social and digital

• Ability to strategically interface and brainstorm with other teammates regarding the visual display of information; Ability to grasp the substance of business issues being communicated and then re-articulate visual options that enhance and clarify audience understanding.

• Exercise judgment and project management skills to balance priorities and communicate to teams to meet and exceed project deadlines and commitments.

• Self-starter with a strong work ethic and ability to manage time and take initiative.

• Professional client service manner and ability to interact with all levels of management.

• Speed and agility; Ability to work efficiently and effectively under pressure, developing creative design within extremely tight deadlines—willingness to work occasional weekend hours.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Graphic Design, Visual Arts, Illustration, or related art field.

• Minimum 5 years of experience creating digital assets for web, display, mobile, print, video, in an agency setting.

• Proficiency in Adobe Creative Suite, especially Illustrator, Photoshop, Acrobat, and InDesign.

• Video and Audio Capabilities a plus.

While the listed qualifications serve as a guideline, we are open to considering candidates who may not meet all these criteria but can demonstrate the skills and experience that align with the position's requirements.