Senior Art Director

Who you are

• Shown experience as a Senior Art Director, with a strong portfolio demonstrating conceptual thinking, visual storytelling and art direction across integrated brand campaigns, identity systems and experiential activations
• Demonstrated ability to connect creative ideas to strategic objectives and business goals
• Strong communicator, confident in presenting ideas and influencing partners at all levels
• Keen interest in visual culture and emerging trends, with the ability to recognize innovation and premium build
• Experience leading and contributing to shoots and production processes, ensuring visual consistency and alignment with brand standards
• Experience collaborating with external agencies to maintain the FT’s tone of voice and brand standards
• Strong working knowledge of Adobe Creative Suite (InDesign, Illustrator, Photoshop), Figma and collaborative design workflows
• Ability to lead multiple projects simultaneously
• A recognised design qualification, such as BA/BFA or equivalent experience

Desirable

• Experience working with premium, editorial, or global brands
• Familiarity with motion design, animation, or video production (After Effects or similar)
• Basic knowledge of HTML/CSS

What the job involves

The Senior Art Director role sits within FT Creative, the FT’s in-house creative team, and reports to the Head of Design, Consumer Services. The team provides brand creative leadership and design excellence across the FT Group portfolio, acting as brand guardians for the FT and its sub-brands across all touchpoints

FT Creative is part of the Communications and Marketing Group (CMG), which drives the FT’s brand reputation and works across the organisation to ensure the FT is positioned as an industry leader in quality digital subscriptions

As a Senior Art Director, you will work across a wide range of briefs spanning products, services, brand campaigns and experiential activations

You will bring creative vision and narrative to every project, translating ideas into compelling visual expressions that connect creativity and strategy

You will play a key role in ensuring all art direction reflects and advances the FT’s brand premiumisation strategy, elevating visual standards and reinforcing the FT’s position as a trusted, premium brand

You will collaborate closely with the Head of Design, Creative Director and collaborators to understand business goals and brand positioning, shaping creative solutions that deliver against strategic objectives

Confident in presenting ideas and championing new approaches, you will help drive creative excellence across the FT

You will also support and mentor junior team members to maintain a culture of collaboration, creativity and high-quality work. Success in this role requires an innovative mentality, strong brand understanding and exceptional attention to detail

• Lead conceptual thinking, art direction and design execution across integrated brand campaigns including experiential, OOH, video, social, print and display
• Maintain and evolve the FT’s premium brand standards across all creative touchpoints, safeguarding visual integrity and consistency
• Art direct external agency output to uphold brand alignment and creative quality
• Build relationships with external creative talent and partners, handling production processes and timelines when required
• Champion new creative approaches and workflows that enhance both efficiency and creative standards
• Stay informed on emerging design trends, tools and technologies, bringing fresh inspiration and innovation to the FT’s creative output
• Mentor and guide designers, offering creative inspiration and constructive feedback to elevate the team’s collective output

Salary benchmarks

Brand & Creative Marketing

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Company benefits

• A range of training courses as well as confidential career coaching and mentoring
• Flexibility - working from home, job sharing, compressed weeks, and flexible working hours
• Enhanced parental leave, flexible leave allowance and paid volunteer leave
• Pension contribution
• Local health coverage plans
• Gym memberships and healthcare schemes, professional counselling sessions, 24-hour employee wellbeing helpline, weekly meditation classes
• Financial wellbeing products and services

Our take

Founded in 1888, the FT has grown into one of the world's biggest online and broadsheet economics and business news providers. It has a strong focus on financial journalism and economic analysis, and provides this essential analysis to companies and individuals across the world.

As well as economics and business, the FT also offers sections on opinion, life and arts, how to spend, and more. In 2022, six of its writers won awards in science, data and investment categories, illustrating the breadth and quality of the FT’s journalism.

The company adapts well to changes in the market to maintain its readership. For example, it recently launched a digital hub and weekly newsletter called Cryptofinance to shine a light on the digital asset industry and how innovations are rippling into mainstream finance.

The FT Group employs more than 2,300 people worldwide, including 700 journalists in 40 countries. It includes the FT, FT Specialist, and a number of services and joint ventures. FT's focus on providing impartial, high-quality content has gained it a record-paying readership of over a million, three-quarters of which are digital subscriptions.