Senior Art Director

About the role

John Lewis, the UK’s leading department store, is searching for an exceptionally talented individual with a strong background in Art Direction across Home and Interiors, with fashion art direction experience highly beneficial. The successful candidate will join our busy in-house creative department working closely with our Lead Art Director and Creative Director to bring the John Lewis visual tone of voice to life through concepting and delivering stylish visuals in both moving image and stills.

The role requires a confident creative leader who is constantly looking to evolve and push creative boundaries. This role covers a wide range of projects and it is essential that you are able to concept and deliver on both large scale and small scale shoots, bringing a teamwork mentality that means you roll up your sleeves when needed to get the job done on time and within budget.

One day could be a full studio set build, while another could be a conceptual still life, a storytelling mini doc or room sets in a location house. The job requires a portfolio that shows this breadth and the ability to approach typical themes in an unexpected way. The Senior Art Director is a naturally curious individual who is collaborative and can work on multiple projects at one time.

Being able to work in a fast paced environment while capturing assets for multiple channels across digital and print is essential. You will be accountable for each stage of a project from concept, to presentation decks, on set leadership, edits, retouch notes, crop guidelines and final deliverables.

• Salary Expectation:
  Up to £60,000 Depending on experience
• Contract type:
  This is a permanent position
• Working pattern/flexible working:
  The Partnership has adopted a hybrid working approach, meaning you ll be able to work a mixture between the office, on set and home based upon your personal needs whilst balancing the needs of the business. The team aims for around 2-3 days a week in the office and on a more ad-hoc basis to attend key meetings and the expectation to be on shoots whenever they are scheduled.
• Location:
  
  This role is based at our London Head Office campus in Pimlico. Travel costs to the office are the candidate’s responsibility. There is no travel allowance for this role. There is also a responsibility to be frequently art directing on set. You will be able to claim travel expenses for these journeys.
• Assessments:
  Will take place virtually at the end of February/Beginning of March.

Key responsibilities:

• Own concept through to delivery of Home shoots across both stills and motion.
• Storyboarding for motion and when appropriate room sets.
• Development of John Lewis Home look and feel within the tone of voice set by leadership.
• Presenting and pitching your work to senior stakeholders, and briefing external teams (photographers, stylists, set designers).
• Acting as a brand guardian for John Lewis supporting as needed in meetings with the home commercial team or on set with freelance or junior art directors.
• Working hand in hand with your production counterpart to interrogate briefs and provide creative solutions to fulfil the brief.
• Acting as a mentor for junior members of the team, and providing a positive and nurturing environment.
• Creating clear AD decks that show vision and assets required. These need to be robust enough to brief in an external team and enable sign off internally.
• Expert knowledge in home and industry trends. This includes seasonal colour palettes, interior design direction and cultural trends.
• Research of new talent for photography, videography, set designers, and interior stylists.
• Responding to marketing briefs with art direction that aligns with our brand vision while constantly evolving to be industry leading.
• Ability to meticulously plan a shoot and be able to quickly adapt and problem solve when unexpected challenges arise.
• Being accountable on set for the final output of assets with an eye for detail across all elements including but not limited to: lighting, set design, styling, and composition.
• Responsible for the full retouch process in post from editing to mark-ups and grade to sign off.
• Strong communication…