Senior Art Director

Chicago, IL (Hybrid)

$120K/yr – $140K/yrSenior Level4+ years expFull time

Posted 3 months ago

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Job Summary

Drive creative direction and team leadership in a digital agency to deliver high‑impact user experiences.

  • Own concept development and creative direction across projects and accounts.
  • Must-have: 4+ years in a digital agency with team leadership and a strong design/art direction portfolio.
  • Standout: Ability to translate business strategy into compelling experiences and mentor a cross-functional team.

Job Description

Responsibilities

  • Lead concept development and creative direction across projects and accounts.
  • Develop innovative ideas and proposals that drive growth and new business.
  • Partner cross‑functionally with strategy, technology, and production teams to deliver strong client outcomes.
  • Manage project scope, timelines, budgets, and resources to ensure on‑time, high‑quality delivery.
  • Build, lead, and mentor a multidisciplinary creative team, providing ongoing feedback and development.
  • Translate business and marketing strategies into effective experience and design solutions.
  • Champion creative excellence, quality standards, and continuous improvement across all deliverables.
  • Communicate creative ideas and strategies clearly to clients, stakeholders, and senior leadership.

Requirements

  • 4+ years’ experience working in a digital agency.
  • Experience leading a team of designers, production specialists, and writers to creative excellence.
  • Strong portfolio of digital design and art direction work.
  • Experience meeting clients and presenting your work.
  • Ability to think creatively and justify concepts to clients and team members.
  • Experience with strategic brainstorming, creative brief development, and creative execution.
  • Experience using Figma for design and prototyping.
  • Significant understanding of working within, and adding to, an existing Design System.
  • Working knowledge of the latest versions of Adobe Creative Cloud platforms including: Photoshop, Lightroom and Illustrator.
  • Comfortable using Microsoft Suite, including PowerPoint.
  • Level 2 Security Clearance eligibility and being a U.S. citizen or permanent resident (Green Card holder).

Preferred

  • Motion design, rapid prototyping, and vibe coding experience are all a plus.
  • Collaboration with an inter-agency team is an asset.

Benefits

  • Global maternity and parental leave
  • Competitive benefits packages
  • Vacation, compassionate leave, personal/sick days, and flex days
  • Access to online services for families and new parents
  • Early Dismissal Fridays (off at 3:00 PM local time every Friday)
  • 12 affinity groups
  • Internal learning and development programs
  • Enterprise-wide employee discounts
Critical Mass logo

Critical Mass

3.1 Glassdoor

Critical Mass is a team of 1,900 inspired folks based in 13 offices around the world, providing full-service digital capabilities for the greatest brands on Earth. Our secret sauce is our uncompromising design standards, our relentless focus on customers, and an ability to put powerful new technologies to work for our clients. We work with the best—Apple, Nike, Mars Wrigley, Nissan, Diageo, Airbnb, BMW, BNY Mellon, Johnson & Johnson, and many more—brands who strive for connected digital ecosystems and unparalleled experiences. We help them get there by gaining deep insight into their consumers and orchestrating data, AI, design, media, and tech stacks around human stories.We’re a global agency founded in Canada, but digital is our home. If you know us, then you know we’re a special, quirky place that attracts big talent and tiny egos. (We actually give out a “so f-n nice” award—lots of them). But just because we’re friendly doesn’t mean we’re not a force to be reckoned with. We’re driven. Relentless. And we live our values. We’re Critical Mass, but our friends call us CM. Please call us CM!

Founded in 1996
Calgary, Alberta, CAN
1.8K employees (728 in marketing)
43% recommend to a friend
44% CEO approval

Traffic Signals

Monthly Visitors
30.3K
Traffic Source Mix
Search
46.7%
Direct
41.5%
Referral
6.8%
Social
3.9%
Paid
1%

Headcount Trend

Current headcount: ~1.8K

Marketing Team

Marketing Team Size
347 (19% of company)
Median Career Experience
10 years
Median Tenure
4.8 years
Marketing Roles Posted (Last 30 Days)
6

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