Senior Manager Art Direction

Title: Senior Manager Art Direction (6 mnth Limited Time Duration)

Location: Portland, OR, US

Workplace: Limited Duration

Department: Design

Job Description:

ROLE DESCRIPTION

As an LTD Sr. Manager of Art Direction you should have extensive experience art directing and running photo and video shoots. You are expected to lead creative projects from concept to capture, execution, and final delivery.

You will be responsible for answering creative briefs while ensuring alignment with the adidas global brand direction and brand voice. You will focus on creating excellent, compelling, and effective creative executions that deliver against each brief. You will regularly partner closely with copywriters and collaborate with other members of the studio, including project managers, operations, producers, and stakeholders.

You are expected to lead creative work across multiple projects as a senior-level individual contributor, providing clear visual direction, strong judgment, and hands-on execution as needed. Depending on the project, you may guide other creatives, approve creative direction, lead stakeholder presentations, and recommend external creative partners.

You will regularly be working on multiple complex projects simultaneously.

As this is an 6 month LTD role, it is expected that you are already capable of fully performing the requirements of this job on day one.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES:

Creative Direction & Execution

• Lead the creation and delivery of design, art direction, and video for campaigns, projects, and toolkits from concept to execution.
• Enforce brand standards and provide clear, actionable creative feedback to internal partners and collaborators.
• Own the creative output of assigned photoshoots and productions.
• Push creative ambition beyond simply answering a brief.
• Anticipate stakeholder needs and propose creative solutions that will address them as well as the specific needs of a brief.
• Lead brainstorms and concept development with the Lead Copywriter to build a strong messaging framework tied to project visuals.
• Propose visual direction per project, including graphic direction, typography, lighting, location, angle, talent, grading.
• Propose potential Lead Creative Partners (photographers, videographers, directors) and provide justification.
• Propose production details including location, casting, props, styling, treatment of shoot.
• Delegate design needs as necessary for concept, presentations, or execution.
• Ultimately responsible for each round of presentation.
• Provide moodboard imagery (swipe) for concepts and visual direction.
• Lead stakeholder presentations and clearly communicate creative rationale, direction, and recommendations.

Art Direction/ On-Set

• Lead creation of shot list and/or Storyboard (with lead copywriter as needed).
• Lead photoshoots on set or support creative director.
• Work closely with the photographer to align on the flow of the day, ensure required shots are captured, and adjust as needed on set.
• Direct talent/athletes/models on set, in support of Photographer or Creative Director.
• Monitor and enforce shot list. Review and approve lighting and framing on set.
• Double-check wardrobe and styling to ensure alignment with the approved creative direction.
• Carefully monitor output: determine whether you got the shot and can move on.
• Be solution-oriented when unexpected challenges arise on set.
• Maintain professionalism and composure on set, especially under pressure.

Design & Execution

• Design a range of assets and visual solutions based on the brief provided.
• Deliver high-quality, production-ready assets across digital channels and campaign touchpoints.
• Create and refine layouts, comps, mockups, and presentations that clearly communicate creative intent to stakeholders and production partners.
• Develop visual systems and design frameworks that create consistency across campaign assets and touchpoints.
• Ensure design work is optimized appropriately for platform, placement, audience, and performance goals.
• Prepare final files for stakeholders.
• Review and provide post-production feedback to creative partners.
• Provide retouching feedback and maintain a high bar for visual polish, accuracy, and craft.
• Manage revisions across multiple rounds of feedback while maintaining creative integrity and forward momentum.
• Adapt campaign creative across formats, placements, and touchpoints while maintaining the strength of the core idea.
• Identify executional risks, inconsistencies, or quality issues early and proactively resolve them.
• Regularly create final deliverables for briefed projects in Photoshop, InDesign, Figma, or PowerPoint.

Briefing & Project Management

• Attend brief kickoffs and help establish a clear creative path from the outset.
• Reads briefs carefully and identify gaps, risks, dependencies, and open questions in briefs early, and work with the team to resolve them.
• Partner closely with project managers, producers, and operations to align creative ambition with timelines, resources, and production realities.
• Balance multiple projects at once, prioritizing effectively while maintaining quality and momentum.

Leadership

• Contribute to cultural initiatives and champion these principles across the team.
• Demonstrate strong interpersonal skills and comfort with difficult conversations, including giving and receiving candid feedback.
• Solicit feedback from all levels within the studio to make informed decisions.

KEY RELATIONSHIPS:

• Creative Director (Direct Manager)
• Sr. Copywriter (Partner)
• Project Managers (Partner)
• Producers (Partner)
• Operations (Partner)
• Stakeholders and project briefers (Digital Activation, Retail Marketing, Membership, Planning)
• External agencies and vendors

REQUIREMENTS:

Education & Experience

• A BA, MA, or BFA degree with focus on design, visual art, and/or related areas
• 8+ years of experience in design, art direction and/or creative direction
• Extensive knowledge of photography and videography techniques
• Experience working within sporting goods industry
• Experience in design industry and ability to predict future trends

Soft-Skills

• Culturally aware and able to communicate effectively with varied audiences.
• Strong communication & negotiation skills, comfortable presenting complex topics to stakeholders at various organizational levels both in person and remotely.

Hard-Skills

• In-depth knowledge of art direction and concept development with a digital-first approach
• Expert knowledge of the Adobe Creative Suite (Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign)
• Extensive knowledge of Figma, Frame IO, and PowerPoint.

• adidas celebrates diversity, supports inclusiveness and encourages individual expression in our workplace. We do not tolerate the harassment or discrimination toward any of our applicants or employees. We are an Equal Opportunity Employer.

• adidas offers robust and progressive medical, including HSA (Health Savings Account) with employer funding or FSA (Flexible Spending Account) options, dental, vision, prescription drug coverage, adoption, with surrogate and fertility support, short and long-term disability, and basic life and AD&D insurance, which can be supplemented with employee-paid coverage. Employees are able to enroll in adidas’ 401k plan and Stock Purchase Plan with employer match. Full-time employees are eligible for education assistance and generous Leave policies including 12 weeks of paid parental leave.

• Employees are eligible to earn an annual bonus based on both company and personal performance. Employees accrue prorated flexible time off in the amount .4388 hours per day that increases with years of service, twelve paid holidays throughout the calendar year and Service Time Off during milestone years.

• At adidas we offer a Hybrid work policy which requires attendance in the office Monday through Thursday, with the flexibility to work remotely on Friday each week. For work requiring a high degree of collaboration or an in-person presentation, in-office attendance is required even on Friday. The working location of this position is Portland OR.

• Though our teammates hail from all corners of the world, our working language is English.