Art Director

The role

This newly created Art Director role offers an exciting opportunity to shape the creative direction of the university’s brand. The postholder will lead the visual and conceptual development of high-impact campaigns, ensuring alignment with the university’s brand identity. Reporting to the Head of Creative and working closely with the Copywriter, the role blends strategic vision with hands-on design expertise to deliver innovative, audience-focused content. The successful candidate will inspire and guide creative teams to produce compelling visual work that engages, informs, and drives results.

Hybrid Working Arrangement:
This role follows a hybrid working pattern, with 3 days working from home (Monday, Tuesday, and Friday) and 2 days working on campus (Wednesday and Thursday).

We welcome applications for this role as part of a job share arrangement. The position is 1.0 FTE in total, and we are seeking candidates who can work collaboratively to ensure full coverage across the working week (Monday to Friday), with at least one person working each day. Please indicate your availability and preferred working pattern in your cover letter.

What will you be doing?

• Lead the visual conceptual direction of creative projects, ensuring alignment with the university’s brand identity and strategic goals.
• Collaborate with the Copywriter to deliver cohesive, audience-focused campaigns across multiple media channels.
• Manage and mentor a small team of designers and content creators, fostering creativity and professional development.
• Present and refine creative concepts with stakeholders, incorporating feedback and engaging the Head of Creative for sign-off on complex campaigns.
• Ensure all creative output meets brand, accessibility, and regulatory standards, while staying current with industry trends and innovation.
• Oversee creative processes and resources, including the university’s photography and footage library, ensuring GDPR compliance and effective project execution.

You should apply if

• Proven experience as an Art Director with a strong portfolio of creative campaigns across multiple media platforms.
• Degree in Creative, Advertising, Marketing or a related field, or equivalent professional experience.
• Strong leadership and collaboration skills, with the ability to inspire and guide creative teams.
• Advanced proficiency in Adobe Creative Suite (Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign).
• Excellent conceptual thinking and problem-solving abilities, with a deep understanding of branding and visual storytelling.
• Highly organised, with the ability to manage multiple projects in a fast-paced creative environment.

For a full view of the requirements and responsibilities, please refer to the attached job description.

Additional information

For any informal enquiries, please contact Cellach Harrison - cellach.harrison@bristol.ac.uk. 

Work pattern: 35 hours per week, Monday - Friday

This advert will close at 23:59 UK time on Tuesday, 2nd December. 

The interview date will be confirmed shortly.

Our strategy and mission

We recently launched our strategy to 2030 tying together our mission, vision and values.

The University of Bristol aims to be a place where everyone feels able to be themselves and do their best in an inclusive working environment where all colleagues can thrive and reach their full potential. We want to attract, develop, and retain individuals with different experiences, backgrounds and perspectives – particularly people of colour, LGBT+ and disabled people - because diversity of people and ideas remains integral to our excellence as a global civic institution.

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