Creative Director - Art Director at Publicis Groupe

Overview

• The Creative Director — Art Director is a senior creative leader responsible for translating the creative ambition of the Publicis/client partnership into distinctive, effective and beautifully crafted work. 
• The role leads concept development and visual direction across major briefs, campaigns, platforms and experiences, while guiding and mentoring multi-disciplinary creative teams. 
• A critical part of the mandate is to combine world-class art direction and design craft with digital-first thinking, culture, technology, AI and new production models, ensuring ideas are conceived to work coherently across channels from the outset. 
• The role is accountable for strong conceptual thinking, visual excellence, integrated execution, creative team leadership and client confidence. 

Responsibilities

CREATIVE LEADERSHIP & DIRECTION 

• Help set and uphold the creative standard for the client/Publicis partnership, working closely with the Executive Creative Director. 
• Lead concept development and visual direction across major integrated campaigns, brand platforms, digital experiences and content ecosystems. 
• Provide clear, constructive direction to creative teams and protect the core idea through development, production, adaptation and rollout. 
• Lead brainstorms and creative workshops, creating the conditions for ambitious ideas to be challenged, improved and delivered. 
• Remain deeply connected to South African culture, visual language, media behaviour and global creative trends. 

SENIOR CLIENT & BUSINESS PARTNERSHIP 

• Build trusted creative relationships with client stakeholders and confidently present creative thinking with clear rationale. 
• Understand the client's business, brand, customers and growth priorities sufficiently to interrogate briefs and identify creative opportunities. 
• Balance creative ambition with business relevance, feasibility, timing and effectiveness. 
• Respond constructively to client feedback while protecting the integrity and quality of the creative product. 

CREATIVE PRODUCT EXCELLENCE 

• Drive platform-neutral conceptual thinking with a strong weighting toward visual craft and digital execution. 
• Define and oversee the visual language, design system and aesthetic direction of campaigns and experiences. 
• Ensure every major piece of work has a clear idea, strong strategic foundation and appropriate level of craft. 
• Oversee art direction across design, film, social, digital, content, experience, retail and emerging formats. 
• Create and mock up compelling creative ideas that help teams and clients see the potential of the work. 
• Use audience, performance and cultural learning to strengthen future creative output. 

INTEGRATION & POWER OF ONE CREATIVE LEADERSHIP 

• Work seamlessly with Strategy, Copy, Media, Data, Technology, Experience, Production, PR and Activation to create genuinely integrated solutions. 
• Ensure integrated thinking happens at the start of the process rather than being assembled after ideas are developed. 
• Create ideas across multiple channels while making best use of each platform's role and behaviour. 
• Help remove discipline and agency silos that limit the quality or effectiveness of the work. 

AI, TECHNOLOGY & FUTURE-FIT CREATIVITY 

• Champion responsible use of AI in ideation, visual exploration, prototyping, production and optimisation. 
• Use emerging tools to increase creative exploration, speed and production efficiency without compromising originality or craft. 
• Maintain practical fluency in relevant design, prototyping, generative AI and emerging creative technologies. 
• Partner with Strategy, Data, Technology and Production to explore new possibilities in dynamic content, personalisation and connected experiences. 
• Maintain appropriate standards around brand safety, intellectual property, governance and human oversight.

Qualifications

• Must have 10+ years’ experience 
• Highly conceptual individual (Must demonstrate with at least 5 projects) 
• Demonstrate exceptional strategic thinking (Provide 3 examples) 
• Must have led the conceptualisation and execution of TTL campaigns and pure digital campaigns (Show minimum of 4 examples) 
• Must demonstrate an understanding of digital platforms 
• Track record of winning international and local awards i.e. Cannes, One Show, Loeries, Clios, Bookmarks etc. 
• Show at least 1 international and 1 local gold medals 
• Demonstrate how you’ve previously dealt with conflict 
• In-depth working knowledge of existing and emerging technologies & platforms (advantageous) 
• Be comfortable with AI being a part of the everyday activities of the role. 

BUSINESS KPI’S 

• Must demonstrate examples of leadership skills & problem solving 
• A strong understanding of best practice interaction and visual design principles 
• Must be able to oversee 7-8 projects 
• Have the ability to attend every review on a project with 3 new ideas 
• Oversee projects and manage and grow the team through the process 

THE PERSON 

• Good understanding of influencer, Mobile, Podcast, digital, social, out-of-home, guerrilla, activations and direct marketing 
• Great time management 
• Demonstrate ability to work under immense pressure & meet tight deadlines 
• Adept problem-solving skills 
• Strong communication skills with ability to provide rationales for creative choices made 
• Strong presentation skills 
• Able to work with team members & delegate effectively 
• Understand the client’s business requirements, and understand how our services should be applied to solve business problems 
• Sell an idea or campaign internally and externally 

WORKING KNOWLEDGE OF THESE TOOLS 

• Illustrator 
• Photoshop 
• InDesign 
• After Effects (Advantageous) 
• Figma 
• Keynote / PowerPoint 
• ChatGPT, Claude AI, Midjourney and similar generative AI tools 
• Google Web Designer & DV360 (Advantageous) 
• Facebook Creative Hub (Advantageous) 
• 3D Animation & Production (Advantageous)