Art Director Animation Jobs (NOW HIRING)

Sway Creative Labs is seeking an experienced and versatile Art Director to join our team. This role is ideal for a creative professional with strong conceptual instincts and the range to execute across multiple disciplines - web, print, brand identity, broadcast, and social. We're looking for someone who can ideate and lead, not just produce, and who brings the same rigor to a brand strategy conversation as they do to a final file.

Strong candidates will demonstrate fluency in at least three of our five core creative disciplines and will have a portfolio that reflects both conceptual thinking and craft-level execution.

What You'll Own

Creative Leadership & Concepting

• Lead creative concept development across integrated campaigns, bringing original, strategy-driven ideas to briefs
• Serve as the creative lead on assigned accounts, articulating and defending the visual direction to clients and internal teams
• Collaborate with producers, developers, copywriters, and media teams to ensure the creative vision carries through every channel and deliverable

Web & Digital

• Design digital experiences in Figma with proficiency in UX principles, responsive layouts, design systems, and developer handoff
• Produce web assets, display advertising, email campaigns, and landing pages with consistency, accessibility awareness, and spec accuracy
• Work fluidly with development teams, understanding how your designs will be built and communicating accordingly

Print & Identity

• Lead brand identity projects from discovery through standards documentation - logos, typography, color systems, and usage guidelines
• Design and prepare print-ready files across a range of formats, with a thorough understanding of production specifications and vendor requirements

Broadcast & On-Set

• Art direct photo and video productions with confidence - providing clear visual direction on composition, wardrobe, set, and color
• Develop pre-production materials including mood boards, shot references, and frame guides
• Maintain creative integrity from concept through final delivery, including post-production review

Social

• Design for social platforms with an understanding of each channel's native formats, content culture, and audience behavior
• Concept social-first creative that is built for the medium, not adapted from other channels
• Stay current on platform trends and emerging formats and apply that knowledge proactively

What We're Looking For

Core Qualifications

• 3-5+ years of art direction experience in an agency or comparable creative environment
• A portfolio demonstrating range across multiple disciplines - web, identity, print, broadcast, and/or social
• Deep proficiency in Figma, including components, auto-layout, prototyping, and design system workflows
• Strong command of Adobe Creative Suite: Photoshop, Illustrator, and InDesign
• Solid understanding of design fundamentals: typography, color theory, composition, and visual hierarchy
• Working knowledge of HTML and CSS sufficient to communicate effectively with developers
• Ability to manage multiple projects simultaneously and communicate proactively on timelines and scope
• Occasional travel and on-set availability required

Additional Assets

• Experience with motion design and animation principles; ability to direct animators or provide keyframe-level guidance
• Familiarity with After Effects, Lottie, or comparable animation tools
• Background working on travel/tourism, food/beverage, healthcare, or entertainment accounts

What Success Looks Like

By the end of your first year, clients will request your involvement on their most important projects. Your work will raise the creative standard across the accounts you touch, and internal team members will seek you out early in the process because your involvement improves outcomes. Leadership will trust your creative judgment on complex, high-visibility initiatives.

Why Sway Creative Labs

Sway is an independent agency where your contributions are seen and valued by hands-on leadership. You'll work across industries and project types - brand campaigns, tourism initiatives, documentary content, digital platforms - with real ownership over creative decisions. We're looking for an Art Director who wants to grow across disciplines, not deepen a single specialty.

What We Offer

• 15 Paid Vacation Days: Days reset at your start date and do not roll over. You'll have the ability to withdraw a negative balance of up to 5 days, and you begin the year with your days already afforded
• Paid Holidays: Your Birthday, New Year's Day, Martin Luther King Jr. Day, the Monday after the Super Bowl, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Juneteenth, Labor Day, Thanksgiving, Friday after Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, and the week between Christmas Eve and New Year's Day
• Two-Hour Windows: So long as the privilege is not abused, we offer each employee 2-hour leave windows at the beginning (9am - 11am EST) and end of the workday (3pm - 5pm EST) to tend to any appointments like unexpected child care challenges, doctor's visits, home maintenance, etc. that do not count against your allotted paid time off
• Health Plan: All employees are eligible to enroll in one of (3) Sentara Health Plans; with Sway covering 80% of employee's cost and 50% of your dependents
• Dental Insurance: Sway pays 100% of employee's United Concordia Dental Plan
• Retirement Benefits: Sway's 401(k) policy offers a solid foundation for your retirement planning; we match your contributions at a 1:1 rate for the first 3% of your pay, and then add an extra $0.50 for each dollar you contribute on the following 2% of your pay. Contributions are fully vested immediately.
• Upskilling Opportunities: As "curiosity of craft" is one of our core values, Sway encourages continued education and skill advancement with 100% reimbursement of at least one approved employee upskilling initiative per year (conferences, courses, certifications, etc.)