Job Description

We are looking for you! You can turn a strategic brief into an insightful, engaging, and effective integrated campaign. You love brainstorming ideas and bringing them to life through cutting-edge design. You\xe2\x80\x99re ready to take your mad creative skills and do some good in the world by marketing what matters and helping non-profit organizations. As an Associate Art Director with 3-5 years of experience, you\xe2\x80\x99ll report to the Associate Creative Director, and will work closely with Art Directors, Writers, Strategists, and Production Designers to develop fundraising campaigns that are strategically sound, visually engaging, and flawlessly executed. Responsibilities

• Receive and interpret creative and execution briefs, have a basic understanding of marketing, strategy, target audience, positioning, etc.
• Conceive and execute creative concepts in tandem with a copywriter
• Present and share concepts and designs with internal team members and clients
• Bring creativity and strategy to life through strong, contemporary graphic design
• Take work from initial concept through to final execution in digital and print (with a focus on Direct Mail, email, and digital media), building technically accurate files
• Collaborate with team members throughout the agency
• Manage multiple projects and deadlines
• Stay on top of trends and maintain best practices

Must haves

• Minimum 3-5 years of proven working experience as an Associate Art Director in an agency (or comparable) setting, with a background in Graphic Design
• Exceptional creative/conceptual ability and impeccable design sense that is proven by an outstanding creative and design portfolio
• Proficiency in Adobe Creative Suite (InDesign, Photoshop, Illustrator, XD, and Acrobat), and a bunch of other programs you may never use \xe2\x80\x93 but you\xe2\x80\x99re that good!
• Strong production skills, leveraging the above programs to produce technically accurate files for both digital and print production output, on par with the latest industry standards
• Expertise in print/digital best practices and aptitude to identify the latest design/market innovations
• Excellent communication and critical thinking skills
• Experience pitching your ideas/concepts to both internal and external stakeholders
• Bachelor\xe2\x80\x99s Degree or College Diploma in Arts, Communications, Marketing, Advertising, Graphic Design, or equivalent graphic design/art direction experience
• A history of working with not-for-profit clients is considered a bonus

Who is Blakely? We are a diverse and smart team who values transparency, collaboration, hard work, and curiosity. We value people above all else and we demonstrate that in our team, in our work, and within the amazing relationships we nurture every day with our clients. As a workplace that strives to create a culture based on inclusivity and teamwork, we believe that our culture is our biggest competitive advantage. We provide equal opportunity to all employees and applicants without regard to race, religion, colour, gender identity, age, sexual orientation, neurodiversity, disability, visible or invisible. We need YOU \xe2\x80\x93 an accomplished Associate Art Director who wants to make a difference in the world \xe2\x80\x93 to join our growing creative department. This is a location-flexible position, the successful candidate will be able to choose where they do their day-to-day work, either from their own workspace or the Blakely office, located in Aurora, ON. This position can also be fully remote, it is considered as such if you live more than 150 kilometres from the Blakely office. For non-remote workers, there will be a requirement to come into the office occasionally for meetings (3x/year) and meet in person with your team and clients as the role requires. For remote workers, there will be a requirement to come to the Blakely office for in-person meetings occasionally (3x/year) with reimbursement for travel based on Blakely\xe2\x80\x99s policy. The salary range for this position is $45,000-$60,000, commensurate with experience plus a comprehensive benefits package including health, dental, and vision care, 3 weeks vacation plus an additional 8.5 Blakely days off (half day Fridays before each long weekend and the office is closed for one week at the end of December each year).