Art Director/Lead Designer
VanguardOverview
We're continuing to grow our Global Brand Marketing team and are looking for an Art Director to join Brand Creative—someone who can also lead hands-on design work across specialized disciplines. This role is critical in shaping how our brand identity comes to life across diverse channels and formats—leading conceptual development, setting creative strategy, art directing projects from brief to launch, and diving deep into execution when it matters most.
About the role
As an Art Director on the Brand Creative team, you'll lead the strategic vision and creative direction of brand work—setting the conceptual foundation, guiding the visual narrative, and ensuring every touchpoint reflects our brand with clarity and intention. You'll art direct projects across digital, motion, video, and experiential applications, partnering with a close-knit team of strategists, researchers, designers, writers, and creative leaders to translate brand strategy into cohesive, compelling experiences for both internal audiences and external clients.
But this role isn't just about directing—it's about doing. You'll be deeply hands-on, moving fluidly between strategic leadership and craft execution. Your specialized expertise will bring senior-level craft and strategic thinking to the team while allowing you to lead and elevate work across your area(s) of strength.
We're looking for deep expertise in two or more of the following disciplines:
UX/UI design—creating intuitive, brand-forward digital experiences
Motion graphics and video—building dynamic visual systems and content
Environmental and experiential design—translating brand into physical spaces through environmental graphics, branded events, pop-ups, activations, and conference presence
You'll collaborate within a focused Brand Creative team, leading projects and partnering cross-functionally to deliver work that ranges from large, multi-month integrated campaigns to faster-moving, iterative projects. Work spans internal brand initiatives as well as external client-facing creative.
On a typical day, you may be concepting and art directing a campaign, editing or animating video content, designing interactive experiences with UX partners, developing environmental graphics for a pop-up or event, reviewing and elevating work from other designers, or building presentations to rally stakeholders around an idea.
Less typical days may include contributing to the evolution of brand systems and guidelines, defining motion or environmental design principles, developing reusable toolkits and templates, or partnering with web, product, or events teams to support larger integrated initiatives.
About you
You're a strategic creative leader who thinks holistically about how brand shows up across ecosystems—not just individual deliverables.
You have strong conceptual instincts and know how to lead the development of ideas from insight to execution.
You're an experienced art director who can set a vision, guide others, and maintain creative quality across complex projects.
You're also deeply hands-on, comfortable switching between leading others and rolling up your sleeves to design, animate, build, and produce yourself.
You bring specialist expertise in one or more areas—UX/UI, motion/video, or environmental/experiential design—and understand how to extend brand systems thoughtfully across those applications.
You actively integrate AI-driven creative tools into your process—leveraging them strategically to accelerate ideation, enhance craft, explore possibilities, and scale production without sacrificing quality or creative vision.
You enjoy collaborating closely in a lean, focused team environment—working with writers, strategists, researchers, UX partners, developers, producers, and creative leaders to create cohesive, well-considered experiences.
You're comfortable leading projects end-to-end, from strategy and concept through production and launch, without managing direct reports.
You're confident presenting and pitching work, using clear storytelling to explain creative decisions and connect them back to brand and audience needs.
You're a natural mentor who provides thoughtful feedback and elevates the work of designers at varying levels through collaboration and guidance.
You listen well, communicate clearly, and approach creative challenges with curiosity and a solutions-oriented mindset.
You thrive in dynamic environments where project scale and pace vary—moving between large campaigns and nimble, fast-turnaround work.
You believe great work is intentional, inclusive, and crafted end-to-end—from first interaction to final moment, whether digital or physical.
Who we're looking for:
7–10+ years of professional experience in art direction and design, ideally within brand, agency, studio, or internal brand teams
Proven track record art directing and leading projects from strategy and concept through production and launch
Experience collaborating closely with creative directors, strategists, writers, production teams, and cross-functional stakeholders in a lean team environment
Deep expertise in two or more of the following:
UX/UI design for digital-first brand experiences
Motion graphics, video editing, and dynamic content creation
Environmental, experiential, event design and/or branded activations
Strong portfolio showcasing art direction, creative strategy, brand systems, and hands-on execution across your areas of expertise—including examples of both internal brand initiatives and client-facing work
Fluency with industry-standard tools, which may include Adobe Creative Suite, Figma, and other relevant platforms depending on discipline
Additional information:
This is a hybrid position based in Malvern, PA, with remote work on Mondays and Fridays and in-office collaboration Tuesday through Thursday.
Special Factors
Sponsorship
Vanguard is not offering visa sponsorship for this position.About Vanguard
At Vanguard, we don't just have a mission—we're on a mission.
To work for the long-term financial wellbeing of our clients. To lead through product and services that transform our clients' lives. To learn and develop our skills as individuals and as a team. From Malvern to Melbourne, our mission drives us forward and inspires us to be our best.
How We Work
Vanguard has implemented a hybrid working model for the majority of our crew members, designed to capture the benefits of enhanced flexibility while enabling in-person learning, collaboration, and connection. We believe our mission-driven and highly collaborative culture is a critical enabler to support long-term client outcomes and enrich the employee experience.