Associate Creative Director Art

Based in Bethesda, MD, this hybrid role at RP3 Agency seeks an Associate Creative Director, Art to lead original visual ideas grounded in strategy and audience insight.

Responsibilities

• Drive integrated concept development for a diverse set of clients, industries, and business challenges.
• Collaborate with copywriters and cross-disciplinary teams to translate sharp human insight into a distinct campaign platform.
• Guide teams through divergent thinking, selection, refinement, and execution, pushing beyond initial answers.
• Ensure each visual choice reinforces the central idea and ties every execution back to the strategy.
• Contribute original thinking to pitches, organic growth opportunities, agency initiatives, and thought leadership.
• Define distinctive visual directions across composition, typography, imagery, motion, interaction, and experience.
• Create and direct moodboards, styleframes, storyboards, comps, and prototypes to make ideas tangible for teams and clients.
• Maintain a coherent brand world as work adapts across social, digital, video, print, experiential, and emerging channels.
• Review and refine work with clear, specific feedback that improves both concept and execution.
• Mentor art directors, designers, copywriters, and emerging creative leaders, tailoring guidance to each person’s strengths and goals.
• Foster an environment of collaboration, curiosity, experimentation, healthy debate, and continuous learning.
• Set clear expectations, deliver timely feedback, and help team members build confidence, judgment, and creative ownership.
• Lead by example with curiosity, accountability, resilience, professionalism, and generosity.
• Frame, present, and defend creative ideas with a compelling visual narrative and strategic rationale.
• Serve as a trusted advisor who understands the client’s business, brand, audience, competitive landscape, and appetite for risk.
• Navigate feedback and stakeholder dynamics while protecting the idea and strengthening the work.
• Guide clients through visual choices, production approaches, and emerging technologies with clarity and sound judgment.
• Utilize generative image and emerging visual tools to accelerate moodboards, styleframes, storyboards, comps, and pre-production exploration.
• Direct prompts and references with strategic intent; refine promising material through design, compositing, retouching, or traditional craft.
• Apply responsible-use standards for accuracy, bias, disclosure, brand safety, confidentiality, IP, talent likeness, and usage rights.
• Step into the work as needed—sketching directions, building comps, shaping decks, refining frames, or helping the team unlock the next iteration.
• Partner with producers and makers to evaluate feasibility, select appropriate craft and production approaches, and protect the idea through delivery.
• Know when AI adds value, when traditional design or production is stronger, and how to distinguish exploratory imagery from approved final assets.
• Stay current on visual culture, platforms, production techniques, and creative technology, sharing useful learnings across the department.

Requirements

• A portfolio that demonstrates breakthrough conceptual thinking, distinctive visual worlds, exceptional art direction and design craft, and leadership across integrated campaigns.
• 8–12 years of agency or integrated marketing experience with meaningful team and client leadership responsibility.
• Proven ability to lead multidisciplinary creative teams and guide campaigns from brief through production.
• Deep expertise in art direction, design systems, typography, image-making, motion, and visual storytelling, paired with strong copy and narrative judgment.
• Experience presenting and selling creative work to senior clients and stakeholders.
• Demonstrated success mentoring creative talent and elevating overall team quality, not just individual assignments.
• Strong understanding of how strategy, craft, channels, production, and measurement work together to create business and brand impact.
• Curiosity about culture, technology, platforms, and evolving audience behavior, with sound judgment to separate signal from novelty.
• Hands-on experience using generative image tools for comps and concept development, with judgment on consistency, feasibility, disclosure, licensing, and final-production quality.
• Exceptional communication, collaboration, presentation, prioritization, and leadership skills.
• U.S. residency and legal eligibility to work required; preference for candidates in Central or Eastern time zones.

Technologies

• Generative AI

Benefits

• Hybrid work flexibility
• Culture of curiosity, kindness, accountability, and originality
• Health, life, short-term disability, and long-term disability insurance
• Dental and vision insurance (employee-paid)
• 401(k) with immediate employer match
• Inclusive family leave policy
• Generous PTO including Annual Leave, Sick Leave, Paid Holidays, Personal Time, and Karma Days
• Summer Fridays with early Friday closings from Memorial Day to Labor Day
• Voluntary benefits including commuter benefits and pet insurance

What success looks like

• Leads teams to develop original, strategically grounded campaign platforms, not just polished executions.
• Creates integrated work that earns attention, strengthens brands, and delivers measurable business impact.
• Raises the standard of concept, visual storytelling, and craft across multiple accounts and teams.
• Builds distinctive visual worlds that stay cohesive as ideas expand across channels, formats, and moments.
• Earns client trust as a persuasive strategic and creative partner.
• Develops art directors, designers, copywriters, and emerging creative leaders through clear direction and feedback.
• Balances creative ambition with audience needs, business objectives, budgets, timelines, and production realities.
• Uses AI responsibly to accelerate visual exploration, comps, storyboards, and image development while protecting originality and brand integrity.
• Contributes to work that strengthens RP3’s creative reputation and is worthy of industry recognition.

Compensation

• Salary Range: 115,000 - 135,000 USD per year, DOE
• Final compensation reflects experience, qualifications, and internal equity considerations; RP3 emphasizes fair and transparent pay

Equal Employment Opportunity

• RP3 is an equal opportunity employer. We value diversity and inclusion and do not discriminate based on race, color, religion, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, national origin, age, disability, veteran status, or any other protected characteristic. Different perspectives contribute to better work.