Art Director

Job Title: Art Director

FLSA Status: Exempt

Hours: Full-time

Pay Rate: Starts at $75,966/year

Reports To: Vice President of Marketing & Communications

Summary:

The Art Director serves as the strategic and creative leader of Omaha’s Henry Doorly Zoo & Aquarium and Lee G. Simmons Wildlife Safari Park’s in-house marketing team. This role is essential to elevating visual storytelling and unifying brand identity across all guest and employee touchpoints. Reporting to the Vice President of Marketing & Communications, the Art Director leads a high-performing team responsible for concepting and executing compelling creative across digital, print, video, animation, website and other immersive and active platforms. With a business-minded approach, this role blends creative excellence with strategic insight, ensuring every campaign is visually compelling, consistent, and measurable. The Art Director will drive the development of scalable brand systems, cross-functional alignment, and a strong design culture grounded in innovation, accessibility, and audience impact.

Duties and Responsibilities:

• Establish and evolve a scalable brand identity through comprehensive, iterative brand guidelines that define visual standards, voice, and storytelling principles to ensure consistency and excellence across all channels and touchpoints.
• Develop and manage scalable design templates and institutional asset libraries to support brand marketing efforts, including communication materials, ensuring visual consistency and efficiency across campaigns and channels.
• Spearhead creative direction for integrated, audience-centric campaigns across digital, print, environmental, and experiential platforms to drive engagement and brand consistency.
• Translate complex business objectives into compelling visual content and experiences that resonate with diverse audiences and support organizational goals.
• Drive cross-functional collaboration across departments including Marketing, Communications, Events, Education, People & Culture, and Campus Operations Design, while partnering with external vendors such as freelancers and agency partners to deliver unified, impactful brand experiences aligned with organizational goals.
• Serve as a key member of the Zoo’s Design Collaborative, partnering with the operational design team to ensure cohesive, mission-aligned visual standards across all internal and external communications, marketing efforts, and campus environments.
• Oversee the creative lifecycle of multimedia content for photoshoots, video, animation, and motion graphics from concept through production.
• Own and manage the digital asset management (DAM) system for all creative marketing files, ensuring assets are organized, accessible, and aligned with brand standards.
• Synthesize market research, consumer insights, and emerging visual trends to inform strategic creative direction to maintain competitive advantage.
• Lead a high-performing creative team, fostering a collaborative environment that prioritizes quality, innovation, accountability, and results.  
• Optimize creative workflows through implementation of advanced project management methodologies and collaborative design platforms.
• Curate and evolve brand design systems that scale effectively across the organization while maintaining cultural relevance and accessibility standards.
• Champion a design culture rooted in creative critical thinking, responsible risk-taking, and an agile design process within the creative team that is always in alignment with broader marketing and business strategies.
• Strengthen the employer brand through visual storytelling that connects with current employees and attracts future talent.
• Advocate for guest and user-centric design principles to ensure accessibility, inclusivity, and optimal brand engagement across all experiences.

Key Competencies:

• Creative Strategy & Execution: Translate organizational goals into compelling visual concepts and integrated campaigns that resonate across audiences and channels, driving both marketing and employer brand objectives.
• Integrated Multi-Brand Management: Lead the alignment of visual identities and messaging across multiple distinct brands, including consumer-facing and employer brand, ensuring strategic consistency while preserving each brand’s unique positioning and resonance with its target audience.
• Results-Oriented Innovation: Champion design thinking and data-informed creativity to solve complex challenges. Prioritize solutions that deliver measurable business outcomes, increase engagement, and support long-term brand growth.
• Cross-Functional Collaboration: Partner seamlessly across internal teams including Marketing, Communications, Education, People and Culture, Events, and Operations, as well as external creative collaborators to deliver unified, insight-driven brand experiences.
• Creative Team Development & Operations: Foster a high-performing creative environment through mentorship, continuous learning, and scalable workflows. Optimize processes to enhance efficiency, collaboration, and quality across all deliverables.

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities:

• Strong portfolio that demonstrates conceptual thinking, integrated campaign development, and performance-driven design that delivers measurable business results.
• Extensive experience shaping brand strategy across marketing funnel stages and executing cohesive, and omni-channel campaigns that engage diverse audiences and drive growth.
• Mastery of foundational design principles including typography, color theory, and identity design systems to create scalable, memorable brand visuals that maintain consistency across all touchpoints.
• Proven ability to lead, mentor, and grow creative teams within results-oriented environments, fostering a culture of innovation, accountability, and continuous upskilling.
• Skilled at leveraging metrics and performance data to evaluate creative impact, refine messaging, and optimize campaign effectiveness.
• Strong presentation and interpersonal skills to articulate creative concepts and strategic rationale clearly to non-creative stakeholders, building alignment across teams.  
• Experience working within a structured marketing organization, preferably B2C, B2B and employer brand environments. 
• Expert-level skills in Adobe Creative Suite (Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign) and cross-platform design, including UX/UI with ADA compliance, complemented by advanced capabilities in 3D modeling and animation (Cinema 4D, Blender), motion graphics, video production, and AI-assisted design tools for versatile creative execution.
• Advanced knowledge of managing digital asset management (DAM) systems and collaborative design platforms to streamline workflows, maintain asset accessibility, and ensure brand compliance.
• Proficient in Microsoft Office Suite (PowerPoint, Word, Excel) to support strategic planning, team communication, and compelling presentation of creative initiatives.

Supervisory Responsibilities:

• Supervise and develop a team of (2) designers, providing direction, mentorship, and performance feedback to ensure high-quality creative output, alignment with brand standards, and continuous professional growth.
• Provide ongoing mentorship and professional development, including design workshops and upskilling initiatives, while driving the team’s awareness and adoption of emerging design technologies to enhance creative execution and maintain a competitive edge.

Required Experience and Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree in Graphic Design, Visual Communication, Marketing, or a related field in the creative or communications disciplines; Master’s degree or continuing education in design leadership, UX/UI, or digital media is a plus.
• Minimum of 8 years of professional experience in design and art direction, with at least 3 years in creative leadership role overseeing cross-functional teams and integrated campaigns.
• Proven experience leading creative for B2C, B2B, and employer brands; background in retail, entertainment, or attraction industries is highly valued for driving audience engagement and brand affinity across consumer and talent-facing touchpoints.
• Demonstrated ability to lead cross-platform brand campaigns and manage the full creative lifecycle across digital, print, environmental, and experiential channels.
• Advanced skills in Adobe Creative Suite, with experience in AI-assisted design tools, motion graphics, video production, and 3D modeling (e.g., Cinema 4D, Blender).
• Extensive experience developing and managing brand identity systems and digital asset libraries (DAM).
• Strong working knowledge of UX/UI design and accessibility standards (ADA compliance).
• Excellent communication skills with the ability to present creative strategies to diverse stakeholders.

Work Environment/Physical Demands:

• Works in an office setting but frequently conducts on-site visits to both the Zoo and Wildlife Safari Park. This may include indoor and outdoor areas.
• The position typically involves regular office hours, but it can also demand flexibility to address issues or emergencies that may arise outside typical working hours, including weekends and evenings.
• Position requires occasional lifting and carrying of items, equipment, or supplies usually 25 pounds or less.
• Ability to sit, stand, bend, stoop, crouch, kneel, reach upward, twist, and have good lateral movement.

Travel Required:

• Ability to travel to attend annual job-related conferences or other zoo-related functions. Travel requirements less than 5%.

Remote Work:

• This is to be determined in conjunction with the Department Head and Zoo policy.

DISCLAIMER

The information presented indicates the general nature and level of work expected of employees in this classification. It is not designed to contain, nor is it to be interpreted as, a comprehensive inventory of all duties, responsibilities, qualifications, and objectives required of employees assigned to this job.

Omaha’s Henry Doorly Zoo & Aquarium is an Equal Employment Opportunity Employer as defined by the EEOC.