Art Director

Job Description

The Pirates WHY
The Pittsburgh Pirates are a storied franchise in Major League Baseball who are reinventing themselves on every level known for:
• purposefully developing a player and people centered culture;
• deeply connecting with our fans, partners, and colleagues;
• passionately creating lifetime memories for generations of families and friends; and
• meaningfully impacting our communities and the game of baseball.

These are carried out through Passion, Innovation, Respect, Accountability, Teamwork, Empathy and Service.

The Role
The Pirates Creative Lab is looking for an experienced Art Director, teacher and hands on creator to join our growing team and help us build a storytelling narrative that transcends sports or baseball in general. Our focus is to tell the stories of our past, present and future in ways that connect on an emotional level with our fanbase and future fanbase, using unbridled creativity, risk taking, and forward-thinking techniques and skillsets. The Art Director will be a trusted leader of the Design department for the Pirates; growing, teaching and working alongside a team of producers, designers, mograph artists, social strategists and creative directors to make the best work of their lives. Reporting to the VP, Creative & Content, this role will be integral in the strategic planning and execution of the content pillars for the organization and must have a working and high-level knowledge of branding, design and motion graphics, and how all of those pieces work together to influence changes in audience behavior. A strong understanding of current social, media and design trends that will engage a younger audience is also a must.

Why You?
You were born with a pencil in hand, scribbling on everything you could find around you (sorry mom), and you still to this day fill multiple sketchbooks before ever touching a mouse. You love studying design and visual language, and how it all comes together with composition, type and imagery to move people. You fully understand InDesign's value in the design ecosystem and cringe a bit when you see multiple artboards laid out in a Photoshop PSB file. You enjoy sports but get more joy out of teaching the next generation of design professionals the core concepts of beautiful, timeless design. You lead with integrity and empathy and are more excited when someone who works for you presents sketches and concepts you never even thought of. You find harmony between your work and personal life, knowing when it's time to focus, and when it's time to focus on yourself. What excites you most about your craft and skillset is the ability to create an emotional reaction with a single piece of content on any platform, that will cause people to care about it and share it instantly, creating those network effects to give our brand story a reach beyond just our ballpark.

In a typical week you will:
• Take a brief from anywhere in the organization and transform it into a living document that your team can build great content from
• Provide and accept real and constructive feedback when necessary
• Work directly with leadership to ensure KPI's and goals are obtained personally and for the brand
• Work alongside the VP, Creative & Content, Director, Story & Production and Director, Stadium Presentation to push each other's daily thoughts and execution
• Be the greatest steward of the visual brand of the Pirates, taking full ownership in the visual language we create together for each platform
• Concept, build and constantly optimize the Pirates content brand ecosystem to ensure process and consistency is present across the entire organization
• Oversee a team of designers and motion graphic artists who will ideate, produce and create the most beautiful and engaging work in all of sports, across all platforms
• Uncover new ways of incorporating emerging and new media formats into every campaign
• Work with the Creative Project Managers to strategize and optimize workflow and process
• Get your hands dirty in creation, brainstorming and design, leading by example

What makes you a good fit?
• You thrive on creative ideation, research and brainstorming with your team on historical and new visual language mediums
• You get scrappy when needed, not being afraid to build out a custom font, or pitch in on a social graphic to help out the team
• You realize the role process plays in managing and effectively accelerating our content ecosystem
• You are hyper-organized, love to wear many hats, and have an uncanny way of identifying and finding solutions for problems
• You are not afraid to ask for help and expect the same of your team
• You collaborate insanely well with others and love being in the mix of and leading ideation sessions
• Juggling ideas, solutions and projects makes you stronger
• You are comfortable dealing with peers, executives and talent in a professional and confidential manner

Job Requirements:
• Degree or equivalent relevant experience
• Proficiency with Excel, Word, Adobe Suite, Macs, but consistently on the lookout for new techniques, SaaS systems for the tech stack, and evaluating the newest tech that is out there to improve workflow and efficiencies
• Familiarity with social media platforms and how different mediums convert and engage in unique ways

Jobcode: Reference SBJ-d88ee6-3-145-119-199-42 in your application.