Creative Art Director

About the role:

Great creative work is visual before it is anything else. As Art Director you are one half of a creative team, working in close partnership with a Copywriter to generate ideas that are conceptually strong, visually distinctive, and built to perform across every channel and format the brand operates in.
This is not a production design role. Ideation sits at the centre of the job. You will spend a significant portion of your time in creative development – responding to briefs, concepting territories with your creative partner, establishing the visual language of campaigns, and directing the execution of ideas from first rough to final delivery. The design craft that follows the idea should feel inevitable: the right visual approach, executed with precision and intention.

You will report to the Principal Creative and work within a team of creative people who hold each other to a high standard. You will be expected to bring strong conceptual thinking to every brief, direct other creatives and production specialists with clarity and authority, and always push for work that is visually braver than the brief asked for.

What you’ll be doing:

Ideation & concept development:

• Respond to briefs with multiple, genuinely different creative territories
• Work in genuine creative partnership with a Copywriter to develop integrated campaign ideas where the concept drives both the visual and verbal thinking equally
• Develop and champion scalable, insight-led creative ideas that work seamlessly across channels, bringing fresh thinking while knowing when to pivot from concepts that aren't delivering.

Visual craft & art direction:

• Lead the visual direction of campaigns with strong craft, creating distinctive creative work that remains consistent and impactful across every channel and format.
• Work fluidly across Adobe Creative Suite and other relevant digital tools; understand what is technically achievable across print, digital, video, and motion and factor this into creative decisions

Strategic understanding:

• Read and interrogate briefs critically – understand what the business problem really is and what visual and conceptual approach will genuinely solve it
• Understand how different channels serve different roles within a campaign and how to create visual work that is genuinely native to each
• Know the brand well enough to challenge visual decisions that feel off – and articulate clearly why

Directing & collaborating with other creatives:

• Direct designers, digital creatives, and production teams clearly and with creative authority – giving briefs that are specific enough to be useful and open enough to allow great thinking
• Work closely with Designers to ensure the visual execution of campaigns is consistent, high quality, and true to the original concept
• Work with motion designers, animators, and digital specialists to realise ideas in formats that go beyond static – understanding what is possible and pushing for the best version of it

Production direction & technical knowledge:

• Oversee and direct the production of visual assets across all channels – digital, social, print, OOH, TV, video, retail, and experiential – maintaining creative integrity from first concept to final file
• Brief and direct photographers, illustrators, retouchers, and other specialists with precision – knowing what you want and being able to communicate it clearly on set and in studio
• Ensure all visual assets meet brand guidelines, technical specifications, and channel requirements before they progress to review or delivery
• Build creative solutions with production in mind from the outset, applying expertise in technical requirements, emerging technologies, and AI-enhanced capabilities to deliver effective, future-focused outputs.

Presenting & selling work:

• Confidently present and champion creative ideas, helping stakeholders see the vision behind the work while applying feedback that strengthens, rather than dilutes, the creative outcome.

Brand ownership & quality:

• Takes ownership of delivering high-quality, brand-consistent creative assets, ensuring accuracy, visual excellence, and production readiness at every stage.

Creative curiosity & innovation:

• Passionate about design, culture, technology and emerging creative trends, with the curiosity to challenge conventions, embrace new tools, and inspire innovative thinking across the team.

Essential Skills / Experience:

• Demonstrable experience as an Art Director within an advertising agency, creative studio, or in-house creative team
• Strong portfolio demonstrating both conceptual thinking and visual craft across multiple channels and formats
• Proven ability to generate integrated campaign ideas, not just individual executions
• Experience art directing across TV/film, digital, social, print, OOH, CRM, retail, and experiential
• Experience working in a creative partnership with a Copywriter
• Experience directing photography and/or film shoots
• Expert-level Adobe Creative Suite; strong digital design skills (Figma or equivalent)
• Confident presenter of creative work to stakeholders at all levels
• Background working on major consumer brands with a defined, consistent visual identity

Desirable Skills / Experience:

• Experience in telecoms, technology, or complex B2C categories
• Award-winning or industry-recognised creative work (D&AD, Cannes, The Drum, Creative Circle etc.)
• Experience directing motion, animation, or digital interactive work
• Previous in-house agency or brand-side creative experience
• Familiarity with AI-assisted creative tools and emerging visual production techniques
• Experience working across rapid content production and social-first creative formats

Our Package:

Tailored benefits make a real difference. That’s why we offer a comprehensive range to support your growth, wellbeing, and everyday life. You can design the package to suit you and your lifestyle. Your core benefits include:

• 10% on target annual bonus
• Access to an online private GP 24/7 for you and your immediate family
• Market-leading paid carers leave with up to 2 weeks off
• Equalized maternity, paternity, and adoption leave – 18 weeks’ full pay and 8 weeks’ half pay
• Discounted EE and BT products, including mobile and broadband
• Market leading Pension scheme – 5% from you and 10% from us
• Holiday purchase scheme

You can select additional benefits, including healthcare, dental, gym memberships and more when you’re ready.

BT Group is the UK’s leading communications group and the holding company behind some of the country’s most recognised brands – including BT, EE, Openreach and Plusnet. Our purpose is as simple as it is ambitious: we connect for good.  Our customers include consumers, small, medium and large businesses, public sector organisations and other communications providers. 

BT Group’s role is about setting direction, unlocking value and creating the conditions for our brands and businesses to thrive.

Having come through the most capital-intensive phase of our fibre investment, our focus now is on what comes next – simplifying how we operate, using technology and AI to work smarter, and organising ourselves to serve customers better and grow sustainably. Group teams shape strategy, policy, brand, capital allocation and transformation, helping the whole organisation perform at its best.

We have a singular culture that unites all our people: we are customer-first challengers, who are committed, clear and connected. These behaviours unite us as one team to deliver for our colleagues, our customers, our stakeholders and the country. Joining BT Group means working at the heart of a business that matters to the UK, with the opportunity to shape decisions, influence outcomes and help set the future course of one of the country’s most important companies.