Art Director  

Company: POLA Marketing  Location: Covington  [on-site] Type: Full-time Reports to: Creative Director

About us

POLA Marketing is a full-service agency for national brands, and we make work that refuses to be scrolled past. Bold. Graphic. Loud in the right places. If it blends in, it didn't come from us.

"Full-service" isn't a line on our website; it's a 10,000 square foot production studio in-house. Concept, shoot, and finish all happen under one roof, which means the idea you pitch on Monday can be lit and rolling by Thursday, with you in the room for all of it. Our work runs for clients like MGM, Welch's, and Unilever.

The role

We're looking for an Art Director who can take an idea from a blank page to a finished frame. You'll build the creative concepts that win the work, then stand on set and make sure what we pitched is what we shoot.

This is a hands-on role. Half of it lives in the deck, concepting, references, mood, layout, pitch craft. The other half lives on set, set dressing, props, wardrobe direction, styling calls, and the hundred small decisions that separate a good frame from a flat one. You should be comfortable moving between both in the same week.

What you'll do

• Develop creative concepts and visual territories for pitches across social, branded content, and campaign work
• Build and design pitch decks that sell the idea, treatments, mood boards, reference reels, styleframes, and layout
• Translate approved concepts into shootable plans: shot lists, look references, prop and set requirements
• Art director on set for photo and video shoots, set design and dressing, props, color, styling collaboration, framing input alongside the director and DP
• Partner with producers on art department budgets, sourcing, and rentals
• Work closely with editors and post to protect the look through delivery
• Keep an eye on visual trends in short-form and social, so our work looks current, not last year

What we're looking for

• [3–5+] years of art direction experience at an agency, production company, brand studio, or as a freelancer
• A portfolio that shows range, we want to see both the decks and the finished work they became
• Genuine strength in deck design and visual storytelling (Figma, Keynote, InDesign, whatever you're fastest in, but it needs to look considered)
• Real on-set experience. You know how a shoot day actually runs, and you can solve problems in the moment without stalling the crew.
• Strong Adobe Creative Suite skills, especially Photoshop
• Clear communicator who can defend an idea to a client and take notes without ego
• Organized enough to track props, sourcing, and budgets across multiple productions

Bonus points

• Retouching chops, compositing, color, cleanup, and finishing to a high standard
• Motion or design experience (After Effects, Premiere)
• Experience art directing specifically for vertical / short-form social formats
• Set design, prop styling, or fabrication background
• Photography or directing experience of your own

How to apply

Send us a portfolio link and a short note about a project you art-directed, start to finish, what the idea was, and how it changed between the deck and the shoot day. Include a PDF or link to a pitch deck you designed if you have one you can share.

Apply to Hello@polamarketing.com. POLA Marketing is an equal opportunity employer, and we encourage applicants from all backgrounds to apply.