Concept Development Art Director

Job ID 10127262 Location New York, New York, United States Business ESPN Date posted Sep. 11, 2025

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Job Summary:

As a branded content and marketing Concept Development Art director, you create high-level campaigns and concepts that push creative boundaries. Your background blends strong design expertise with conceptual art direction, and your passion lies in sports and comedy. You’re on top of current sports and ESPN trends and demonstrate a strong desire to shape culture and bring the most innovative linear/social/digital solutions to our clients.

You have a sharp eye for layout, typography, and visual hierarchy, and you can translate a concept into polished, impactful design across multiple platforms. You thrive in a collaborative environment, working closely with fellow Art Directors, Copywriters, and Designers to bring ideas to life. By building relationships with both clients and internal teams, you develop work with creative insight, authority, and professional leadership.

Responsibilities:

Work with fellow creatives and ensure the creative output, while reporting to a Creative Director
Maintain the team’s creative vision for internal and external accounts
Working with the production team, know or learn the production trends by building and maintaining relationships with directors and production vendors
Conceptualize creative that is at the cutting edge of new innovations and trends, bringing in your own expertise and interests to make work better
Develop client relationships and grow new business opportunities with the guidance of your manager
Maintain ESPN brand consistency from a tone, copy and visual point of view
Provide creative ideas that follow briefs from the client/strategy/account services team
Work on multiple projects simultaneously while meeting deadlines
Stay on top of trends and themes across ESPN shows and talent as well as sports in general
Continuously develop your presentation skills, verbally and visually

Design Specific Responsibilities:

Translate conceptual ideas into visually compelling designs across linear, digital, and social platforms
Demonstrate expertise in layout, typography, composition, and color theory to elevate creative work
Ensure all design deliverables meet the highest standards of visual quality and brand consistency
Collaborate with motion designers, illustrators, and other creatives to bring campaigns to life
Stay current on design tools, software, and emerging visual trends to keep creative fresh and innovative

Required Qualifications:

Minimum 5 years of professional experience working within a creative studio or media organization.
Outstanding Portfolio: You demonstrate exceptional originality, innovation and multi-disciplinary thinking across your work.
Creative Vision: You see the bigger picture, leading to PR-able and award-winning work.
Big Idea Thinker: You go beyond the executional or tactical and come with campaign-able thoughts that can scale from social to TV and 360 campaigns.
Design Skills: Proficiency in Adobe Creative Suite (Premiere Pro, After Effects, Photoshop, Illustrator).
Design Excellence: You understand how to think visually and create beautiful visuals throughout the creative process. From concept decks to the design of end cards and digital banners to thinking of interesting visuals for linear content.
Script Excellence: You understand how to bring your ideas to life in compelling scripts, channeling different tones for different clients.
You’re a Sports Fan: Being passionate about sports and sports culture is a must.
Culture: You are positive and collaborative and maintain our group’s culture of collaboration and growth.
Proactive: You use your initiative and proactively come up with new ideas to push forward the creative work and develop the client relationship.
Time Management: You can manage your time and meet deadlines while juggling multiple projects.
Presentation Skills: Confidently pitch creative concepts and design ideas to clients and internal stakeholders, clearly articulating the vision, strategy, and execution to inspire buy-in and guide decision-making.
Typography & Layout Mastery: Strong understanding of type hierarchy, composition, and grid systems to create clean, effective, and brand-right designs.
Brand Consistency: Ability to interpret and evolve ESPN’s visual identity while ensuring consistency across all deliverables.
Cross-Platform Design: Experience adapting creative for multiple formats and aspect ratios, ensuring design integrity across broadcast, digital, and social platforms.

Required Education:

High School Diploma or equivalent

Preferred Education:

Bachelor's degree in Fine Arts, Portfolio School, or equivalent experience

#ESPNMedia

The hiring range for this position in New York, NY is $96,160 to $132,220 per year. The base pay actually offered will take into account internal equity and also may vary depending on the candidate’s geographic region, job-related knowledge, skills, and experience among other factors. A bonus and/or long-term incentive units may be provided as part of the compensation package, in addition to the full range of medical, financial, and/or other benefits, dependent on the level and position offered.

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About ESPN:

Working at ESPN is unlike anything else. That’s because we’re always finding new ways to interact with fans – however and wherever they connect with sports. Every day we’re doing things that no one has done, all in a dynamic culture where we defy odds and continuously outdo ourselves. When you have the latest technology, game-changing ideas and world-class talent on your team, every day is extraordinary.

About The Walt Disney Company:

The Walt Disney Company, together with its subsidiaries and affiliates, is a leading diversified international family entertainment and media enterprise that includes three core business segments: Disney Entertainment, ESPN, and Disney Experiences. From humble beginnings as a cartoon studio in the 1920s to its preeminent name in the entertainment industry today, Disney proudly continues its legacy of creating world-class stories and experiences for every member of the family. Disney’s stories, characters and experiences reach consumers and guests from every corner of the globe. With operations in more than 40 countries, our employees and cast members work together to create entertainment experiences that are both universally and locally cherished.

This position is with ESPN Productions, Inc, which is part of a business we call ESPN.

ESPN Productions, Inc is an equal opportunity employer. Applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, religion, color, sex, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, gender expression, national origin, ancestry, age, marital status, military or veteran status, medical condition, genetic information or disability, or any other basis prohibited by federal, state or local law. Disney champions a business environment where ideas and decisions from all people help us grow, innovate, create the best stories and be relevant in a constantly evolving world.

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