Creative Art Director in London

Here at MATTA, we believe that sports have the power to change people and communities for the better. We are passionate about making brands and campaigns matter to more people, more often by engaging fans with big, bold creative thinking and world-class execution. We are an independent creative agency built specifically for sports and lifestyle brands. Our work has won multiple awards, we have been Agency of the Year several times over, and we are one of the most exciting sports businesses in the country.

We are looking for a talented, highly motivated midweight Art Director to join our Creative Team and work with us in producing original, creative and polished campaigns, branding and content for our client brands. Highly creative and bursting with ideas, you are able to bring your visions to life using great design skills alongside mood boards, and you have the passion to push and be pushed to create outstanding work each and every time. You’ll bring a portfolio that demonstrates creativity and a desire to experiment and innovate.

What You’ll Be Doing:

• End-to-End Creative Execution: Taking briefs from blank page through to execution. The ability to create and mould an overall art direction for various types of creative and to communicate these ideas both visually and verbally; this includes moodboarding, communicating the creative vision, creating polished examples using the design suite to hand over the fleshed out visual idea through to the design team.
• Client & Stakeholder Management: Presenting work and ideas both internally and at times directly to clients.
• Driving Creative Standard: Keeping on top of fresh new trends, campaigns and visual styles with the ability to apply this to sports branding and advertising.
• Team Mentorship: Mentoring and helping guide junior members of the Design team.
• External Coordinator & Liaison: Liaising and directing freelancers, illustrators, photographers and printers.

What We’re Looking For:

• Art Direction & Design Experience: Minimum 3 years experience working in a creative Art Direction role at a design studio, creative agency or similar environment.
• Technical Expertise: Substantial experience using Adobe Suite (particularly Photoshop, Illustrator and InDesign) to create and apply brand guidelines and retouch assets as well as the ability to present ideas, inspiration and rationale using keynote.
• Design Excellence: A solid portfolio of work showcasing variety (e.g. social, web and print projects) and demonstrating a strong understanding of design principles and meticulous eye for typography, composition, and layout.
• Creative Visionary: Experience in creating a vision from scratch and communicating this through moodboards and concepts.
• Communication Skills: Able to confidently pitch, present, and sell creative concepts to both internal peers and external clients.
• Proactive: Can maintain strong initiative to manage varying deadlines and budgets while staying organised and proactive.
• Team Leadership & Growth: Natural relationship builder, committed to sharing knowledge and fostering the development of those around you.
• Sports Industry Passion: Eagerness to work within the world of sports marketing.

What We Offer:

• Generous annual leave (23 days, increasing by 1 day per year, plus 3 days extra at Christmas).
• MATTA Sports Day: an extra day off every year for the purpose of either watching or playing sport.
• Sabbatical Policy, providing options to travel, volunteer, study or generally have a reset.
• Health & Financial Wellbeing: we’ve got you covered with a holistic support package that includes comprehensive health and dental insurance, 24/7 virtual GP access, and a range of financial tools, from life assurance and income protection to expert advice platforms.
• Regular Socials: quarterly team events, Thursday Drinks every week and PayDay Pizza at the end of each month.
• Hybrid Working: staff can enjoy the comfort of working from their own home and from our London Bridge offices.
• Discounts: exclusive access to our benefits platforms with hundreds of discounts on shopping, food, beauty, travel and much more.
• Dog friendly office.

Making It MATTA: We’ve launched fitness equipment, kits, and nutrition brands. We’ve created new competitions, leagues, and tournaments - as well as rebranding, revitalising and repositioning existing ones. We’ve sold out multiple World Cups and European Championships, pushed women’s sports forward, driven participation, and led campaigns for equality and against discrimination and drugs. We’ve worked up close and personal with some of the most iconic sports stars and sports teams on the planet, shooting campaigns all over the world. Our clients are some of the most recognised and prestigious global brands in sport and lifestyle.

At MATTA you can expect a fast-paced, but relaxed atmosphere, where everyone is passionate about sport in some way. We believe happy and healthy people produce the best work - which is why you’ll get private health insurance, regular team away days - and generous annual leave. We believe sport has the power to change the world. Come and work somewhere where, whatever you do - it matters.

What’s Next? If you think that MATTA could be the place where you produce your best work, then we really want to meet you. Please apply below (including a link to your portfolio) and we'll get back to you as soon as possible.