Senior Art Director, Brand Digital and Content

8116 - Midtown Office - 2220 W. Broad Street, Richmond, Virginia, 23220

CarMax, the way your career should be! 

About this job

As the Senior Art Director – Brand Digital & Content, you will drive the creative vision and execution of compelling content that elevates our brand and engages digital audiences. This role blends strategy, storytelling, and design expertise to produce high-quality assets and content across brand channels. This role is ideal for a creative thinker who thrives in a fast-paced environment, can pivot quickly, and brings a strong blend of conceptual and hands-on content creation skills. Whether designing brand assets, shooting and editing short-form videos, or refining brand messaging, you will play a key role in shaping engaging content that resonates with audiences across multiple digital platforms. Reporting to the Associate Creative Director on the Brand team, you will collaborate closely with cross-functional teams, ensuring that creative executions align with strategic objectives and brand guidelines. 

What you will do – Essential Responsibilities

• Proactively contributes ideas to the practice of Brand Communications (brainstorms, inspiration gathering, identifying appropriate trends, channel-specific approaches, and ways to bring content to life for our brand). 

• Recognizes opportunities to evolve CarMax's brand. Can articulate rationale to brand stakeholders.
• Contributes to the development and maintenance of style guides for respective channels
• Leads brainstorming sessions to come up with innovative and original ideas for projects. Understands project goals and how content fits within the broader marketing strategy. 

• An innovative thinker and art director with skills in visual design, branding, concept development, and content creation. 
• Understanding of how GenAI impacts planning for campaigns and ability to identify opportunities.

• Advanced proficiency in creative tools. A clear understanding of opportunities and restrictions of the tech and asset types and AI/brand best practices.  

• Proactively sources inspiration from a wide range of sources, effectively using found images, mocked-up imagery, and video to shape and support creative concepts. Refines and customizes ideas, integrating inspiration into original work that fits brand guidelines and platform needs. 

• Ability to articulate POV by showing creative thought process and rationale and understanding the audience. Takes opportunities to present work and/or best practices to other teams, departments, or org.  

• Cultivates stronger, more strategic relationships across teams, actively engaging with peers, legal, strategy, and brand stakeholders to align on objectives and drive results. 

• Successfully influences partners to embrace high-level creative that meets the project's goals, reflects user needs, and aligns with the brand. 

• Seeks creative feedback or ideas from partners/team; recognizes when other ideas will better serve the project/user.  

• Thinks critically to balance creativity and execution, making informed decisions independently while managing tight timelines and navigating ambiguity. 

• Leads multiple projects independently, effectively managing timelines, deliverables, and team expectations with minimal oversight. 

• Critically evaluates and questions high-level strategic decisions to suggest improvements or enhance the creative direction 

• Proactively embraces change, adjusting quickly to evolving requirements and managing transitions with minimal disruption. 

Qualifications and Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in Graphic Design, Visual Arts, Digital Media, Advertising, or a related field, or equivalent professional experience in content creation and art direction.
• 5+ years of experience in art direction, content creation, or a related creative role. 

• A strong portfolio demonstrating expertise in art direction, digital/social content, brand storytelling, and creative leadership. 

• Proficiency in Adobe Creative Suite, including Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, After Effects, and Premiere.

• Experience in directing and producing video and photo content for digital and social platforms such as TikTok, Instagram Reels, and Facebook. 

• Exceptional verbal and written communication skills, with the ability to articulate and present concepts effectively to diverse audiences.
• Keen attention to detail and a passion for delivering high-quality, customer-centric work.
• Ability to work in a fast-paced environment, managing multiple projects and deadlines simultaneously. 

• A passion for creative problem-solving and pushing creative boundaries. 

Upon an applicant's request, CarMax will consider reasonable accommodation to complete the CarMax Job Application.