Job Description

Overview:
HarperCollins Christian Publishing is committed to building a diverse and inclusive team and highly values diverse backgrounds and insights that fuel our innovation.
Are you a creative visionary with a passion for beautiful books? Do you know have strong creative vision, and know what it takes to create a bestselling, inspirational market title? If so, we want you on our team!
At HarperCollins Christian Publishing, our Specialty/Children's & Gift division--Thomas Nelson & Zondervan Gift, Tommy Nelson, and Zonderkidz--are at the forefront of creating inspiring, high-design Christian gift books that resonate with readers worldwide. We specialize in publishing a wide range of meaningful, beautifully crafted titles including children's books, devotionals, seasonal gift books, lifestyle books, and more. Our imprints are dedicated to publishing works that uplift and transform lives.
We are seeking a motivated and dynamic Senior Art Director for gift books, children's books, devotionals, lifestyle books, cookbooks, and journals. We are seeking a candidate with strong creative vision, ideation, execution, organization, leadership, project management, time management, and communication skills. The Senior Art Director designs as well as provides conceptual and creative direction for covers, interiors, and marketing pieces, commissions external illustrators, designers, and vendors, maintains art budgets, and manages a robust title list, oftentimes connecting directly with authors to communicate the vision for the visual design of their books.
This is a hybrid position based out of our Nashville, TN office. Responsibilities:

• Concept, develop, and create award-winning book covers that are on-trend in the market, on-brand for our authors, with broad consumer appeal and salability.
• Meet directly with authors, AEs, editors, publishers, and marketing teams to collaborate on design aesthetic and direction.
• Commission, contract, and collaborate with illustrators, designers, and vendors to develop cover and interior illustrations and overall design.
• Manage multiple projects while maintaining high standards of quality control, production schedules, budgets and sales cycles.
• Route cover designs for copyediting and print preparation.
• Maintain provided budgets for art direction expenses; code and route invoices for work performed.
• Provides print ready files to the pre-press/production department and uploads final images to our internal system for the feed to external vendors.
• Create and produce sales and marketing materials, including printed or digital samplers and mock-ups.

Qualifications:
Knowledge: Expert knowledge of art directing, graphic design, and a working knowledge of publishing and book manufacturing processes.
Work Experience: 7+ years minimum in an Art Director capacity. All candidates must provide design samples and/or a link to an online portfolio for consideration.
Education: Bachelor's degree in graphic design or related field.
Industry Knowledge: Knowledge of publishing, book manufacturing, and marketing. Must possess a keen eye for market trends, including trending fonts, colors, materials, design aesthetic, not only in the publishing world, but in general.
Skills: Above-average skill level in Adobe Creative Suite (MAC), Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, Power Point); Proven project management and organizational skills; Ability to prioritize and manage multiple projects with a variety of deadlines and complexity simultaneously. Extremely detail oriented. Must be a team leader and have the ability to help train new team members as they come on board.

• Collaborative problem solver who is quick to brainstorm potential solutions to challenges presented
• Strong verbal and written communication skills
• Open to constructive design feedback from authors and internal team members
• Calm and works well under pressure
• Positive can-do attitude
• Team player who is willing to step up when needed to help the team achieve overall goals
• Ability to prioritize, multitask, manage resources across multiple projects, and meet deadlines
• Ability to anticipate needs, plan ahead, and effectively problem solve
• Flexible and ready to respond to new opportunities
• Meticulous attention to detail
• Self-motivated, proactive, and highly productive

HarperCollins Christian Publishing is an equal opportunity employer.
HarperCollins Christian Publishing is committed to providing reasonable accommodation for qualified individuals with disabilities, in our job application and/or interview process. If you need assistance or accommodation in completing your application, due to a disability, email us at . Note: we will only respond to accommodation requests.

Skills Required