Senior Social Art Director Full Time

WHAT YOU’LL DO:

You don’t just create content—you create moments that move culture. As the Senior Social Art Director, you’ll be a platform-native visual storyteller living at the intersection of creativity, community, and self-expression.

We’re looking for someone who can turn products, athletes, artists, and cultural moments into compelling stories that inspire audiences across Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube. Equal parts creative strategist and hands-on maker, you’re as comfortable shaping a big idea as you are shooting, editing, and bringing it to life yourself. You have a sharp instinct for what resonates and can spot the next trend before it takes off.

As a key member of the Global Social team, you’ll report to the Senior Manager of Brand Social and partner closely with Brand Creative, Brand Management, athletes, artists, and cultural collaborators to build an organic social ecosystem that feels unmistakably Vans.

Let’s break down that day-in-the-life a bit more.

• End-to-End Production: You will concept, shoot, edit, animate, and publish platform-native stories from idea to final delivery, reducing reliance on multi-specialist handoffs.
• Franchise Development: You will build and scale repeatable social-first series and editorial formats that engage the 14–25-year-old target audience.
• Campaign & Energy Support: You will capture and create compelling native content to support tier-one brand priorities, including product launches, cultural moments, and key energy collaborations.
• Agile Field Capture: You will independently capture high-quality product, lifestyle, event, and documentary-style content on set or on the fly at key cultural moments.
• Cross-Functional Collaboration: You will collaborate directly with external creators, athletes, internal designers, and regional teams to ensure storytelling feels authentic and platform-optimized.

WHAT YOU’LL NEED:

We all have unique skills that we bring to work and celebrate every day. For this role, there are foundation skills you’ll need to succeed and excel. Additionally, while formal education in a related field is great to have, we are most interested in your 7-9 years of experience and professional achievements.

The foundation skills you will need in this position are:

• 7+ years of professional experience in art direction, creative content development or social-first creative roles, with at least 4 years in an agency or in-house social creative team.
• Bachelor’s degree in graphic design, Advertising, Visual Communication, Marketing, Film, Digital Media, or a related field; or an equivalent combination of education, experience, and a portfolio demonstrating exceptional creative and social storytelling capabilities.
• The Hybrid Toolkit: Deep mastery of end-to-end multi-media production, including filming, video editing (Adobe Premiere), motion design/typography (After Effects), and audio layout.
• Platform-Native Intuition: An intuitive understanding of the distinct visual languages, pacing, trends, and subcultures driving Reels, TikTok, and YouTube Shorts.
• Autonomy & Speed: Proven ability to own the entire creative workflow and deliver high-taste, finished assets under tight deadlines with minimal supervision.
• Connection to Youth Culture: A strong connection to street culture, skateboarding, music, art, and the global creator community.
• Dependable and Proactive: A self-starter mentality who thrives in ambiguity and is comfortable working on fast-moving, non-traditional production sets.
• AI & Tool Curiosity: Eagerness to experiment with and prototype AI-assisted creative workflows to optimize speed and production value.

Preferred Skills:

• In-house social creative or digital agency experience managing content execution for a global consumer or lifestyle brand.
• Experience interfacing directly with high-profile athletes, musical talent, and cultural creators.

Location requirement: Hybrid schedule, 3 days a week (more as needed) out of our HQ in Costa Mesa, CA.

Hiring Range:

$95,040.00 USD – $118,800.00 USD annually

Tagged as: art, california, costa mesa, director, social media, USA, vans