Art Director (Kuala Lumpur)

Description

Monks is seeking an Art Director to join a client asset production team. This is a hands-on creative lead role responsible for elevating the quality of work across a multidisciplinary maker team, spanning design, motion, animation, digital, print, and emerging creative disciplines.

Working closely with the Creative Head of Studio, designers, animators, editors, producers, AI specialists, and local market teams, the Art Director leads through craft—offering thoughtful feedback, refining ideas, and jumping into the work whenever needed to raise the creative bar. Comfortable working across both traditional and AI-enabled creative workflows, they understand how emerging tools can accelerate ideation, execution, and creative exploration.

The ideal candidate is a maker first: someone with exceptional design fundamentals, strong creative instincts, and the ability to bring out the best in both the work and the people creating it.

The Lowdown

• Lead the creative execution of campaigns, adaptive content, and always-on communications across multiple channels and markets.
• Provide day-to-day creative direction and feedback across a multidisciplinary team, including design, motion, animation, digital, print, and emerging media.
• Partner with the Creative Head of Studio to translate brand platforms and campaign ideas into exceptional creative execution.
• Work hands-on in Figma, AI creative tools, and other design platforms to refine layouts, evolve concepts, improve visual storytelling, and elevate overall craft.
• Jump into projects whenever needed to solve creative challenges, unblock teams, and improve the quality of the work.
• Guide the adaptation of global creative into culturally relevant executions while maintaining brand integrity.
• Elevate the quality of creative work through thoughtful feedback, hands-on collaboration, and strong creative judgment.
• Collaborate closely with Production, Strategy, Operations, Account, and Localization teams to deliver outstanding work efficiently and at scale.
• Help evolve creative templates, design resources, and best practices that support consistent, high-quality execution.
• Embrace emerging technologies, including AI-enabled tools, where they enhance the creative process and improve efficiency.

Scope

• Operates within the local creative team and serves as the primary creative craft enhancer lead for a multidisciplinary maker team.
• Partners closely with the Creative Head of Studio to maintain consistently high creative standards across projects and deliverables.
• Provides creative leadership across design, motion, animation, digital, print, and production workflows.
• Leads through craft, collaboration, and hands-on creative involvement.

Requirements

• 5+ years of experience in art direction, visual design, or multidisciplinary creative roles within agencies, studios, or in-house creative organizations.
• Strong portfolio demonstrating exceptional craft across brand campaigns, digital experiences, social content, and integrated creative work.
• Advanced proficiency in Figma and a willingness to contribute directly to the work every day.
• Strong foundation in typography, composition, layout, visual hierarchy, and digital design principles.
• Experience developing and executing creative work across digital, social, motion, and integrated campaigns.
• Motion design experience is a plus.
• Strong creative judgment and an ability to refine work through thoughtful feedback and collaboration.
• Experience adapting global creative for local audiences while maintaining brand consistency.
• Strong communication and collaboration skills with the ability to work effectively across multidisciplinary teams.
• Proficiency with emerging AI creative tools (e.g. generative image, video, and language models) and an understanding of how to integrate them into the creative process to improve speed, exploration, and creative quality.
• Hands-on experience and curiosity in using AI creative tools (e.g. generative image, video, and language models) to accelerate ideation, concept development, and creative production.

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