Associate Creative Director, Design - Apple Services

Apple • Culver City, CA

75d • $195,100 - $293,500

About The Position

The Visuals Studio supporting Apple Services is a fast-paced, multi-disciplinary creative team that defines how best-in-class graphic design, video, and art bring all of our Services products to life. We work across various products, including Music, TV, Books, Podcasts, Arcade, App Store, and more. We are seeking an Associate Creative Director, Design who can merge traditional art direction with expertise in artificial intelligence and machine learning and apply these skills in a product-first manner. It requires a proficient art director unafraid to dive into the new and transformative potential of AI/ML. The Associate Creative Director, Design will deliver high-quality visuals across a diverse range of projects for Apple Services. This role is crucial to establishing and maintaining a standard of excellence, whether working independently or guiding others. To be successful at this work requires a deep understanding of our products, artistic principles, and design and production processes, along with the ability to balance these needs against multiple priorities. You understand how to balance sophisticated AI/ML capabilities with product and art direction needs to deliver high-quality design systems and content. You have a discerning eye for graphic design, motion design, and typography. You have experience with the current generative models on the market and a clear understanding of how to direct those models for artistic output using various prompt and context engineering techniques. In addition to delivering creative output, the role requires collaborative leadership, working cross-functionally on a range of deliverables across product, content, experiential, and communication platforms. You will need to take ambiguous and conceptual scope and work to deliver clear and valuable solutions. The ideal candidate has a seasoned background in motion production and strategy, as well as a passion for storytelling, design, media, and technology.

Requirements

• 10-12 years of experience as a Creative Director, Art Director, or Senior Designer in a creative-focused agency or in-house at a leading brand.
• A diverse portfolio of high-concept, visually engaging, and sophisticated creative work for major brands.
• Portfolio required with examples of original design work, or projects you have led creatively, that reflect a consistent, A+ taste level and excellent execution.
• Experience with hardware/software integration, as well as optimizing creative for UX, performance strategy, and metrics.
• Ability to juggle multiple projects at one time.
• A meticulous eye for detail that matches Apple's own.
• Experience leading creative projects from development to execution within a product content, advertising, or graphic design vertical.
• Ability to distill complex ideas into succinct, beautifully designed presentation decks, and have experience presenting to a wide range of audiences.
• Capable of articulating the rationale behind story and design decisions, and exhibiting strong managerial skills to guide internal team and external partners.
• Ability to bring insightful concepts to the table and deliver effective feedback across multiple mediums, including static, graphic design, motion, and live action.
• Strong interpersonal skills.
• Collaborative, even under pressure.
• A positive force that elevates the work of the people around you.
• Experience with streaming or other digital products.
• Breadth of experience with prompt/context engineering, model training, curation, and AI/ML workflows.
• Capable of differentiating types of AI and Machine Learning models, what they're for, and how to use them together.

Nice To Haves

• BS/BA degree in Graphic Design, Film, New Media, or related design field.
• Understanding of what makes editorial content engaging and successful across channels and audiences.
• A deep understanding of design and motion principles, and how to apply them across various media, including 2D, 3D, motion graphics, graphic design, video storytelling, static art, etc.
• Flexibility to accommodate travel when needed.
• Familiarity with Comfy UI or similar model integration tools for art production.

Responsibilities

• Creative ideation and developing innovative concepts for programmatic content.
• Innovate product and content challenges via integration of traditional and generative tools.
• Devise solutions for new content needs that support user experience and product changes.
• Lead projects, developing production processes, and streamlining existing workflows.
• Provide direction for graphic design, animation, video capture, and model training.
• Research product details to better understand and solve content challenges.
• Create presentations to effectively communicate work and ideas.
• Deliver compelling original content while considering multiple perspectives along the way.

Benefits

• Comprehensive medical and dental coverage.
• Retirement benefits.
• A range of discounted products and free services.
• Reimbursement for certain educational expenses — including tuition.
• Opportunity to participate in Apple's discretionary employee stock programs.
• Eligibility for discretionary restricted stock unit awards.
• Ability to purchase Apple stock at a discount if voluntarily participating in Apple's Employee Stock Purchase Plan.
• Discretionary bonuses or commission payments as well as relocation.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Senior
• Industry: Computer and Electronic Product Manufacturing
• Education Level: Bachelor's degree