Senior Art Director, 2D Illustration

Urban Ridge Supplies•New York, NY

7d•$158,000 - $200,000•Hybrid

About The Position

Whatnot is seeking a multidisciplinary designer and illustrator to join its Brand Experience team as an Art Director, 2D Illustration. The small, collaborative team of 2D and 3D illustrators and designers works across digital experiences, marketing campaigns, growth, events, and merchandise. This is a hands-on generalist role requiring strong 2D design craft, a distinct point of view on art direction, and the ability to simplify complex concepts into intuitive, visually compelling metaphors. The role involves developing visual strategies and creative work across a broad range of brand surfaces, partnering with cross-functional teams from brief through delivery, and maintaining high craft while moving quickly in an ambiguous environment. The Art Director will evolve visual strategies using moodboards and sketches, create production-ready assets, and provide actionable feedback that helps the team do its best work. The successful candidate is proactive, collaborative, comfortable making creative decisions with minimal guidance, and interested in experimenting with new skills and tools while staying current with design trends and the Whatnot community. The position offers flexibility to work from home or a global office hub, but employees must live within commuting distance of Whatnot’s San Francisco, New York, Seattle, or Los Angeles hubs. The role requires using Whatnot as both a buyer and a seller to develop a deep understanding of the product.

Requirements

At least 7 years of experience across brand, campaign, or creative studio work.
A portfolio showing strong visual thinking and hands-on execution.
Industry experience creating work for similar products or brands, including in-product experiences, visual identities, large-scale campaigns, social media, and merchandise.
Exceptional ability to communicate ideas, stories, and narratives through static and animated creative assets.
A portfolio or presentation demonstrating strong taste, art direction, strategy, knowledge and experience working within or developing visual systems, and polished illustration and graphic design.
Proficiency with Figma, Adobe Creative Suite, Figma Weave, ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, and other creative tools.
Proactive, curious, driven approach and a willingness to figure things out.
Ability to judge when to templatize, self-edit, and push creative work to achieve the best outcome.
Experience leading creative work from start to finish and collaborating with brand, product, engineering, and other cross-functional partners.
Low-ego, high-ownership approach; ability to identify opportunities, give and receive difficult feedback thoughtfully, and step in hands-on when needed.
Ability to refine ambiguous briefs, identify the core problem, and develop an actionable plan for oneself or partner teams.
Comfort working at speed and making decisions with incomplete information.
Self-motivation and interest in learning new skills or tools and pushing creative work appropriately.
Strong reputation in the design community and ongoing relationships with industry peers.
Must live within commuting distance of the San Francisco, New York, Seattle, or Los Angeles hubs.

Nice To Haves

Experience at a high-growth startup, marketplace, consumer app, creator platform, or fast-moving creative studio.
Experience art directing motion, illustration, or design, or creating capsule collections in fashion.
Passion for AI tools and experimentation with vibe coding.
Experience building illustration systems for in-house creative teams.
Experience building creative tools to support a large-scale design organization.

Responsibilities

Develop visual strategies, art direction, and creative work to extend Whatnot’s brand across digital experiences, product launches, events, social, and other high-impact surfaces.
Collaborate across business verticals with designers, engineers, copywriters, marketers, and creative leads from initial brief through delivery.
Move quickly from brief to execution, reducing scope when possible while maintaining a high standard of craft.
Maintain and evolve visual strategies through moodboards and sketches, and create bespoke, polished, production-ready assets.
Provide meticulous, actionable feedback in a productive way.
Maintain a collaborative, positive environment that motivates the team.
See projects through from start to finish and communicate creative concepts persuasively.
Use Figma, Adobe Creative Suite, and AI workflows to communicate ideas, streamline processes, and improve the work.
Stay current with fashion and design trends, pop culture, commerce, creators, and the Whatnot community to connect with a wide range of demographics.
Use Whatnot as both a buyer and seller as part of the job.

Benefits

Generous holiday and time-off policy.
Medical, dental, and vision insurance options.
Work-from-home support.
Home office setup allowance.
Monthly cell phone and internet allowance.
Care benefits.
Monthly wellness allowance.
Annual childcare allowance.
Lifetime family-planning benefit, including adoption or fertility expenses.
401(k) Traditional and Roth accounts in the US, with employer match up to 4% of base salary; pension plans internationally.
Monthly allowance to use and explore the Whatnot app as a buyer and seller.
16 weeks of paid parental leave and one month of gradual return to work; company leave allowances run concurrently with applicable country leave requirements.