Senior Art Director

At HLK, Senior Designers bring ideas to life with craft, precision, and a deep love for design. In this role you’ll deliver outstanding design systems, visual identities, and executional excellence across mediums. You’ll work closely with Creative Directors, Art Directors, and Copywriters to make sure every detail — from typography to layout, across motion and technology — meets the highest standard. You’ll also influence art directions and production artists, ensuring consistency and elevating the design culture at HLK.

If you’re someone who:… loves building cohesive design systems across channels… thrives on details, craft, and precision… think deeply about the why behind every choice… is collaborative and eager to share your expertise with others… is curious about new media and actively seeks new tools … takes pride in delivering polished, final work that drives brand impact…

This is the place for you.

Responsibilities

• Design across mediums including print, digital, social, motion, and branding
• Translate concepts into polished, strategically aligned designs
• Develop and maintain brand identity systems and ensure consistency across executions
• Provide design mentorship to junior designers and studio team members.
• Partner with Creative Directors and Copywriters to ensure alignment of visuals with ideas.
• Apply deep knowledge of typography, layout, color, and composition to create impactful work.
• Collaborate with production teams to ensure flawless final deliverables.
• Bring a high level of design craft to presentations and client-facing materials.
• Stay current on design trends, tools, and technologies to keep HLK’s work sharp.
• Maintain a strong point of view on the work and push for brave, unexpected solutions.

• Bachelor’s degree in graphic design, visual communication, or related field (or equivalent experience).
• 5–7 years of design experience in an advertising agency, design firm, or in-house creative team.
• Portfolio showcasing mastery in design craft, systems thinking, and execution across mediums.
• Strong experience with Adobe Creative Suite; familiarity with Figma, After Effects, and Google Suite 
• Exceptional attention to detail and ability to deliver work at the highest standard.
• Strong organizational and time-management skills.
• Collaborative, positive, and proactive mindset.
• Based in Chicago or St. Louis. We are not accepting remote applicants at this time.

About HLK:

We believe in the power of people to drive brands. Together, we shape a brand's identity and inspire its next move. We believe that brands have the power to influence people. We create brands in constant motion and on a mission to connect, surprise, and change behavior. 

Our mission is to provide an environment where passionate problem solvers can thrive. Every day, we encourage our people to do three things: Be Curious. Seek out the right problems to solve. Embrace criticism. Dig deeper and dream bigger. Be Thoughtful. Empathy transforms information into insight. We remove roadblocks to solutions, helping and supporting each other to solve client problems. And Be Brave. Take calculated risks, push the work, and move forward fearlessly.

There are many benefits to working at HLK, including the following:

A flexible work environment

A casual and creative atmosphere

Unlimited time off

Paid sabbatical

Parental leave

Medical insurance

Dental insurance

Vision insurance

401(k) plan with a company match

All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to age, race, color, religion, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, national origin, disability status, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law.