Art Direction Manager

Job Description

Hej! Want to be a part of making everyday life better? 

The IKEA vision is to create a better everyday life for the many people – and we’re always searching for new and better ways to do it. We gather insights about life at home, learning about the needs and dreams of people all over the world. And we use our home furnishing knowledge to create products and solutions that will enable more people to live the life they want. 

At IKEA Marketing & Communication, we create world-class creative communication based on real needs, and help the IKEA brand reach and inspire more people. Located in Älmhult, Sweden, we’re a melting pot of many different nationalities and cultures – because to make things better for the many, we want to involve people from all parts of the world. But of course, we never forget our Swedish roots, which means our workday is sprinkled with words like “tillsammans” and “fika”.

We’re looking for a senior Art Direction Manager to join IKEA Marketing & Communication (IMC).

As Art Direction Manager, you will lead the Art Direction competence area at IMC and directly manage a team of in-house Art Directors. We’re looking for a senior manager with a strong art direction and visual communication background as you’ll be expected to lead, develop, and coach this field of expertise within projects. 

Art Directors at IMC are a key part of our creative teams, collaborating with Interior Designers, Copywriters, Graphic Designers and Communicators, and many others on global IKEA communication. Projects range from communication concepts for new IKEA collections, to conceptualizing seasonal campaigns for social media, to planning and creating content for IKEA.com. 

You will contribute to the entire content production process, ideation, creation, production, follow-up, and optimization. Create and maintain a strong team culture and a feeling of belonging among the art directors, supporting individual art directors in leading their own career development. Develop the art direction competence at IMC, with the goal of creating more creative and impactful IKEA communication.

Furthermore, you will: 

• Help ensure the best possible match between art directors and projects. 

• Stay one step ahead when it comes to business needs and visual communication competence demands.

• Develop and maintain a strong external network of art directors to secure recruitment and freelance needs. 

• Challenge the usual way of doing things and spot potential improvements to ways of working, so that your team can perform at its best.

• Coach individuals within projects and provide clear and actionable feedback. 

• Collaborate with the Interior Design, Copywriting, Graphic Design & Communication, and UX Design managers on common goals and development topics. 

Our Competence Managers are people who enable creative thinking and idea generation in a large-scale production environment. People who can lead in the unknown and in ever-changing conditions. People with the ability to develop people and business together. People who can manage stakeholder relationships, creating synergies and collaborations. People who can spark an idea-driven culture that enables co-workers to explore, grow and reinvent creative production 

To shine in this role , you will need extensive experience working as Art Director for a large agency or brand. 10+ years of relevant professional experience, ideally a mix of agency and in-house roles. A strong portfolio demonstrating impeccable craft and art direction and a desire to push beyond the status quo to deliver best-in-class creative work. You have a keen understanding of how to apply brand visuals across a variety of physical and digital channels and experience in developing and safeguarding brand identity through art direction and visual communication. 

Furthermore, you need to have:

• General understanding of the creative & product development process. 

• Entrepreneurial spirit with a bias for action. You love to work fast and make things happen and experience developing content through storytelling. 

• Knowledge of how customers consume and experience communication. 

• Have an interest in consumer trends and behaviors, knowledge of communication trends, and channel understanding.  

• An interest in the topics close to the IKEA brand: life at home, design, sustainability. 

• Fluency in English, spoken and written. 

Sound like a fit? Want to make the world a little better with us? Then we want to hear from you!

Additional Information

• Please send your application, in English, no later than 12 April, 2024.  

• Please note that we will be interviewing continuously, which means that we may close the application process earlier than stated if we find the right candidate.  

• We do not accept applications by e-mail.

In this role you will report to Éric Boudart, Home Furnishing & Design Manager. If you have any questions regarding the recruitment process, please contact Christina Appelqvist ( ) or Walfrid Larson,  

Location: This position is in Älmhult, Sweden. Remote work is not a possibility. Re-location is a possibility.