Vans: Senior Social Art Director

About the role

Vans is the original brand rooted in the authentic lifestyle of skateboarding. We are driven by our mission to inspire and empower everyone to live “Off The Wall” – embracing the youthful spirit of freedom, non-conformity, and relentless progression. Yesterday’s “Off The Wall” moment is today’s new normal, and at Vans, we believe in constantly outdoing ourselves. Together with our communities across the globe, our vision is to push culture forward because we believe that the pursuit of progression never ends. We are constantly inspired by the future generation of positive catalysts within our community.

Responsibilities

• Create platform-native visual stories that inspire audiences across Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube.
• Turn products, athletes, artists, and cultural moments into compelling stories.
• Build and scale repeatable social-first series and editorial formats engaging the 14–25-year-old target audience.
• Support tier-one brand priorities with compelling native content, including product launches, cultural moments, and key energy collaborations.
• Independently capture high-quality product, lifestyle, event, and documentary-style content on set or on the fly at key cultural moments.
• Collaborate directly with external creators, athletes, internal designers, and regional teams to ensure storytelling feels authentic and platform-optimized.

Requirements

• 7+ years of professional experience in art direction, creative content development, or social-first creative roles, with at least 4 years in an agency or in-house social creative team.
• Bachelor's degree in graphic design, Advertising, Visual Communication, Marketing, Film, Digital Media, or a related field; or an equivalent combination of education, experience, and a portfolio demonstrating exceptional creative and social storytelling capabilities.
• Deep mastery of end-to-end multi-media production, including filming, video editing (Adobe Premiere), motion design/typography (After Effects), and audio layout.
• An intuitive understanding of the distinct visual languages, pacing, trends, and subcultures driving Reels, TikTok, and YouTube Shorts.
• Proven ability to own the entire creative workflow and deliver high-taste, finished assets under tight deadlines with minimal supervision.
• A strong connection to street culture, skateboarding, music, art, and the global creator community.
• A self-starter mentality who thrives in ambiguity and is comfortable working on fast-moving, non-traditional production sets.
• Eagerness to experiment with and prototype AI-assisted creative workflows to optimize speed and production value.

Qualifications

• In-house social creative or digital agency experience managing content execution for a global consumer or lifestyle brand.
• Experience interfacing directly with high-profile athletes, musical talent, and cultural creators.

Skills

• End-to-end multi-media production skills (filming, video editing, motion design, audio layout).
• Platform-native intuition for Reels, TikTok, and YouTube Shorts.
• Autonomy and speed in owning the entire creative workflow.
• Connection to youth culture and street culture.
• Ability to work independently and in collaboration with various teams.
• Interest in experimenting with AI-assisted creative workflows.

Benefits

• Annual incentive plan.
• Sales incentive.
• Commission potential.

Pay

$95,400.00 USD - $118,800.00 USD annually

Schedule

Hybrid schedule, 3 days a week (more as needed) out of our HQ in Costa Mesa, CA.