Art Director, Content-as-a-Service (2-year contract)

About Us

SPH Media's mission is to be the trusted source of news and lifestyle content in Singapore and Asia. One of our core purposes is to produce credible, balanced, and objective news and analysis, always with a view to uphold the public good and fostering an informed, engaged citizenry.

We welcome talented individuals to join us and grow a career in a vibrant and collaborative environment built around a culture of respect and inclusivity.

As an employer, we are committed to rewarding our people fairly and developing them in their careers.

About the Role

The Art Director is responsible for the creative and visual expression of all output produced by SPH Media's new Content-as-a-Service (CaaS) capability, based within the international-award-winning Content & Solutioning Division.

SPH Media is Singapore's trusted national media organisation, with a long-standing role in shaping public understanding through credible journalism and storytelling. CaaS builds on this trust by supporting public- and regulated-sector organisations with content that is editorially rigorous, visually compelling and designed to connect with real audiences.

This is a hands-on creative leadership role. You'll move confidently between concepting, design and execution, working across illustration, layout and basic animation, while shaping how stories are told visually across digital, social, print and campaign formats.

You'll also work closely with the Associate Director, Content-as-a-Service, the Senior Editor and the Video & Audio Lead to translate complex briefs into clear, engaging and human-centred visual storytelling.

This is a 2-year contract, with renewal possibilities.

What you'll do

Own creative direction and visual standards

• Be accountable for the overall visual quality and creative direction of all CaaS output.
• Set and uphold design standards across typography, colour, layout, illustration and motion.
• Ensure visual storytelling enhances editorial intent and audience understanding.
• Act as final creative sign-off on key projects.

Lead concept development and hands-on execution

• Develop strong visual concepts that bring editorial and creative narratives to life.
• Execute and oversee design work across illustration, layout and basic animation.
• Move comfortably between strategic concepting and hands-on making.
• Work closely with your Designer to deliver high-quality creative output.

Design across formats and platforms

• Create adaptable design systems that work across print, screen and social platforms.
• Ensure design translates effectively across formats, resolutions and contexts.
• Balance craft, clarity and scalability across all outputs.

Support broader creative outputs

• Contribute to campaign identities, event visuals, social layouts and publicity materials where required.
• Adapt core creative ideas into multiple formats without losing coherence or quality.
• Ensure visual consistency across content-led and campaign-led work.

Collaborate on integrated storytelling

• Work hand-in-hand with the Senior Editor to translate narratives into strong visual storytelling.
• Collaborate closely with the Video & Audio Lead on treatments, graphics and motion-led concepts.
• Ensure cohesion between still, moving and interactive formats.

Manage selective outsourcing

• Commission and direct external photographers, illustrators, animators or specialist studios where needed.
• Integrate externally produced assets into the broader creative system.
• Maintain quality and consistency across internal and external outputs.

Who we're looking for

You're likely to have:

• Senior experience as an Art Director, Senior Designer or Creative Lead in media, content marketing, publishing or commissioned content environments.
• Strong fundamentals in storytelling, design principles, typography, colour theory and layout.
• Experience working with government, public-sector or regulated-industry clients.
• Hands-on capability across illustration, design and basic animation.
• Experience designing for both print and screen-based environments.
• Comfort working across editorial, content and campaign-style outputs.
• Strong creative judgement, curiosity and attention to detail.

You enjoy thinking and making in equal measure, and you care about how design helps people understand ideas.

What this role is not

• Not a campaign-only art director role
• Not a purely conceptual or approval-only role
• Not a narrow specialist role

This is a versatile, hands-on creative leadership role.

Why this role is interesting

You'll shape how important stories are visually expressed at institutional scale, backed by a trusted national media organisation and embedded within a high-performing, award-winning division. The role offers real creative range from deep editorial storytelling to book design to campaign identities and event visuals with room to experiment, play and push ideas across formats and platforms.

About SPH Media's Content & Solutioning Division

This is where editorial craft meets creative ambition. The division brings together Content Lab, Brand Newsroom and SPH Media's advertising capabilities to produce commissioned work that spans branded storytelling, native content in news environments, video, and integrated campaigns across social, digital, print, audio and out-of-home. The team's work has been recognised internationally by organisations such as The Drum, the Content Marketing Association, the Content Marketing Institute, and WAN-IFRA including multiple wins for public-sector, video and multiformat work. It's a place for people who like ideas, enjoy solving complex briefs, and want to make work that is smart, credible, entertaining, and genuinely impactful.