Art Director, Harper's Bazaar

ITP Media Group seeks a portfolio-level Art Director to lead the visual identity and execution of Harper’s Bazaar Arabia, plus the Saudi and Qatar editions, across print, digital, social, and video. You will set the
creative bar, codify systems that scale across a monthly flagship and quarterly regional editions, and partner closely with editorial, photo/video, and production to deliver world-class design in both English and Arabic.
The role demands deep print craft (typography, grid, prepress, colour) and platform-native sensibility for .com
and social, with meticulous standards in bilingual/RTL applications and colour-managed workflows.



Requirements

1) Portfolio Visual Strategy & Brand Stewardship

• Maintain and evolve the Harper’s Bazaar portfolio visual language (typography, grid, imagery, palette, illustration, motion), ensuring cohesion with each edition’s local nuance.
  
• Enforce brand style guides and cross-platform design systems for print/digital, including bilingual/RTL specifications and component libraries.
  

2) Issue Design & Production (Monthly & Quarterly)

• Lead flatplans and pacing; art-direct covers, features, departments, and special supplements; approve layouts from concept to press-ready files.
  
• Partner with the Managing Editor and Production teams on schedules and closes appropriate to a monthly (Arabia) and quarterly (Saudi/Qatar) cadence.
  
• Design and lay out all pages in line with our global standards.
  

3) Photography Direction & Commissioning

• Commission and direct photographers, stylists, set designers, illustrators, and retouchers across fashion, portrait, still-life, architecture/interiors.
  
• Write treatments and shot lists; supervise on-set art direction and retouching standards; build and maintain a best-in-class regional contributor network.
  

4) Digital, Motion & Social Packaging

• Translate print features into platform-native packages (.com templates, social carousels, Reels/Shorts graphic systems, thumbnails); set motion/graphics rules for video lower-thirds and opens.
  
• Collaborate with social/video leads to ensure visual consistency and high engagement across channels.
  

5) Prepress, Colour & Print Quality

• Own colour-accurate output across devices and presses: CMYK conversions, profile selection, proofing, paper stock recommendations, and press checks.
  
• Implement ICC-profiled colour management and preflight/QC practices to ensure predictable, premium print reproduction.
  

6) Arabic/English Craft (RTL/LTR)

• Ensure excellent Arabic typography, spacing, ligatures, and mirroring logic; set rules for mixed writing directions (numbers, units, dates) and bilingual hierarchy.
  
• Curate Arabic-compatible type families and oversee RTL adaptations of layouts and UI elements for digital.
  

7) Operations, Assets & Rights

• Maintain file architecture, versioning, and DAM hygiene (naming, metadata, reuse).
  
• Oversee image rights, credits, licenses, and clearances in partnership with Legal/Editorial; manage third-party fonts/artwork usage.
  

8) Collaboration and Commercial

• Partner with editorial leaders to shape visual storytelling; collaborate with commercial/branded content teams on premium executions while protecting editorial integrity.
  

Qualifications

• 8–10+ years’ art direction in luxury fashion/editorial environments with a portfolio of landmark covers/features and cross-platform systems.
  
• Mastery of typography and grid; expert in InDesign/Photoshop/Illustrator; working knowledge of Lightroom/Capture One; motion basics (After Effects/Premiere) and Figma for digital systems.
  
• Proven prepress/print expertise (proofing, press checks, colour pipelines/ICC); strong retouching oversight.
  
• Bilingual/RTL experience strongly preferred; Arabic/English fluency is a plus with sensitivity to regional cultural context and luxury aesthetics.
  
• Calm under pressure, deadline-reliable, and excellent at cross-functional communication with editorial, production, and commercial teams.
  

Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)

• Visual excellence & consistency across editions/platforms; external recognition/benchmarks.
  
• On-time delivery for monthly and quarterly closes; reduced rounds and rework.
  
• Colour/print quality (proof-to-press fidelity, ICC adherence).
  
• Digital/social performance of visual packaging (CTR, saves/shares, completion/retention where applicable).
  
• Contributor network strength and development of regional talent; internal stakeholder satisfaction.