About the Role
SJC is seeking an Intermediate Art Director / Designer with strong fashion and apparel retail experience to support high-volume eCommerce content production for a major retail program on a 3-5 month initial contract. The role will help translate brand, category, and product requirements into clear shot direction, visual standards, layout guidance, and production-ready creative decisions across various imagery types. The ideal candidate is highly visual, organized, commercially minded, and comfortable working in a fast-moving production environment where AI-assisted tools support efficiency but human judgment controls final creative quality.
Responsibilities
- Develop and maintain visual direction for apparel content across on-figure, off-figure, kids, footwear, accessories, licensed products, and bundles.
- Partner with photographers, stylists, retouchers, producers, and PMs to define shot requirements, cropping, styling direction, model/product considerations, and image hierarchy.
- Review supplier, Walmart, and internal creative inputs to identify missing information, product differences, colourway issues, or visual risks before production begins.
- Support consistent application of Walmart content standards, SJC production guidelines, and category-specific eCommerce image requirements.
- Create or adapt visual guides, shot references, production notes, simple layout assets, infographics, and dimension/accessory chart direction as required.
- Review image outputs for styling, composition, colour, product accuracy, brand fit, and eCommerce clarity prior to final QA or upload preparation.
- Help improve repeatable apparel workflows by identifying opportunities for templates, reusable visual rules, and AI-assisted creative efficiencies.
Requirements
- 3-6+ years of art direction, design, or visual production experience, preferably in fashion, apparel, retail, catalogue, eCommerce, or studio production.
- Strong understanding of apparel photography, styling, fit, colour, proportion, model imagery, off-figure presentation, and digital shelf image requirements.
- Ability to work quickly and accurately across high SKU volumes while maintaining quality and consistency.
- Strong Adobe Creative Suite skills; comfort reviewing retouching, cropping, layout, and production-ready image assets.
- Experience collaborating with photographers, stylists, producers, retouchers, project managers, and client stakeholders.
- Good eye for detail, product representation, image accuracy, visual hierarchy, and category consistency.
- Retail, marketplace, Walmart, mass merchant, apparel brand, agency, or production studio experience is a strong asset.
- Comfort using AI-assisted workflows for image exploration, reference development, derivative concepts, background ideas, cropping checks, or production efficiency.
- Ability to provide practical creative guidance to AI/image tools while ensuring outputs remain brand-safe, product-accurate, and human-reviewed.
- Must understand that AI accelerates repeatable work; final decisions on product accuracy, styling, colour, model fit, and visual quality remain human-owned.
Skills
- Adobe Creative Suite
- Content Factori
- Adobe Firefly
- Generative image tools
- Image masking/background tools
- DAM workflows
- eCommerce automation platforms
Location
- Remote
Work Type
- Contract
- Full-time
Experience Level
- Intermediate
Benefits
- Exclusive employee subscription rates for SJC publications.
- A complimentary 1-year Toronto Life Insider membership.
- Discounted annual GoodLife membership.
- Participation in the Perkopolis Perk Program, offering employee pricing at a wide range of retailers.
About the Company
- SJC stands as Canada’s largest privately owned communications company, distinguished by its portfolio of leading media brands, including Toronto Life, Chatelaine, and Maclean’s.
- A dynamic and influential organization within the industry, SJC excels in the creation, publication, and production of best-in-class content through its comprehensive content and creative studios, advanced advertising technology, and state-of-the-art print facilities.
- We collaborate with clients across North America to deliver innovative marketing solutions that effectively inform, inspire, and empower audiences across all platforms.
- With significant reach and influence, SJC has proudly been recognized as one of Canada’s Best Managed Companies for 22 consecutive years, a testament to our commitment to excellence.
- From its full-service multi-studio facility, SJC Content works with leading brands and retailers to create content for every channel, including photography, video, social animation, interactive e-commerce content and digital signage.
- The Mar-Comm Project Manager drives the planning and execution of seasonal and other strategic marketing campaigns, leading collaboration on these projects both cross-functionally and with a network of vendor partner marketing agencies.
Equal Opportunity
- SJC is proud to be an equal-opportunity employer, where everyone feels welcome and has the opportunity to thrive.
- We're committed to creating inclusive and barrier-free recruitment processes and work environments.
- If you're contacted for an interview and require any accommodations to ensure a fair and equitable experience, please let our Human Resources team know.
- We'll handle any information you share with complete confidentiality.
- Equality and respect for all is one of our founding values and core beliefs at SJC.
- We are a diverse group with associates of all ages, orientations, races and talents.
- We celebrate this diversity and we draw strength from it.
- Inclusivity at SJC means fostering a culture that welcomes and respects each individual as equal – both inside our walls and within the larger community.
