Who we are
369 Publishing produces 3 magazine — a quarterly publication and multimedia platform for Third Culture Individuals (TCIs): the globally shaped and culturally fluid, people who move between cultures, currencies, and capitals, and who think in corridors rather than countries.
We envision a future where Third Culture Individuals are the catalyst behind unprecedented global economic and cultural prosperity. Our mission is to inspire, connect, and unlock Third Culture Individuals by providing a platform that amplifies their voices and accelerates their economic and cultural impact, globally.
369 Publishing is part of 369 Global
369 Global is a group of companies based in Canada, with a portfolio focused on skills training and workforce development, media, and international business services. 369 Global has worked at the intersection of people, business, and global opportunity. The company focuses on legacy, scale, and sustained impact, and activates global connections through deeply human experiences.
Our values
369 Global’s work is guided by five values that shape how we select, develop, evaluate, and reward the people who work with us: Dream to Reality (we are audacious optimists), Drive (dreams are realised only through execution), Innovation (we embrace change to deliver the best results possible), Bring People Together (we navigate between borders and think beyond boundaries), and Change the World (the future is third culture). Our spirit is entrepreneurial. We are nimble and flexible, and we hope you will join us on a great adventure.
Overview
3 is building the definitive digital platform for Third Culture Individuals, and we are looking for an Art Director to own and shape how it looks. This is a build, not a maintenance job — the chance to define a publication’s entire visual world while it is still being formed.
We hold a simple conviction: a publication is judged in the first second, before a word is read. The visual standard is not packaging at 3; it is the proof of everything we claim — intelligence, taste, and a point of view that is genuinely global. Our readers are discerning and over-informed, and they recognise generic work instantly.
Publishing has not kept pace with how its readers see. Most titles still treat visuals as decoration, lean on stock, or produce at a speed that flattens quality. 3 is choosing to operate differently — using technology and modern production systems internally so that one exceptional visual mind can do the work that used to take a department, without lowering the standard. We are not building an AI publication. We are building a human one, and using the best tools available to produce it at speed and at scale.
This is a hands-on role for an art director who creates as well as directs. You are the internal visual lead for 3 across every format and channel — the print quarterly, the website, the newsletter, social, and brand campaigns. You will set the visual identity and then produce against it: art-directing and commissioning photography and illustration, designing layouts, creating platform-native work, and building the templates and systems that let 3 publish beautifully at digital speed. You will also conceive and lead campaigns — the launches, seasons, and brand moments that build the platform.
You will decide how technology supports the work: generating and iterating visuals where it serves the standard, building production systems that remove repetitive work, and knowing exactly when a brief calls for a human photographer, an illustrator, or your own hand instead. The standard never moves. The tools help you reach it faster.
Early in the engagement you should be ready to propose the visual system for 3 — the identity, the templates, the production workflow, and the campaign calendar you would build.
This role will stretch you. You will be measured by what you ship and by whether it meets the eye of one of the most visually literate audiences in publishing. If you are passionate about third culture, about design and intelligence, about luxury defined by taste and quality rather than gloss — and you want to prove what a modern publication can look like — this is the challenge we are offering.
You will report to the Executive Vice-President, 369 Publishing, and partner daily with the Digital Editor.
Key Responsibilities
Visual Identity and Art Direction
- Own and steward 3’s visual identity across every format and channel — print, web, newsletter, social, and campaigns.
- Art-direct the quarterly print magazine, from the cover to feature layouts, holding the design standard set in 3’s brand guidelines.
- Define and document the visual system — typography, colour, composition, and image treatment — so it is consistent and repeatable across surfaces.
- Protect the standard: editorial imagery over stock, restraint over spectacle, taste over trend.
Visual Creation and Production
- Create hero imagery and feature visuals for digital stories, owning the work from concept to publish.
- Design and produce platform-native visuals for social, made for how each channel actually works.
- Design the newsletter and subscriber-platform visual experience.
- Translate print features into digital visual treatments using the established print-to-digital workflow.
- Work hands-on across photography direction, illustration, layout, and motion as the story requires.
Campaigns and Brand Storytelling
- Conceive, design, and lead visual campaigns — launches, seasonal moments, subscriber drives, and partnership activations.
- Build campaign concepts that carry across channels, from a single idea to its full visual expression.
- Ensure every campaign is unmistakably 3 and advances the platform, not only the moment.
Production Systems and Modern Tools
- Build templates and systems that let 3 produce beautifully at digital speed.
- Use technology to generate, iterate, and produce visuals where it serves the standard.
- Build and refine automations that remove repetitive production work and protect time for craft.
- Stay current on relevant tools and adopt selectively. The test is always visual quality, not novelty.
Collaboration and Commissioning
- Brief, commission, and direct photographers, illustrators, and other visual contributors.
- Coordinate with the Partnerships team to hold the visual standard in branded and sponsored work.
- Brief the EVP regularly on the visual system, output, and campaign performance.
Qualifications and Relevant Experience
- 5+ years in art direction or design, ideally at a quality publication, design studio, or brand (Monocle, Kinfolk, or similar design-led titles).
- A portfolio that demonstrates editorial-grade art direction across formats — print and digital — and ideally campaign work.
- Expert command of design tools (Adobe Creative Suite — InDesign, Photoshop, Illustrator — and Figma).
- Demonstrable AI fluency in visual production. You can show generative work, prompt frameworks, custom models, or production systems you have built and used. Surface-level familiarity is not enough.
- Strong typographic skill and a refined eye for composition, colour, and image.
- Experience art-directing photography and illustration commissions, from brief to final.
- Motion and short-form video literacy, or the appetite to develop it quickly.
- Familiarity with how visuals perform across web and social, and with publishing CMS environments (WordPress, Webflow, or equivalent).
- Cross-cultural visual fluency: you understand that visual codes are not universal, and you can direct for a genuinely global audience.
- A degree in design, visual communication, fine art, or a related field — or equivalent demonstrated craft.
Personality Traits
We are hiring for a specific kind of person. The right candidate will read this list and recognise themselves.
- Third culture fluency. You understand the Third Culture Individual because you recognise the experience, not because you have read the market research. You have moved between cultures, and you can art-direct for that reader without flattening them into a stereotype or a stock image.
- A defined visual point of view. You have a recognisable eye and the confidence to bring it into the work. You know what you think good looks like, and you can argue for it.
- A maker. You direct, but you also build — your hands stay on the work. You would rather make the thing than describe it in a meeting, and you keep your craft and your tools current so you always can.
- Discerning. You have real taste. You can tell the difference between good and nearly-good, and you care about the gap. Your standard holds under deadline pressure.
- Entrepreneurial. You operate like an owner. You see what needs doing and do it without waiting to be asked, you are measured by what ships, and you are comfortable with ambiguity, lean resources, and the pace of an organisation that is still being built.
- Builds for scale. You think in systems rather than one-offs. You build templates and workflows so the brand can produce beautifully at speed — the tenth time as well as the first — rather than becoming a heroic bottleneck.
- Independent. You can be handed an outcome and trusted to deliver it. You do not need close management, and you are comfortable being measured by results.
- Audacious and optimistic. You believe a small, well-equipped team can build something the industry has not seen, and you bring energy rather than cynicism to hard problems.
Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)
Visual Output and Quality
- Production velocity — visuals shipped per week, and time-to-visual from brief to publish-ready.
- Percentage of stories and channels shipping with original, brand-grade visuals on first pass.
- Visual consistency across formats, reviewed quarterly.
- Quality of the print quarterly’s art direction.
Brand and Visual Identity
- Visual system documented and adopted across all surfaces.
- Original-to-stock ratio (target: original throughout).
- Brand-consistency audit score, reviewed quarterly.
Campaign Performance
- Number and quality of campaigns conceived and shipped.
- Campaign reach and engagement against goals.
- Campaign contribution to subscriber growth and partnership value.
Audience Engagement on Visuals
- Save and share rates on visual-led social posts.
- Visual contribution to traffic, time on page, and newsletter performance.
- Growth in motion and video output as a share of total visual work.
Production Systems and Tools
- Templates and automations built.
- Time-to-visual trending down as systems mature.
- Production cost per feature trending down as systems mature.
Collaboration
- The Editor / Art Director partnership working as a single unit, reviewed quarterly.
- Visual standard held in branded and sponsored work, with no commercial dilution.
3 Magazine is an inclusive work environment and as such has a workplace accommodation policy in place. Accommodations are available, upon request, for the interview process and other selection stages for job applicants with accessibility needs.
Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools may be used to assist in screening and assessing applicants.
Job Type: Full-time
Work Location: In person
