Oatly is a company built on the idea of change. Our mission is to help people upgrade their everyday lives and the health of the planet by making tasty oat-based food products accessible to a wider audience in a world-class manner. It's why we come to work every day. With headquarters in Malmö and production in Sweden and the US, our products are available in almost 30 countries across Europe, North America, and Asia.

We are looking for an Art Director to come join our Oatly Department of Mind Control.

Before we tell you more about the role, we feel it's important to tell you a bit more about what it's like to be a creative at the Oatly Department of Mind Control (ODMC).

Working at the ODMC could be the best job of your life or the worst, depending on who you are.

If you are looking for hands on guidance on what to do and a high five when you make the deadline, this isn’t really your place. If you think everyone should stand back and admire your creative genius, please, stay where you are.

But if you’ve ever wondered if a place actually exists that would allow you to do the best work of your life, where you can focus your vision and craft on doing something that betters the planet and the lives of us humans living here, where you would have the freedom and responsibility to develop the voice of a brand on a daily basis, then it might be worth your time to read on.

For this job to be the best of your life, you have to be into the following:

MAKING AMAZING STUFF

Everyone at ODMC is a maker so if you are an approver, then this is a great place to stop reading. If you like to make great stuff and lots of it without layers of interference and approvals, then you are home. 

HAVING A SENSE OF PURPOSE ABOUT WHAT YOU'RE DOING

We make stuff that inspires people to change their lives and contribute to the betterment of the planet, not stuff for the advertising industry.  If you join us, you need to know why you work here and how the work you do can inspire others around you and those halfway around the world to make small changes in their lives that collectively point us humans on a better path than we are currently heading. If helping people and the planet aren’t in the top 25% of your interests, then perhaps this is not the job for you.

NOT WAITING FOR A BRIEF 

Since you're constantly up to speed on everything the company is doing you don’t need a brief to start working on ideas that result in a communication, that gets the attention of a person, that allows them to try a product that results in an unexpected moment of whatever, say personal joy. Great ideas come at strange times, so you should be open to them at all times. 

CREATING AND MAKING IS MORE EXCITING THAN PROCESS

The final piece of finished work is what matters, the process it took to get to that final piece of finished work doesn’t. We have removed all the buying and selling and presenting from the process, so everything becomes about getting the strategic pieces in place for why we are doing what we are doing and then all the energy goes toward creating ideas and executing those ideas. 

YOU DON'T NEED TO PLEASE EVERY CONSUMER

Because that is the most impossible task of all. Some people will love your work, others not so much. The people who don’t love what you do are the most interesting

TURNING FAILURE INTO FORTUNE

Understanding that negative feedback, adversity, conflict, failure, getting sued, whatever negative force is at play in any given situation is the most powerful brief you can receive and opens up to a constant, non-stop flow of new ideas.

DISAGREEING FOR BETTERMENT

When you put a group of people together with diverse backgrounds and approaches, disagreement will lead to something unexpected and better, unless disagreeing is your pastime and then this point is not relevant for you.

If any of this makes sense and coming up with ideas (the conceptual bit) and art directing the hell out of anything and everything (the bit where you bring your ideas to life in weird, beautiful and compelling ways) brings you great joy, then we should probably talk. That would be a good first step. 

We're open to chatting with art directors from all backgrounds and walks of life, but we do need you to  have solid experience coming up with conceptual ideas. We also need you to be happy with being really hands-on and excited to get in the weeds to actually make stuff. We are looking for doers with a strong visual culture and a versatile toolbox of skills. We will want to see a significant body of work so don’t forget to send us your portfolio. Bonus points for every project that is not an ad – we love quirky personal projects. We also like serious personal projects. Whatever rocks your boat, as long as it’s personal.

The role is full time, ideally based in Malmö in Sweden, but we are open to remote work from The Netherlands (as long as you’re willing and able to travel to Sweden on a regular basis).