Senior Retoucher & Designer in Johannesburg – Apply Now!

🏢 Company: Publicis Groupe
📍 Location: Johannesburg, South Africa
📄 Job Type: Fixed Term Contract (FTC)
🏠 Work Model: On-Site
🆔 Reference Number: 122013

🎨 Role Overview

The Senior Retoucher & Graphic Designer plays a central role in overseeing the visual standard of creative work produced across the agency. This position functions as a quality guardian, ensuring all imagery, design, and retouching deliverables adhere to global brand standards, campaign requirements, and the creative strategy established for client accounts.

You will collaborate closely with Art Directors, Creative Leads, Client Service teams, and occasionally clients, ensuring that the final outputs reflect exceptional craftsmanship, precision, and visual cohesion. The role requires balancing speed and accuracy, interpreting complex creative briefs, maintaining global brand alignment, and driving innovation through expert retouching and design techniques.

This role is ideal for someone who thrives in a high-performance creative environment, values detail, and consistently pushes visual storytelling standards across markets.

✨ Key Responsibilities

🎨 Creative & Visual Expertise

• Expert-level retouching across product, skin, and surface imagery, including texture refinement, colour correction, and lighting enhancement.

• Advanced Photoshop mastery using smart objects, non-destructive editing, detailed masking, layer composition, and preparing files for large-scale or multi-format deployment.

• Ensuring strict adherence to brand identity systems and global design guidelines across multiple asset types and regions.

• Supporting Art Directors in conceptualising and executing sophisticated visual narratives and campaign storylines.

• Applying strong design sensibilities in layout, typography, creative balance, and cross-channel assets for print, digital, social, motion, and packaging.

• Managing colour profiling and ensuring accuracy in colour space usage for all print and digital applications.

🧠 Strategic & Conceptual Capabilities

• Translating complex creative briefs into coherent and high-quality visual outputs.

• Adjusting creative assets to suit regional cultural nuances and market-specific expectations.

• Ensuring consistency of visual identity across formats, platforms, and global markets.

• Staying updated with industry trends, emerging techniques, AI design tools, and advanced retouching innovations.

💻 Technical Qualifications

🛠 Software Proficiency

• Expert-level Adobe Creative Suite: Photoshop, Bridge, Lightroom, Illustrator, InDesign.

• Familiarity with AI-driven retouching tools, neural filters, automation plugins, and workflow accelerators.

• Strong file management discipline, including naming conventions, folder structures, production specifications, and multichannel formatting.

• Experience with collaboration tools such as Figma, Frame.io, and Marcel AI.

⚙ Operational Skills

• Designing, improving, and implementing creative production workflows and post-production pipelines.

• Managing multiple priorities within fast-paced environments while maintaining meticulous attention to detail.

• Delivering polished, error-free final files with strict adherence to campaign timelines.

📘 Qualifications & Experience

• Relevant Diploma/Degree in Graphic Design, Visual Communication, Post-Production, or a related field.

• 4+ years of professional experience in a creative or advertising environment.

• Proven portfolio demonstrating advanced retouching, design, and visual storytelling ability.

• High proficiency in colour grading, layout work, and end-to-end creative production.

📝 CV Application Tips

• Include a direct link to your online portfolio showcasing retouching, before/after samples, and multi-platform design work.

• Highlight your Adobe Photoshop expertise in both your skills section and work experience.

• Demonstrate experience with global brands or high-volume creative campaigns.

• Emphasise speed, accuracy, and workflow management—these are core capabilities for the role.

• Include a brief summary describing your familiarity with brand guidelines and visual identity systems.

• Mention any experience using AI design/retouching tools, as this aligns with modern creative workflows.

📢 Employment Equity

Publicis Groupe is committed to creating an inclusive, diverse, and equitable workplace. The company prioritizes fairness in recruitment, development, and advancement opportunities across all levels. Internal candidates may receive priority consideration in accordance with organisational policies promoting equal opportunity and transformation.