Media Directors and Designers

Media directors and designers create and oversee the visual and creative direction of media productions, campaigns, and digital content across television, film, advertising, and online platforms. They develop creative concepts, manage production workflows, and collaborate with technical teams to deliver finished media outputs that meet client briefs and audience requirements. This role encompasses directorial oversight, creative design direction, and production management across multiple media formats.

Develop creative concepts and visual narratives for media projects, advertisements, or digital campaigns based on client briefs and target audience analysis. Direct and manage creative teams including graphic designers, videographers, animators, and producers to execute the approved creative vision. Create mood boards, storyboards, and visual mockups to communicate design direction and gain stakeholder approval before production commences. Oversee post-production processes including colour grading, sound design, visual effects, and editing to ensure output quality and consistency with creative brief. Manage media production budgets, timelines, and resources to ensure projects are delivered on schedule and within financial parameters. Liaise with clients, account managers, and stakeholders throughout production to present concepts, manage expectations, and incorporate feedback. Select and direct talent, presenters, or actors to align performances with the creative vision and brand requirements. Operate or supervise use of design software including Adobe Creative Suite, motion graphics platforms, and video editing systems.

The standard entry pathway requires a bachelor degree or higher (ABS Skill Level 1). Specific qualification requirements vary by employer and state. Some employers may accept equivalent experience. Check yourcareer.gov.au for available courses and dewr.gov.au/skills-reform/free-tafe for subsidised training options.

Entry salaries look decent, but without owning your own production company or climbing to senior creative director roles at major agencies, earnings plateau in your late 30s. You're also dealing with constant client revisions, tight deadlines, and the emotional exhaustion of defending your creative vision against feedback that waters it down. Burnout is real in this field.

Remote work exists but most roles require being in the studio or on-set regularly. Industry reality is that meaningful opportunities are thin outside the two major metros unless you freelance or work for companies with distributed teams.

Published for ANZSCO unit group 2123, the wider group this job sits in, not for this job on its own.

This is the median for full-time employees who are not managers and are paid at the adult rate, before tax and salary sacrifice. It is a guide to what the work pays, not a wage rate.

Source: ABS Survey of Employee Earnings and Hours, May 2025, customised report.

• Adaptability and Flexibilitycore
• Attention to Detailcore
• Digital Literacycore
• Goal Setting and Planningcore
• Problem Solvingcore
• Process Improvement Identificationcore
• Reporting and Analyticscore
• Research and Analysiscore
• Stakeholder Communicationcore
• Team Collaborationcore
• Time Management and Prioritisationcore
• Verbal Communicationcore
• Written Communicationcore
• Continuous Learning and Upskilling
• Cultural Awareness and Sensitivity
• Customer Needs Assessment
• Google Workspace (Docs, Sheets, Drive)
• Microsoft Office Suite Proficiency
• Multitasking
• Negotiation
• Power BI Reporting and Dashboards
• Process Documentation
• Workload Self-Management

• ABS OSCA 2024, occupation definition and task statements
• ABS Survey of Employee Earnings and Hours, May 2025, customised report.
• ABS, 2021 Census of Population and Housing based on usual place of residence (Custom Report). OSCA Experimental Estimates.

Role data is drawn from official Australian Government sources, and each figure names where it comes from. Where a role is not in the ABS classification, the page shows no government figures for it. Data may not reflect every local variation.

Where our numbers come from.

Last updated: 30 October 2026