Art Director

Art Director

Bombay Sweet Shop · Mumbai · Full-Time · 5–8 years

WHO WE ARE

Hunger Inc. is home to The Bombay Canteen, O Pedro, Bombay Sweet Shop, Veronica's and Papa's. We build brands across restaurants, cafés, and gifting, rooted in culture, craft, and attention to detail. We're a people-first company that values clarity, ownership, and consistency. As we grow, we focus on building strong teams and systems that help us create meaningful experiences, every day.

THE ROLE

The Art Director at Bombay Sweet Shop owns one thing: desire. Not the strategy, not the distribution, not the story. The moment a customer looks at something we've made and feels it.

BSS spans flagship cafes, dark stores, D2C, aggregators, and a significant gifting business. Every channel has a visual surface, and every surface either creates desire or quietly undermines it. You'll own that standard - from a product shoot that makes someone stop scrolling at 10pm, to a campaign key visual that makes a gifting hamper feel like the only choice.

This is not a production role. You'll be on set, in creative reviews, and in the weekly performance data - directing, deciding, and holding the line on what goes out.

WHO YOU ARE

You've been on set. Not just pointing at a moodboard from across the room. You've argued about light temperature, refused to approve a frame because the garnish was wrong, and redirected a shoot when your gut said something was off. You know the difference between food that looks polished and food that makes you hungry.

You have restraint. You know a single hero with negative space will outperform a busy frame on a brand like this, and you have the conviction to hold that line when everyone wants to add more. You understand that premium is built on the choice to remove.

You're performance-literate. You don't need to run ad accounts, but you understand that an image must stop a scroll before it can build desire - and that a winning format has a shelf life. You bring that to every brief, not as an afterthought.

YOUR TEAM

You'll work alongside the Head of Design, Head of Content, and Head of Growth, as well as external photographers and food stylists. The best weeks here are when you and the Head of Growth are in rhythm - they bring what the numbers showed, you bring what we make next.

WHO YOU WILL REPORT TO

You report to the Head of Design. They hold the brand standard - does this look and feel like BSS? You hold the desire standard - does this make someone want to buy? Both gates are independent and non-negotiable.

WHAT YOU'LL LEAD

• Product Photography Direction — Own every product shoot end to end: shot list, styling brief, moodboard, on-set direction, and final selects. The content team manages production logistics. You direct the creative output. Nothing ships without your sign-off.

• Campaign Visual Language — Build the visual territory for every campaign before a single frame is taken. Moodboard, colour direction, photography style, asset requirement list. This is the north star every function works from - it closes before production begins.

• Performance Creative — Sit with the Head of Growth weekly. Review what the data showed. Convert that intelligence into the next creative hypothesis - new hook, new format, new shot direction. Brief, review output, close the loop.

• Aggregator and Digital Imagery — Own the visual standard for Swiggy, Zomato, Zepto, Shopify, and landing pages. These are desire surfaces, not admin tasks. Every listing is often a first impression - treat it with the same intent as a campaign key visual.

• The Desire Gate — Hold the standard that determines whether creative earns the right to run. If it doesn't make someone stop and want, return it with a clear note on what it needs. This is a hard gate, not a soft review.

WHAT YOU BRING

• 5-8 years in art direction, with meaningful time spent on food, beverage, or premium consumer goods. You've directed photographers and food stylists on set - not just designed around existing images.

• Food and beverage, premium FMCG, editorial (food or lifestyle publishing), or packaging and brand studios with strong product photography output. Agency or in-house - what matters is that you've solved the food-craft problem.

• Adobe Creative Suite, Figma at a review level, moodboarding tools. Basic familiarity with Meta ad formats, aspect ratios, and what performs on mobile.

• You edit more than you add. You know when something is done.

• You've looked at performance data and changed a brief because of it.

WHAT YOU'LL GET

• Health insurance for you, your spouse, and up to two dependents.

• 24/7 access to doctors for physical and mental health, plus wellness discounts via Plum.

• Covered under PF, ESIC, and the Employee Compensation Act.

• Staff discounts on dining and products across all Hunger Inc. brands.

• Creative ownership of the desire standard at one of India's most considered food brands - every shoot you direct, every campaign you art direct, goes out into the world.

If you're ready to build the visual standard for a brand that takes its food seriously, we'd love to hear from you.