Creative Services & Graphic Design Director

This position is responsible for leading and supervising activities related to the creative development, graphic design and production of marketing and promotional materials necessary to develop and execute strategic communications and marketing campaigns to help ensure the staff’s ability to meet departmental and College goals.

The position will manage and catalog Spelman’s brand assets, monitor brand utilization and coordinate with the Business Office to ensure internal and external stakeholders comply with brand utilization standards. This position will interact with and counsel faculty, staff, students and external stakeholders.

The director of creative services and graphic design will coordinate with the director of interactive communications and the director of communications. This position will supervise staff as assigned.The director will promote teamwork and professionalism, maintain a customer service mindset with all contacts, emphasize quality standards to peers, and deliver quality work. The individual will understand the mission of the College and the Division of Public Relations and Communications and demonstrate a keen interest in ensuring organizational success.

Under the direction of the vice president of Public Relations and Communications, the duties and responsibilities for this position include, but are not limited to the following:

Creative and Graphic Design Services 50%

• Performs and leads the idea generation, design, creation, illustration, and production of digital and physical visual concepts and assets that effectively represent and communicate
• Spelman’s brand identity and strategic messages.
• Provides creative direction and graphic creation on big projects and launches.
• Manages photography/videography consultants for large-scale, campus initiatives.
• Plans annual professional campus photo shoots and video shoots for marketing materials and the website.
• Designs and develops graphics for our website, social media accounts, and various printed
• and electronic materials.
• Creates engaging and on-brand graphics for a variety of digital media campaigns including social media primarily on Instagram/Facebook.
• Stays up to date with design and multimedia trends and the latest developments in software tools.
• Utilizes the latest and most effective and efficient media and graphic design software to create digital and print products for college-wide initiatives under the Office of the President.
• Works effectively with division team members to synthesize abstract ideas into concrete design concepts.
• Collaborates with division team members and senior team members to determine marketing and promotional materials necessary to achieve strategic marketing and communications objectives.
• Leads the development and creation of slideshow (PowerPoint, Canva) presentations, and marketing and promotional materials for Spelman’s president and the vice president of Public Relations and Communications.
• Designs and creates templates (PowerPoint, Canva, report covers, event programs, banners (print and digital), etc. for approved use by the Spelman community.
• Maintains subscriptions and manage access to database services: e.g., graphics, illustration, and photography.
• Conducts ongoing analysis and market research to create compelling designs.
• Develops graphic designs, and marketing and promotional materials within Spelman’s policy guidelines.
• Supervises the development and production of marketing and promotional materials, including work contracted through external sources.
• Maintains graphic and design consistency across all deliverables.
• Identifies, retains and manages vendor relations with external graphic designers, printers, video and photography contractors.
• Acquires and expedites contractual agreements, sole source forms, quotes, and invoices to hire independent contractors.
• Directs resource flow and ensures delivery of all products and experiences are delivered on time, within budget, and to the highest quality standards.

• Provides creative services and graphic design consultation services to division and department leads and liaisons on external-facing campaigns, events, projects, and initiatives, to ensure consistency and accuracy of brand designs and utilization.
• Acts as primary contact to external photography/videography vendors for special events.
• Leads development of shot lists for on-campus shoots in coordination with Communications staff members, campus partners and external partners.
• Advises on best practices and optimizations throughout design projects.
• Approves requests and ensure proper formatting, grammar and use of the College logo and seal/identity marks.
• Reviews creative output/visuals to ensure consistency with the overall brand.
• Recommends workflow and resource scheduling to ensure projects remain on time and within budget.
• Tracks, measures, and provides progress reports on marketing and promotional materials for major projects.
• Coordinates with internal stakeholders and external vendors (design, production, and printing vendors) to ensure projects run smoothly and according to expectations.

• Manages Spelman’s digital communications and marketing assets.
• Leads management, cataloging, storage, retrieval and tagging of the College’s digital assets (photographs, videos, logos/brand marks, college seal, etc., within the digital asset management system.
• Serves as a liaison with the Archives Department, STS and Academic Technology and AV Services to transfer and store digital assets within the digital asset management system.
• Establishes processes for filing and updating digital assets and documents used to produce marketing materials.

• Works closely with budget approvers to assist in developing annual budget forecasts, advise on the need for budget adjustments and maintain balanced status by reallocating funds as needed.
• Provides support for orchestrating the recruitment, hiring, orientation and training process for student interns and volunteers.
• Identifies and plans to attend professional development conferences and training and recommend membership and subscriptions to support performance goals.
• Sets the tone and example in performance and professionalism for the benefit of support staff and student workers/interns.

Bachelor of Art, Bachelor of Fine Arts or Bachelor of Science degree in Graphic Design, Advertising, Marketing, or related field from a four-year college or university and seven to 10 years of directly related experience required.

Must possess strong analytical skills, excellent interpersonal skills, record-keeping techniques, organizational and customer service skills, and the ability to prioritize effectively. Strong analytical skills. Experience in effectively setting priorities, handling multiple projects simultaneously, proactively problem-solving, and meeting deadlines.
Must be able to interact in a diverse community and possess the ability to adapt to changing situations.Good oral and written communication skills are required, with the ability to read and interpret documents such as operating and maintenance instructions and procedure manuals. Must have good proofreading skills. Ability to effectively speak when interacting with the public and the entire Spelman community.

Ability to read, analyze and interpret general business communication, professional journals and technical procedures. Ability to analyze and develop contracts. Ability to effectively present information and respond to questions from all levels of the campus community, corporations, foundations, alumnae, and the public.

Make proactive suggestions and generate ideas to prevent and resolve problems. Exercise tact and diplomacy to fully understand the sensitive and confidential nature of dealing with external customers and entities. Consistently exercises mature judgment on all matters involving programs and personnel. Ability to apply common sense understanding to carry out instructions furnished in written and oral form.
Must have advanced technical skills using the Adobe Creative Suite with expert-level knowledge using InDesign, Illustrator and Photoshop. Advanced knowledge in creating graphics, templates and workflows in Canva. Knowledge of Microsoft Office Suite (Word, Excel, PowerPoint). Prefer skills with the software used by the College, i.e., 25 Live, Adobe Acrobat, Spelshop, Banner, media monitoring tools, and familiarity with HTML and CSS.

Ability to create general correspondence, flyers, reports, spreadsheets, slideshow presentations, etc. Must have formal training in art direction, graphic design fundamentals, typography, print, web/internet and be able to utilize email systems such as Outlook.

While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly required to: sit, walk, use hands to handle office supplies, operate a computer and other office equipment, reach with hands and arms, talk, and hear. The employee is frequently required to stand. The employee is occasionally required to: stoop, climb, lift and/or move up to 15 pounds. Specific vision abilities required by this job include the ability to adjust focus.

Days

1% - 25%

Full-time

Exempt

1

SC0430P

07/19/2022

Yes

Spelman College is an EEO/Minority/Female/Disabled/Veteran/Title IX Employer and we participate in E-Verify. We are a smoke-free campus.

Due to the current pandemic, Spelman College has instituted a COVID-19 PCR Based Testing requirement. You will need to provide a negative COVID-19 PCR test result from an FDA-approved test conducted by a testing site run by a local or state health department or conducted through a licensed health care provider (“Credible Facility”) within 5 days of the start date. Provided the facility is credible, you may take the test at a facility of your choice to be paid for by you. The college does not reimburse for this expense. The results will need to be submitted to Yemi Brown, Manager of COVID 19 Operation, at ibiyemibrown@spelman.edu,cell 832-466-4448 at the start of your first day.
Also, due to the heightened risk of contracting COVID-19 in an unvaccinated population and the spread of new variants, Spelman College is requiring COVID-19 vaccination of all faculty, staff, and students (collectively “Campus Community”) that have job duties, attend classes or are otherwise present on campus. You will need to submit proof of your full vaccination and booster to Yemi Brown at the start of your first day.
It is our hope to minimize transmission of the coronavirus in the workplace and academic setting by requiring occupational protection such as requiring face masks to be worn properly, requiring social distancing, and continuing to encourage frequent handwashing; thereby minimizing the potential transmission of COVID-19 to members of the campus community.