Deputy Director, Creative Strategies

Description

The Atlantic Council seeks a Deputy Director, Creative Strategy to work within the Engagement team’s Digital and Data group. The Deputy Director, Creative Strategy will lead design for the Council’s broad range of products and platforms, including publications, events, videos, and social media. For an individual with the right creative and collaborative mindset and design skills, this is an opportunity for growth and promotion.

Working with internal clients across the Atlantic Council and within its programs and centers, the Deputy Director, Creative Strategy will serve as brand strategist and design lead, managing the day-to-day production of design products and contributing to the development of visual strategy for the organization.

This Deputy Director, Creative Strategy is responsible for creating or coordinating the creation of a high volume of graphics necessary to support the Council’s events, digital content production, and social-media and digital marketing promotions, working with program staff, Engagement team staff, contract consultants, and others. The Atlantic Council frequently outsources design work for high-profile events and publications, and the Senior Graphic Designer is responsible for managing the work of external designers from initial brief to project completion. 

This is a hybrid position requiring three days per week in our Washington, DC office. The Deputy Director, Creative Strategy will be supervised day-to-day by the Director, Digital and Data. Pay is commensurate with experience, education, and organizational equity, with offers starting at $93,000.

Job Responsibilities

• Day-to-day supervisor for Jr. Content Designer and Associate Director, Data Visualization
• Provide strategy and leadership on data visualization, visual storytelling, and design experiences.
• Hire FTEs and contractors as required.
• Coordinate the design team’s work across the Council including for programmatic, Executive Office, Development, and Events teams. 
• Conduct AI research and create policy development for the Council.
• Research and seek out digitally innovative and cutting-edge platforms for adoption within the Engagement team and across the Council. 
• Policy development and enforcement on design, branding, and data viz. 
• Contribute to digital marketing projects, including coordinating design team’s work
• Help implement, refine, and further develop a consistent visual and brand identity for the organization. This may involve guidelines, tutorials, templates, and other products to guide the work of others in the organization.
• Lead branding and creative direction on major Atlantic Council events, projects, and campaigns, based on a clearly defined brand identity.
• Advise the Engagement team, programs, and external vendors on design across all media—web, social media, video, physical production displays, and print—defining a consistent visual tone and achieving brand consistency across online and offline channels.
• Participate in creative brainstorming sessions with the Engagement team and programs to provide design expertise and to ensure adherence to overall brand strategy and Atlantic Council visual language.
• Advocate for design decisions by communicating rationale clearly and effectively in writing and in meetings.
• Work with digital management to position the Engagement team as accountable for the organization in the area of visual design, as a steward of the Atlantic Council brand, and as subject matter experts.
• Communicate clearly and effectively with clients to arrive at a shared understanding of design requirements quickly and efficiently produce desired products.
• Represent the design team in stakeholder and project meetings and brief them on design projects relating to the website, publications, email, and video projects.
• Create and/or update promotional materials, and marketing and branding collateral for programs and the Atlantic Council as a whole.
• Manage design contractors’ recruitment, onboarding, and assignments, including providing feedback and guidance.
• Produce high-quality designed products (including event graphics, video graphics, animated graphics, logos, custom imagery, marketing and promotional collateral, graphics for editorial work, digital-first designs, and other elements of visual identity, physical signage, etc.) quickly and efficiently across multiple media and toolsets, balancing client requirements and branding guidelines.
• Account for time spent on client work and by external contractors. Ensure invoices from contractors are received, processed, and paid.
• Perform other related duties as assigned.

Qualifications

• An undergraduate degree in design, communications, or a related field.
• At least five to seven years of relevant design experience.
• Strong creative portfolio demonstrating design acumen and a keen understanding of design principles.
• Experience conceptualizing and designing for digital and print mediums, as well as knowledge of the production process.
• A demonstrated ability to follow established brand guidelines.
• Strong experience with and knowledge of Adobe Creative Cloud applications and other common graphic-production tools. Some experience/knowledge of motion design tools like After Effects is an advantage.
• Must be up to date with the latest design trends, techniques, and technologies.
• A demonstrated ability to multitask across a set of projects operating often on short and flexible deadlines and for multiple clients.
• Excellent interpersonal and collaborative skills, strategic and innovative thinking, and demonstrated ability to collaborate with colleagues across teams.
• Ability to apply an analytical and problem-solving mindset to design and brand strategy projects.
• Professional experience working with think tanks, non-profit, or advocacy organizations is a plus.