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Design Director, Cornell Tech (NYC)

Cornell University
United States, New York, New York
570 Lexington Avenue (Show on map)
Nov 08, 2024
Design Director, Cornell Tech (NYC)

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About Cornell Tech

As a university founded to be a place where "...any person can find instruction in any study," diversity and inclusion are at the core of our values and mission. We strive to be a welcoming, caring, healthy, and equitable community where students, faculty, and staff with different backgrounds, perspectives, abilities, and experiences can learn, innovate, and work in an environment of respect, and feel empowered to engage in any community conversation. As a member of the Cornell University community, it is important to recognize our shared responsibility to each other to cultivate a culture of inclusion for all. Cornell Core values

While position responsibilities vary greatly, the Skills for Success and Leadership Skills for Successare foundational to what is expected ofevery employee and leader working at Cornell. These skills are essential for individual and organizational success. Staff Skills for Success

Cornell communicators share a mission to enhance and preserve the university's brand and reputation as a top research institution and a leader in higher education, and to support and promote critical programs that serve the university's teaching, research, and public engagement mission.

Communication services are carried out through a matrixed organizational system in which University Relations houses the departments of News (Cornell Chronicle), Media Relations (pitching and servicing media requests), Brand (cornell.edu, multimedia production, brand management and governance), Strategic Communications (communications plans, key messaging, social media management), and Cornellians (digital alumni publication).

Communicators in colleges, schools, and units regularly collaborate with, and consult, University Relations departments. University Relations serves as a partner and resource for all college/unit communicators.

Position Summary

Design is an essential factor in marketing Cornell Tech academic degree offerings, campus programs, tech initiatives, and public events. An integral member of the communications and marketing team, the Design Director advances Cornell Tech's brand and oversees vibrant visual production within the Communications and Marketing department and across the campus.

The Design Director will establish and lead conceptual creative direction and design for all projects and campaigns developed for/and in partnership with leadership clients across the Cornell Tech campus including the dean, faculty, admissions, alumni affairs and development, student affairs, and initiatives by individual faculty members.

The position manages one full-time digital communications specialist, offers creative guidance to agency partners, and provides creative direction to freelance photo and video teams when needed. The Design Director is expected to produce assets as well as assign and manage assets produced by others.

Working closely with the University Relations Brand Communications team, the Design Director will ensure that Cornell Tech visual production aligns with Cornell's mission and vision. This creative professional ensures brand compliance and adherence to industry standards and best practices for the production of all digital and print materials, including Cornell Tech website, and assets for the Jacobs Technion-Cornell Institute within Cornell Tech.

Successful candidates will need to have and display the following competencies as part of this role:

Instills Trust: Follows through on commitments; Is seen as direct and truthful; Keeps confidences; Practices what he/she preaches; Shows consistency between words and actions

Plans and Aligns: Sets objectives to align with broader organizational goals; Breaks down objectives into appropriate initiatives and actions; Stages activities with relevant milestones and schedules; Anticipates and adjusts effective contingency plans

Manages Complexity: Asks the right questions to accurately analyze situations; Acquires data from multiple and diverse sources when solving problems; Uncovers root causes to difficult problems; Evaluates pros and cons, risks and benefits of different solution options

Customer Focus: Gains insight into client/stakeholder needs; Identifies opportunities that benefit the client/stakeholder; Builds and delivers solutions that meet client/stakeholder expectations; Establishes and maintains effective client/stakeholder relationships.

Decision Quality: Makes sound decisions, even in the absence of complete information; Relies on a mixture of analysis, wisdom, experience, and judgment when making decisions; Considers all relevant factors and uses appropriate decision-making criteria and principles; Recognizes when a quick 80% solution will suffice

This position is based at Cornell Tech's New York City campus, located on Roosevelt Island, where meeting and learning from faculty and leadership will greatly influence the Design Director's vision and deliverables. The Design Director will have the option to work 1-2 days remotely per week.

Visa sponsorship is not available for this position.

Essential Functions Include

Creative Services- 40%

Communications & Design Leadership

  • Create and implement design strategies to forward the mission, goals and priorities of Cornell Tech. Advise the Executive Director in the planning of strategic marketing communications from a design perspective.
  • Develop and implement streamlined processes related to creative services.
  • Act as an internal expert and consultant for Cornell Tech to develop & implement communication needs and strengthen brand identity and provide quality standard.
  • Develop and cultivate relationships with faculty, leadership and staff to develop, implement and evaluate strategies to meet communication needs.
  • Oversee design and production of external materials including posters, one-pagers, newsletters, brochures, letters, online ads, e-mails, web pages, and social media content. This includes oversight of relationships with external vendors and freelancers.
  • Develop dynamic and compelling imagery for internal leadership presentations and communications
  • Develop and manage project scope for both long and short term projects. Tracking and ensuring deliverables are met.
  • Develop operating and project budgets.

Branding Management

  • Develop and manage strategic planning, implementation and execution of effective commiunication efforts with departments to reinforce and enhance brand awareness.
  • Lead the development and implementation of brand guidelines, templates and other downloadable resources for college and departments, as appropriate (i.e., presentations, stationery, banners, newsletters, web and social media visual content etc.)
  • Maintain brand standards that are in alignment with the college/unit and University's strategic vision and mission; integrate the brand identity and positioning into all forms of marketing and communications
  • Collaborate with University Brand Communications

Relationship Management

  • Source and manage photography and video of research activities, events and storytelling assets; develop multi-media assets to be used on social, web, etc.
  • Work with the Executive Director and central Brand Communications to ensure compliance with Cornell standards

Designing Content for Website; Web Accessibility and Analytics- 30%

  • Oversee the maintenance of video and visual content on Cornell Tech managed sites that meets quality design and brand standards
  • Establish and maintain ongoing web accessibility standards. Evaluate and revise as needed.
  • Develop best practices and training in collaboration with the IT Service Group, establishing web governance for the Cornell Tech community.
  • Supervise the work of page/site content managers and contributors to ensure college and department websites are on brand, engaging, current, interactive, consistent, and accessible
  • Create business process for data management to inform strategic enhancements for the Cornell Tech suite of websites. Collaborate with team members to track activity and engagement on websites. Refine strategies and continuous enhancement of content effectiveness.
  • Establish guidelines for image and accessibility consistency and quality for Cornell Tech social media. Ensure consistency across institutional social media platforms.
  • Oversee, design, build, and update simple pages/sites in WordPress and other CMS platforms
  • Provide design expertise in consultation with University Relations and CIT on Cornell Tech websites and make necessary site enhancements

Content Creation and Asset Management - 20%

  • Provide direction and oversight in capturing and producing photography, video, audio, etc. of research, activities, and events for compelling storytelling and for use across the campus for communications and marketing needs
  • Oversee management of digital asset lifecycle from production to publishing to storage
  • Provide direction and oversight to the Digital Communications Specialist who will:
  • serve as the campus social media ambassador, working closely with University Relations (New Media) to ensure adherence to best practices, including consolidating accounts to maximize reach and strategy
  • develop dynamic and engaging visual content for the unit's social media channels (Instagram, X, YouTube, LinkedIn, Facebook, and TikTok)
  • Draft creative concept development for social media campaigns
  • work with University Relations to cross promote content on central platforms
  • collaborate with others managing social media at the university to learn, share, and implement best practices

People Leadership & Other position-related responsibilities- 10%

  • Lead and supervise communications specialists; conduct performance management, performance dialogues, ongoing coaching and counseling, and growth and professional development opportunities; Set goals and key performance indicators for the team members
  • Engage in personal and professional development to remain current on new technology to enhance work and processes
  • Participate in projects with occasional work responsibility falling above or below current classification based on business needs and changing priorities

Required Qualifications

  • Bachelor's degree in graphic design or equivalent with 5-7 years of digital design and brand management as well as UI/UX design experiences for digital marketing projects including websites. Extensive digital design portfolio with examples of designs for complex corporate or non-profit websites
  • Mastery of Adobe Creative Cloud, Canva, and other standard industry software.
  • Experience designing email newsletters, social media assets, illustrations/motion graphics/animation, as well as high-end print production
  • Excellent interpersonal and oral communication skills
  • Demonstrated creativity and ability to handle multiple projects while meeting concurrent deadlines
  • Experience with managing people, vendors, and teams including photographers and videographers
  • Ability to establish and maintain strong and collaborative working relationships with key constituencies.
  • Creative problem solving and the ability to network and build positive relationships with a wide variety of individuals within the campus and university communities.
  • Experience using Google Analytics (to monitor site performance and to inform improvements to user experience) and WordPress (assisting front and back-end website developers).
  • Experience in and/or demonstrated commitment to supporting diversity, equity, access, inclusion, and wellbeing
  • Demonstrated skill in understanding of cultural differences
  • Experience incorporating the perspectives of multiple communities, including communities of color

Preferred Qualification

  • Experience working in an academic, non-profit, tech, or creative agency environment
  • Experience shooting/editing video; photography coursework, training, or professional experience.
  • Substantial experience in design and brand management as well as UI/UX design experiences for digital marketing projects including websites; coursework in website data analytics.

Culture of Inclusion and Community Standards

As a university founded to be a place where "...any person can find instruction in any study," diversity and inclusion are at the core of our values and mission. We strive to be a welcoming, caring, healthy, and equitable community where students, faculty, and staff with different backgrounds, perspectives, abilities, and experiences can learn, innovate, and work in an environment of respect, and feel empowered to engage in any community conversation. As a member of the Cornell University community, it is important to recognize our shared responsibility to each other to cultivate a culture of inclusion for all. Cornell Core values

As an individual contributor you will model and support a culture of diversity, equity, inclusion, and wellbeing and continually seek to understand how your role, behaviors, and actions impact the success of this culture.

While position responsibilities vary greatly, the Skills for Success and Leadership Skills for Successare foundational to what is expected ofevery employee and leader working at Cornell. These skills are essential for individual and organizational success. Staff Skills for Success; Leadership Skills for Success

Rewards And Benefits

Competitive compensation, generous time-off, and great benefits ...More on Cornell Benefits

Familiarize yourself with Cornell's COVID-19 workplace guidance as well as the university's COVID-19 services and information.

University Job Title:

Communication Mgr I

Job Family:

Communications/Marketing

Level:

G

Pay Rate Type:

Salary

Pay Range:

$103,175.00 - $143,298.00

Remote Option Availability:

Hybrid

Company:

Contact Name:

Evelyn Gordon

Job Titles and Pay Ranges:

Non-Union Positions

Noted pay ranges reflect the potential pay opportunity for each job profile. The hiring rate of pay for the successful candidate will be determined considering the following criteria:

  • Prior relevant work or industry experience
  • Education level to the extent education is relevant to the position
  • Unique applicable skills
  • Academic Discipline

To learn more about Cornell's non-union staff job titles and pay ranges, see Career Navigator.

Union Positions

The hiring rate of pay for the successful candidate will be determined in accordance with the rates in the respective collective bargaining agreement. To learn more about Cornell's union wages, see Union Pay Rates.

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Employment Assistance:

For general questions about the position or the application process, please contact the Recruiter listed in the job posting or email mycareer@cornell.edu.

If you require an accommodation for a disability in order to complete an employment application or to participate in the recruiting process, you are encouraged to contact Cornell University's Office of Institutional Equity and Title IX at voice (607) 255-2242, or email atequity@cornell.edu.

Applicants that do not have internet access are encouraged to visit your local library, or local Department of Labor. You may also request an appointment to use a dedicated workstation in the Office of Talent Attraction and Recruitment, at the Ithaca campus, by emailing mycareer@cornell.edu.

Notice to Applicants:

Please read the required Notice to Applicants statement by clicking here. This notice contains important information about applying for a position at Cornell as well as some of your rights and responsibilities as an applicant.

EEO Statement:

Diversity and Inclusion are a part of Cornell University's heritage. We are a recognized employer and educator valuing AA/EEO, and we do not tolerate discrimination based on any protected characteristic, including race, ethnic or national origin, citizenship and immigration status, color, sex/gender, pregnancy or pregnancy-related conditions, age, creed, religion, actual or perceived disability (including persons associated with such a person), arrest and/or conviction record, military or veteran status, sexual orientation, gender expression and/or identity, an individual's genetic information, domestic violence victim status, familial status, marital status, or any other characteristic protected by applicable federal, state, or local law. We also recognize a lawful preference in employment practices for Native Americans living on or near Indian reservations in accordance with applicable law.

Cornell University embraces diversity and seeks candidates who will contribute to a climate that supports students, faculty, and staff to all identities and backgrounds. We encourage individuals from underrepresented and/or marginalized identities to apply.

2024-09-12
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