Creative Director

Central Washington University is recruiting a Creative Director to join our University Relations team in Ellensburg, Washington. This role is an important member of our team as they lead the creative and branding direction for the University. The role is a campus-based position, which means you get to see the lives you are impacting. We're offering a salary, depending on experience, from $71,634 to $89,542 plus the awesome CWU benefits.

Who we are:

We are a team of individuals committed to Changing Students' Lives. No matter what job, each of us plays a part in supporting and empowering our students to fulfill their dreams.

Working in higher education provides career growth and career choice. Think of a university campus like a mini city, operating across 380 acres. You'll find diverse academics, libraries, athletics and sporting events, full service and quick serve dining, conferences and events from small to large, recreation centers, housing, health services, police and public safety for the campus population of ~10,000 students.

Central Washington University has been named a Fulbright U.S. Scholar Program Top Producing Institution for the 2022-2023 academic year. In addition, for the seventh time in eight years, CWU is a recipient of the prestigious Higher Education Excellence in Diversity (HEED) Award from INSIGHT Into Diversity magazine. Come join us on our journey to encourage, inspire, and create spaces where all identities thrive on campus.

Tour our campus in Ellensburg here. www.youtube.com/watch?v=HjdhOegDa9A

The CWU Division of University Relations is made up of marketing, communications, and creative professionals who are committed to promoting the university and elevating our brand. Our experienced team of professionals helps faculty, staff, students, and alumni share their successes, opportunities, and discoveries to key audiences. We also facilitate crisis and emergency communications and work with local, state, and federal government agencies to help advance our legislative priorities.

Find out more at: cwu.edu/university-relations/

What we offer:

Our investment in you begins the day you join our team, a healthy and successful future for you is important to us. We offer medical, dental, life and disability insurance, retirement and optional savings plans, tuition assistance for you and your dependents, discounts across town, an employee assistance program for individualized counseling, and a wellness incentive program. Learn more: Benefits, Perks, and Leave.

The Role:

The Creative Director serves as an anchor position within the University Relations team, providing leadership and strategic vision in the creation and execution of cohesive, high-quality brand assets that align with Central Washington University's strategic objectives. This position is central to the overall brand and marketing initiatives, ensuring the creative direction supports and elevates the university's reputation through innovative and compelling visual storytelling. As a key leader, the Creative Director brings a professional background in graphic design and/or videography, possessing the hands-on expertise necessary to guide and mentor the Creative Team. The Director supervises a team of six creative professionals, including graphic designers, a photographer, and a videographer, to ensure consistent delivery of visual content that reflects the university's values and branding standards. The Creative Director translates strategic goals into actionable design solutions, collaborating closely with the Executive Director of Marketing and Branding, direct reports, and cross-functional teams to establish the conceptual and stylistic direction for projects. They bring a deep understanding of the latest design technologies and tools, coupled with a learner mindset, to continually enhance the team's creative output. With a focus on innovation and collaboration, the Creative Director is adept at identifying obstacles, fostering partnerships, and integrating creative solutions across the department and university-wide. They lead the development, implementation, and maintenance of a comprehensive brand management system, ensuring all creative assets produced are brand-aligned, high quality, and completed on time. This position holds a pivotal role in the strategic planning of creative initiatives, working closely with University Relations partners, including Marketing, Strategic Communications, and Web Services, to ensure the seamless production and delivery of visual assets. Additionally, the Creative Director plays a key role in educating campus stakeholders on the importance of brand consistency and facilitating the university-wide adoption of branding standards. The Creative Director works in a fast-paced environment, leading and empowering the Creative Team to exceed expectations in terms of creativity, client satisfaction, and timely project delivery. They must demonstrate strong project management skills, ensuring deliverables are completed within scope and budget. All employees are expected to support CWU's commitment to diversity and to bring and support inclusion into the university environment.

Creative Direction and Brand Management:
- Leads the development, implementation, and continuous improvement of a comprehensive brand management system for Central Washington University, ensuring brand alignment across all university communications and creative assets.
- Collaborates closely with the Executive Director of Marketing and Branding on the strategic execution and ongoing refinement of the university's integrated marketing plan, ensuring creative solutions that elevate the brand.
- Instills a learner mindset across the Creative Team, using performance metrics and feedback loops to assess and enhance project outcomes through innovative tools and techniques.
- Establishes and leads a robust project management structure within the Creative Team, ensuring the alignment of creative projects with department and division quality assurance standards. This includes:
- Defining project scope, goals, key stakeholders, and deliverables.
- Developing and managing detailed project plans, timelines, budgets, and resource requirements.
- Providing clear direction and support to the project team, ensuring creative deliverables meet brand standards and client expectations.
- Conducting internal reviews to maintain quality control before client presentation and delivery to vendors or placement agencies.
- Coordinating proofing processes and ensuring timely delivery of assets.
- Regularly communicating project progress to stakeholders, ensuring transparency and alignment.
- Managing project changes and interventions to ensure successful outcomes.
- Supports the development, negotiation, and monitoring of vendor contracts, ensuring that all resources are aligned with project goals.
- Oversees resource allocation within the team, ensuring projects are adequately staffed and deadlines are met.
- Manages the university's licensing process, ensuring compliance with brand guidelines and strategic brand extension.

Team Leadership:
- Demonstrates an equity-minded leadership style that contributes to a richly diverse and inclusive team environment with a warm and welcoming organizational climate in support of the university's vision, mission, and values.
- Supervises the Creative Team, including graphic designers, photographers, and videographers, ensuring the effective execution of high-quality creative projects.
- Fosters collaboration and positive conflict resolution among team members.
- Collaborates with University Relations administrators to optimize division performance, prioritize projects and set timelines.
- Actively engages in recruitment and hiring new employees.
- Clearly defines performance expectations, ensure accountability, and provides ongoing informal feedback, coaching, and mentoring.
- Conducts formal performance evaluations, ensures employees have necessary resources, oversees and directs the work of staff, serves as mentor, coach and leader, and resolves complaints or issues.
- Promotes professional development opportunities, and develops and fosters supportive working relationships, motivation, and engagement.
- Communicates information to staff on an ongoing basis to influence staff engagement and to be a part of a larger community.
- Takes corrective action in a timely manner, and recognizes and rewards employees for good performance.
- Schedules employee work hours/shifts; monitor hours worked; approve payable time and absence requests.
- Adjusts leadership style as needed to achieve results.
- Recognizes value of and promotes diverse workforce. Values and encourages diverse perspectives, creativity and teamwork.

- Other duties as assigned

• Bachelor's degree in graphic design, video, or related field.
• Proven ability to meet deadlines for projects involving graphic, text, and other content, combined with knowledge of project management techniques and tools.
• Professional experience leading a design and creative team.
• 5+ years of professional experience in graphic design or videography.
• Experience managing and implementing a brand.
• Proficiency with Adobe Creative Cloud.
• Professional experience with production, vendor management, and client relations.
• Demonstrated ability and/or experience working with students and/or co-workers from a wide range of abilities, backgrounds and experiences.
• OR applicable combination of education and/or experience which demonstrates the ability to perform the essential functions of the position.

Preferred Qualifications

• Master's degree in art/design, multimedia/video/photo, or related field.
• Understanding of university creative services and department support
• 3+ years experience in project management
• Experience producing creative content in bilingual format (Spanish and English)
• Ability to incorporate multicultural perspectives and issues into everyday conversations.

Competencies

• Accountability/Dependability: Accepts responsibility for quality of own work; acknowledges and corrects mistakes. Shows up on time, meets standards, deadlines and work schedules.
• Judgement: Makes timely, informed decisions. Analyzes options and determines appropriate course of action.
• Teamwork: Promotes cooperation and mutual support to achieve goals. Encourages participation and mutual support.
• Adaptability/Flexibility: Responds positively to changing business needs and responsibilities. Adapts approach and methods to achieve results; recovers quickly from setbacks and finds alternatives.
• Commitment to Diversity: Recognizes the value of diversity and helps create environment that supports and embraces diversity.

Don't meet every single requirement? At CWU we're dedicated to building a diverse, inclusive, and authentic workplace, so if you're excited about this role but your experience doesn't align perfectly with every requirement, we encourage you to apply anyway. This may be the job for you!

Salary: This position has a minimum annual salary of $71,634 and maximum annual salary of $107,451. The Hiring Department's expected hiring range is $71,634 - $89,542. In accordance with RCW 49.58.110, the above salary reflects the full salary range for this position. Individual placement within the hiring range is based on the candidate's current experience, education, skills, and abilities related to the position.

Schedule/Appointment: Monday - Friday, 8:00am-5:00pm (1 hour lunch)

Working Conditions: Work is performed in an indoor office setting with frequent in-person interactions. It is essential to be able to remain at a desk/computer work station for prolonged periods of time, perform extensive data entry and other computer-related tasks and create/maintain filing systems for departmental records. Some evening or weekend work and/or occasional travel may be required.

Benefits: CWU offers a comprehensive benefits package including medical and dental insurance, retirement and optional savings plans, life and disability insurance, along with vacation and sick leave plans depending on employment classification. For additional information please visit Benefits, Perks, and Leave.

An employee of CWU may be eligible for the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program if the employee has student loans. To learn more, visit: https://ofm.wa.gov/state-human-resources/public-service-loan-forgiveness-program.