Lead Designer

Lead DesignerThe Lead Designer provides senior creative leadership for Albany State University's visual brand, guiding the design direction of all institutional marketing materials, digital assets, campaign creative, and brand standards. Reporting to the Director of Marketing, the Lead Designer is the creative authority within the Marketing and Communications team responsible not only for producing high-quality design work but for establishing and maintaining brand consistency across every channel and audience the CUGO division serves. This reclassification elevates the role to reflect the team leadership, brand stewardship, and strategic creative responsibilities the incumbent now carries as ASU's marketing amplification agenda scales under ASU 2035.Creative Direction and Brand Leadership Serve as ASU's primary brand steward, maintaining and evolving the institution's visual identity standards across all touchpoints including digital, print, environmental, and event materials. Lead the creative development of institutional marketing campaigns, enrollment advertising, employer partnership materials, and alumni engagement assets. Establish design standards, templates, and production workflows that ensure brand consistency across all Marketing and Communications outputs. Provide art direction and design review for all externally-facing materials produced by the Marketing and Communications team. Design Production Produce and oversee the production of all major institutional design deliverables including campaign assets, digital advertising creative, printed collateral, social media graphics, presentations, and event materials. Design and maintain visual assets for ASU's website, ensuring design quality and brand alignment post-launch. Develop branded templates for use across the institution, ensuring departments can produce on-brand materials independently. Manage design projects from brief through production, coordinating with internal stakeholders and external vendors as needed. Team Leadership and Mentorship Supervise and mentor the Marketing Intern (Design) and provide creative direction to other team members contributing visual content. Conduct design reviews and provide constructive feedback to ensure quality standards across all work. Stay current with design trends, tools, and technologies relevant to higher education marketing and brand communications. Contribute to the development of ASU's design capabilities over time, identifying tools, workflows, and training opportunities that strengthen the team.Bachelor's degree in Graphic Design, Visual Communications, or a related field. Minimum five years of professional graphic design experience with a portfolio demonstrating institutional or brand-level design work. Expert proficiency in Adobe Creative Suite including InDesign, Illustrator, and Photoshop. Demonstrated experience managing brand identity systems across multiple channels and formats. Strong project management skills with the ability to manage multiple concurrent design projects under deadline. Portfolio of professional design work required with application. Demonstrated experience developing and executing integrated digital marketing campaigns.Experience in higher education, HBCU, or institutional marketing design. Experience with web design tools, UX principles, or digital campaign creative. Motion graphics or video design capabilities. Familiarity with ASU brand standards and USG institutional communications guidelines.Knowledge of: Graphic design, visual communications, branding, and marketing principles. Creative direction, brand management, and visual identity systems. Digital media, print production, web design, and emerging design trends. Industry-standard design software, including Adobe Creative Cloud applications. Skill in: Developing and executing creative concepts across multiple media platforms. Leading design projects from concept through production. Establishing and maintaining brand standards and visual consistency. Graphic design, typography, layout, photography, and visual storytelling. Managing multiple projects, deadlines, and stakeholder expectations. Providing creative guidance and direction to designers, vendors, and campus partners. Ability to: Serve as the university's lead creative authority and brand steward. Translate strategic marketing objectives into compelling visual communications. Collaborate effectively with university leadership, faculty, staff, vendors, and external partners. Evaluate and approve creative work to ensure quality, accuracy, and brand alignment. Lead creative initiatives that support institutional marketing, recruitment, fundraising, and engagement goals. Exercise sound judgment, innovation, and creativity in a fast-paced environment.