Art Director, Visual Storytelling

UCSF•San Francisco, CA

About The Position

As an inspiring, forward-thinking, and highly skilled creative leader, the Art Director, Visual Storytelling has a demonstrated ability to create and present a compelling point of view and also use it to influence, educate, and inform partners. The Art Director serves as UCSF's senior creative lead for visual storytelling and enterprise brand expression. This position translates UCSF's mission, strategic priorities, and brand platform into strong visual narratives that elevate the institution's reputation across research, education, patient care, and public service. Operating as both a strategic individual contributor and people leader, the Art Director develops creative concepts, directs visual content creation, and oversees the production of enterprise photography, video, motion, and multimedia experiences across owned, earned, and social media channels. The position manages a small multidisciplinary team of visual storytellers and external creative partners while establishing standards, processes, and governance that ensure excellence, consistency, accessibility, and scalability across the enterprise. As deputy to the Creative Director, Enterprise Brand, this role influences enterprise-wide communication strategies, articulates visual storytelling to leadership and partners across UCSF and UCSF Health, and serves as a trusted advisor on visual communications, brand stewardship, and creative strategy. The Art Director is a generous and collaborative leader who creates alignment in a decentralized, matrixed environment, and influences outcomes by means of vision, credibility, and domain expertise independent of positional authority. The Art Director must be a person of integrity whose beliefs and actions align with, and advance, UCSF’s mission, PRIDE values, and stated policy goals.

Requirements

Demonstrated ability to create and present a compelling point of view and use it to influence, educate, and inform partners.
Ability to translate UCSF's mission, strategic priorities, and brand platform into strong visual narratives.
Experience developing creative concepts and directing visual content creation.
Experience overseeing the production of enterprise photography, video, motion, and multimedia experiences.
Experience managing a multidisciplinary team and external creative partners.
Experience establishing standards, processes, and governance for creative excellence, consistency, accessibility, and scalability.
Experience influencing enterprise-wide communication strategies.
Ability to articulate visual storytelling to leadership and partners.
Ability to serve as a trusted advisor on visual communications, brand stewardship, and creative strategy.
Ability to create alignment in a decentralized, matrixed environment.
Ability to influence outcomes through vision, credibility, and domain expertise.
Person of integrity whose beliefs and actions align with, and advance, UCSF’s mission, PRIDE values, and stated policy goals.
Experience managing photo consenting process for patients in compliance with HIPAA regulations and for non-patients.
Experience establishing and stewarding enterprise visual standards and creative best practices.
Experience leading, coaching, developing, and evaluating a multidisciplinary creative team.
Experience fostering a culture of collaboration, accountability, innovation, and continuous learning.
Experience establishing team priorities and managing workloads.
Experience building succession and growth opportunities for creative staff through mentoring and professional development.
Exceptional judgment, creativity, and strategic thinking.
Ability to deliver high-quality work with accuracy and precision in a dynamic, deadline-driven environment.
Ability to thrive in highly collaborative settings.
Ability to build productive relationships across diverse partner groups.
Outstanding written, verbal, and visual communication skills.
Keen attention to detail.
Refined creative sensibility.
Proven ability to translate complex ideas into compelling visual narratives.

Responsibilities

Lead the development and execution of enterprise visual storytelling initiatives across photography, video, motion graphics, and multimedia experiences
Build and sustain collaborative partnerships across UCSF and UCSF Health, establishing workflows and governance structures that support enterprise-wide creative excellence
Appropriately leverage internal and external creative resources to optimize deliverables and maximize fiscal budget
Build, manage, and negotiate usage rights for a roster of freelance photographers, videographers, multimedia creatives
Manage and promote a searchable digital asset database of UCSF imagery and b-roll for enterprise-wide use
Manage photo consenting process for patients in compliance with HIPAA regulations and for non-patients such as staff and students
Establish and steward enterprise visual standards and creative best practices to ensure consistency, accessibility, and brand integrity across all UCSF communications
Lead, coach, develop, and evaluate a multidisciplinary creative team, fostering a culture of collaboration, accountability, innovation, and continuous learning
Establish team priorities and manage workloads to ensure successful delivery of enterprise initiatives
Build succession and growth opportunities for creative staff through mentoring and professional development
Serve as a strategic advisor and creative leader, influencing policies, practices, and standards at both the departmental and enterprise levels to advance UCSF's mission and brand objectives.
Proactively identify risks, establish priorities, optimize workflows, and develop scalable solutions to complex creative challenges.
Interpret and apply organizational policies and procedures related to resource management, fiscal stewardship, contracts, and personnel matters, exercising sound judgment and discretion in determining appropriate courses of action.