Art Director, Visuals

The New York Times•New York, NY

8h•Hybrid

About The Position

The New York Times is seeking a digitally focused Art Director and Designer for its Digital News Design team. This role will leverage visual and social expertise to expand the company's offering and deliver greater concentrations of visual news and lifestyle coverage to social audiences and readers on its platforms. The Art Director will design and produce material including templates, patterns, and unique formats for platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok. As a senior designer and art director on the Social Visuals team, the individual will collaborate with reporters, editors, producers, and designers to craft digital assets and visual experiences for various social media channels. This involves assessing needs and possibilities for typography, video, photography, illustration, audio, and animations, using journalistic judgment, visual creativity, and innovation while ensuring accuracy, clarity, and validity. The role also ensures that content, templates, and story formats align with The Times' design systems and visual identity guidelines, and coordinates visual direction and design with homescreen and video surfaces within apps and web platforms. Design team members are expected to contribute to journalism and foster an environment of learning and constructive dialogue.

Requirements

6+ years of digital design experience
Experience creating presentations that intelligently incorporate audio, video, still images, illustrations and text.
Expertise with Figma, Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator, and Premier.
Strong portfolio of design work
Considerable experience with social media publishing and passion for the possibilities of the Times' visual storytelling off-platform.

Nice To Haves

Enthusiasm for designing and making great products and experiences, for current events and The New York Times
Deadline-oriented and experience adapting to change in a daily, unpredictable news production environment.
Open to working a flexible schedule that may include nights and weekends.
Experience with After Effects, designing for motion and animation
A keen interest in and knowledge of NYTimes.com's competitors, both in the United States and abroad
A pragmatic innovator whose solutions elicit responses that justify the effort and investment
Experience conveying story ideas and complex information with wire-frames or prototypes.
UX sensibility
Quick learner with creative ideas
Experience working collaboratively with a mixed-media team

Responsibilities

Responsible for the design direction and visual standards of all work produced by Social Visuals for our off-platform channels
Coordinate the design direction and visual standards of work produced for some on-platform packages, surfaces and feeds
Demonstrate expertise, sensitivity and rigorous judgement in crafting digital assets, art direction and visual experiences on platform and for our various social media channels
Mentor the work of our designers and visual strategists who work on our sub-brand, audience, and identity teams
Direct the assignment of illustration, animation and video
Conceive and create original bespoke assets, translating visual and graphic storyforms from on platform for social
Identify story and coverage challenges and opportunities for development
Onboard, train and mentor visual editors (both in-house and temporary placements) on design systems, strategy, workflow and editorial best practices
Optimize social strategy and curation with desk editors and the newsroom at large
Assist the Social Visuals team in determining how to apply resources against various incoming requests and opportunities
Develop, design and standardize core templates and workflow for Social Visuals as well as our branded accounts
Run an in-house training program for new users of Figma
Convey story ideas and complex information with wire-frames or prototypes
Demonstrate support and understanding of our value of journalistic independence and a strong commitment to our mission to seek the truth and help people understand the world