Prinicipal Multi Media Designer - Creative Stategy & Enablement

USA TODAY Co.

17h•$70,000 - $85,000•Remote

About The Position

The Principal Multimedia Designer, Creative Strategy & Enablement is a senior creative professional who supports elevated creative work, client-facing creative conversations, internal training, sales enablement, and quality improvement across designIQ, a full-service creative, design, and pre-media group. The role combines creative strategy, multimedia design, production expertise, client consultation, and operational enablement. The designer translates business needs into creative approaches, guides others toward stronger work, and produces high-quality creative when needed. The position partners regularly with the Sr. Director of Creative Operations to shape creative direction, review strategic opportunities, support new business conversations, advise on creative capabilities, and strengthen the quality and consistency of designIQ’s work. It involves internal and external meetings, sales and discovery calls, client-facing creative discussions, and training sessions. The role requires polished communication and the ability to teach, coach, and influence across sales, customer, creative, production, leadership, and partner teams, with or without direct authority. The work spans print, digital, social, video, branding, advertising, direct mail, billboards, packaging, product design, publications, and campaign deliverables. The designer may create or review agency-level creative, develop scalable templates and design systems, advise on creative scope and production readiness, and support training and quality standards. The role also uses AI-assisted creative tools responsibly, with attention to accuracy, brand safety, originality, legal appropriateness, and professional finish. Applicants must submit a portfolio demonstrating advanced work across multiple media types and strong design thinking. The annualized base salary is $70,000–$85,000. Variable compensation may apply and is not included in those figures; exact compensation may vary based on skills, experience, location, and union representation, if applicable. The posting is tagged #LI-REMOTE.

Requirements

A portfolio is required and must demonstrate advanced creative work across multiple media types and strong design thinking.
Significant professional experience in multimedia design, graphic design, advertising, agency creative, publishing, brand design, digital media, or a related creative field.
Proven ability to create and guide agency-level creative across print, digital, social, video, branding, and campaign work.
Experience creating or directing logos, brand identity systems, corporate stationery, branded collateral, direct mail, billboards, packaging, product-related creative, glossy publications, newsprint products, digital campaigns, and social media assets.
Strong understanding of typography, layout, hierarchy, color, composition, branding, messaging, visual storytelling, and production accuracy.
Ability to create polished finished work with limited direction and exercise sound creative judgment when briefs are incomplete.
Strong client-facing communication skills and ability to interact confidently with internal teams, customers, sales leaders, creative teams, production stakeholders, and senior leadership.
Ability to explain creative decisions clearly to non-design audiences.
Experience participating in client meetings, sales conversations, creative reviews, or discovery calls.
Strong understanding of print, digital, social, video, branding, and production workflows.
Working knowledge of digital advertising, social platform requirements, mobile-first design, paid social formats, display creative, email graphics, and campaign extensions.
Experience with video, motion graphics, animation, HTML5-style creative, short-form content, or multimedia storytelling.
Working knowledge of AI-assisted creative tools and responsible use in professional design workflows.
Ability to write effective prompts, refine AI-assisted outputs, identify weak results, and avoid generic or low-quality creative.
Strong ability to teach, coach, mentor, and influence other creative professionals.
Strong organizational skills and ability to balance strategic work, meetings, training, creative reviews, and hands-on design needs.
Ability to work in a fast-paced, deadline-driven environment while maintaining high creative standards.
Advanced working knowledge of Adobe InDesign, Photoshop, and Illustrator.
Strong understanding of print specifications, prepress standards, file packaging, bleed, trim, resolution, color profiles, image quality, vendor requirements, and production-ready file preparation.
Familiarity with digital campaign, social media, display ad, email creative, and landing-page asset specifications.
Microsoft Office experience.
Ability to learn company-specific workflow tools, ad tracking systems, digital asset systems, approval platforms, and production processes.
Applicants must be authorized to work in the applicable location.

Nice To Haves

Bachelor’s degree in graphic design, visual communication, digital media, advertising, marketing, or a related field, or equivalent professional experience.
Experience in an agency, media company, publishing organization, creative studio, in-house agency, or high-volume production environment.
Experience supporting local, regional, and national advertisers.
Experience developing creative for new business, pitch support, client presentations, sales enablement, or strategic account growth.
Experience building or improving creative training programs.
Experience developing creative playbooks, design standards, quality checklists, templates, or internal enablement materials.
Experience mentoring designers or serving as a senior creative reviewer.
Experience supporting brand development, campaign concepts, product launches, promotional campaigns, or multi-channel marketing efforts.
Experience creating campaign extensions across print, digital, social, email, outdoor, video, and branded materials.
Experience reviewing creative performance or designing with campaign outcomes in mind.
Understanding of accessibility standards, including WCAG-informed digital design practices.
Experience helping teams adopt new tools, including AI, automation, design systems, or workflow platforms.
Experience with Adobe Premiere Pro, After Effects, Adobe Express, Figma, Canva, or similar creative tools.
Experience with AI-assisted tools such as Adobe Firefly, Photoshop generative tools, Canva AI, ChatGPT, Midjourney, Runway, or similar platforms.
Experience with tools for motion graphics, digital animation, short-form video, HTML5-style creative, social creative, and platform-ready digital assets.
Portfolio examples of video, motion, animation, or multimedia work are preferred.
Portfolio examples of training, presentations, creative reviews, or before-and-after work are preferred.
AI-assisted creative examples are welcome when the candidate can explain their process, judgment, and role in the final work.

Responsibilities

Serve as creative counsel and strategic design partner to the Sr. Director of Creative Operations.
Support sales calls, discovery calls, partner meetings, and client-facing conversations requiring creative expertise.
Translate client goals, sales objectives, and business challenges into clear creative recommendations.
Provide creative direction and guidance on complex, high-value, or strategically important work.
Create, review, or advise on creative across print, digital, social, video, branding, direct mail, billboards, packaging, product design, publications, and campaigns.
Shape creative approaches for new business opportunities, partner onboarding, premium creative services, and custom requests.
Help determine whether requests fit standard production, premium creative, Studio-level work, or a custom scope.
Support the development of creative briefs, intake standards, client discovery questions, and creative readiness requirements.
Represent creative quality, design feasibility, production needs, and client experience in internal planning meetings.
Explain design recommendations, creative limitations, available solutions, and best-fit options to sales and customer-facing teams.
Present and explain creative work, design direction, and recommendations to internal and external stakeholders.
Create polished finished creative for strategic work, samples, pitch support, training examples, or high-priority client needs.
Support creative training, including design fundamentals, multimedia best practices, AI-assisted workflows, social creative, video, brand consistency, production standards, and quality expectations.
Develop training materials, creative playbooks, design examples, before-and-after reviews, checklists, templates, and quality standards.
Mentor designers and creative team members through feedback, coaching, and design guidance.
Review creative for concept, execution, accuracy, visual hierarchy, brand alignment, production readiness, and effectiveness.
Identify quality gaps, workflow issues, training needs, and recurring creative weaknesses across the operation.
Use AI-assisted creative tools for ideation, versioning, image exploration, workflow efficiency, and scalable creative output; guide responsible use so final work is accurate, brand-safe, original, legally appropriate, and professionally finished.
Stay current on design, digital advertising, social media, video, AI tools, print production, and client expectation trends.
Support scalable templates, design systems, campaign frameworks, and repeatable creative solutions.
Design with performance in mind, including audience behavior, offer clarity, mobile-first composition, visual hooks, readability, and conversion-focused calls to action.
Apply accessibility-minded practices, including legibility, contrast, hierarchy, mobile readability, and inclusive digital design.
Contribute creative expertise to discussions about workflow, staffing, capabilities, quality, training, AI adoption, and creative operations strategy.
Submit a portfolio demonstrating the work and capabilities specified in the posting.