Senior Visual Designer and Brand Lead

New America•Washington, DC

24d•$92,000 - $110,000•Hybrid

About The Position

New America is seeking a Senior Visual Designer and Brand Lead to serve as the in-house graphic design lead for New America’s creative products, strategic communications materials, select publications, and other digital assets. This role is responsible for defining and driving New America’s enterprise-wide brand standards. The ideal candidate is a talented, seasoned graphic designer with a strong understanding of design thinking, theory, and branding concepts that can work across a variety of digital and print media. This role reports to the Digital Director and sits on New America’s Central Communications team. This role will collaborate across the organization to conceive and develop high-impact design products that support our mission, build awareness of New America’s programs and people, and drive engagement across mediums. The Senior Visual Designer and Brand Lead will ensure all design products—including digital and web assets, infographics, social media collateral, print collateral for live and online events, and data visualizations—meet the highest quality standards while keeping on track with tight deadlines.

Requirements

At least 6 years of professional experience in graphic design, with a focus on brand development
Expertise in Adobe Creative Suite, especially InDesign, Illustrator, and Photoshop
General understanding of design-focused AI tools
Strong understanding of typography, layout, color theory, and visual storytelling
Experience with project management tools like Asana
A robust portfolio that showcases a solid understanding of visual design principles
An interest in translating complex policy-related content into compelling visuals
A strong eye for detail
Excellent organizational, project management, and time management skills
Superb writing and communications skills
Commitment to inclusive and accessible design principles

Nice To Haves

Experience in Figma, Canva, or other similar design-sharing and collaboration tools is a plus
Adaptable, solution-oriented, tech-savvy, self-motivated candidates are preferred

Responsibilities

Lead on brand identity and graphic design for New America, serving as our chief enterprise-level brand champion, owning the New America brand system and ensuring that final design products adhere to these standards.
Lead organizational and team knowledge management as it relates to design work, including documentation, templates, and best practices.
Serve as a strategic partner to digital content creators across the organization.
Provide graphic design guidance and coaching to Central Communications team members and help to shepherd and inform New America’s broader communications strategy.
Develop and conduct regular training workshops to build staff capacity—especially for communications and development colleagues—enabling staff members around the organization to be more strategic and effective brand ambassadors.
Evaluate and explore design-focused, human-managed AI tools aimed at producing compelling and effective graphics that adhere to New America’s brand guidelines.
Monitor project schedules, providing updates and feedback to stakeholders via email and our project management systems
Manage or advise external design consultants.
Manage relationships with print vendors.
Design and manage customizable brand templates for core design assets, such as social media graphics, newsletters, infographics, event graphics, and static data graphics.
Product design support for digital products, including select website features, email newsletters, website and social banners, and social media graphics.
Design New America collateral for special projects, such as annual reports, high-priority publications, anniversaries, and brand-building or fundraising campaigns.
Support the graphic design needs of video and audio production projects, including motion graphics, title cards, lower thirds, thumbnails, social media assets, podcast artwork, data visualizations, presentation graphics, and other branded visual elements.
Manage the full project lifecycle for all design projects—from conception to final product— identifying any operational challenges impacting this process and recommending solutions.
Work with Central Communications colleagues to provide design support and guidance for select data visualization efforts.