Narrative Designer Jobs

About The Position

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in Museum Studies, History, Education, Design, or a related field.
• Professional experience in exhibit development, museum content creation, and interpretive planning; 8+ years is described as ideal.
• Excellent public-speaking skills and the ability to articulate ideas to clients, stakeholders, and team members in formal and informal settings.
• Experience leading or guiding junior team members, providing clear feedback, and maintaining positive team dynamics.
• Proven ability to lead public-facing workshops and community-engagement sessions with a variety of individuals and communities.
• Passion for audience-centered design, storytelling, and alternative learning methods.
• Willingness to adapt to changing project needs and creatively solve content, timeline, and resource issues.
• Familiarity with best practices in Inclusive and Universal Design.
• Ability to be present in a studio at least three days per week at one of the Chicago, New York City, or Seattle offices.
• Willingness to travel for client meetings, site visits, installations, and professional development.

Nice To Haves

• Master’s degree or another advanced degree in a relevant field.

Responsibilities

• Serve as a primary client contact for interpretive and exhibit development, lead workshops, pitch ideas, and respond constructively to feedback.
• Research a variety of topics and distill complex information into clear messaging for clients and the public.
• Develop and refine exhibit storylines, interpretive plans, and content outlines aligned with project goals and audiences.
• Advocate for diverse audience needs and abilities so experiences are accessible, inclusive, and impactful.
• Identify needs for freelancers, subject matter experts, or specialized processes and bring requests to project leadership for approval.
• Coordinate with Project and Creative Leads to plan tasks, allocate resources, and meet deadlines and financial targets.
• Facilitate public-facing and community engagement workshops and stakeholder sessions.
• Promote compelling, storytelling-driven experiences rather than didactic knowledge transfer.
• Prepare and deliver regular status updates, creative briefs, and interpretive concepts to clients and stakeholders.
• Promote awareness of the project vision, scope, timeline, and deliverable requirements.
• Champion the visitor perspective so final exhibit solutions are accessible, engaging, and meaningful to clients and the communities they serve.
• Collaborate with 2D and 3D designers, developers, and media specialists to integrate storytelling and interpretive content into exhibit experiences.
• Work with Creative Directors, Project Directors, and Project Managers to uphold creative excellence while meeting project budgets, timelines, and goals.
• Coordinate with external collaborators to align their contributions with interpretive goals and budget.
• Suggest improvements to project-specific workflows and documentation to improve efficiency and quality, while deferring broader departmental process changes to higher-level leadership.
• Review other Narrative Design team members’ interpretive plans, exhibit matrices, content outlines, and documentation.
• Support colleagues through ideation workshops and internal creative reviews.
• Provide constructive feedback and escalate significant quality concerns to Project Managers or Directors when needed.
• Provide ongoing training and support by sharing storytelling, visitor-engagement, and interpretive-methodology best practices.
• Travel for client meetings, site visits, installations, and professional development.