Senior Director of Creative Strategy

Senior Director of Creative Strategy (260069)

Organization:
Athletic Department

Job Location:

Norman, OK

Schedule:

Full-time (Monday – Friday 8 am – 5 pm; frequent evenings and weekends as required)

Work Type:
Onsite

Salary Range:
Negotiable based on experience

Benefits Provided:
Yes

Required Attachments:
Resume, Cover Letter

The Senior Director of Creative Strategy oversees the OU Athletics graphic design and photography departments. They are responsible for developing and managing the strategy, vision, and direction of the Oklahoma Athletics brand, including all external print communications and digital campaigns in collaboration with various departments and Oklahoma’s 21 sports programs.

• Oversee and manage the graphic design and photography staff, managing department workflow, project intake, and resources related to design and photography needs and assets.
• Assign projects to design and photography staff and track until completion, providing feedback to maintain and elevate the brand standard.
• Manage department budget and work with other departments, senior leadership and coaches to maintain budget integrity and workflow.
• Collaborate with the Assistant AD of Graphic Design and Facility Project Management to set the overall vision and goals of Oklahoma Athletics, elevating the fan and student‑athlete experience through storytelling, brand‑building and engaging content that creates compelling narratives through multimedia and enhances the OU Athletics brand story for fans, recruits, stakeholders and donors.
• Serve as the unit’s primary graphic designer, responsible for driving the OU brand and executing key departmental and revenue‑generating initiatives.
• Formulate design concepts, presentations, templates, layouts, merchandise and other collateral from initial concept to final execution that can be distributed and deployed for others’ use within the department.
• Attend and contribute to sport‑specific content planning meetings and be a liaison between the design and photography unit and sport programs, coaches and staff for creative vision and maintaining brand standards.
• Design advertisements, print and promotional materials for all athletics‑related departments and teams, while meeting self‑imposed and external deadlines.
• Collaborate with other departments and key partners to contribute to the invention and implementation of marketing, communications, ticketing, licensing, Sooner Sports Properties, NIL, digital media, Sooner Vision and Sooner Club initiatives: ideate and present ideas, briefs and concepts to various stakeholders.
• Participate in the development of new content, research and idea generation to help achieve departmental objectives, with a focus on initiatives that advance the brand and generate revenue.
• Coordinate and provide creative direction to photographers and student‑athletes ntain an accessible photo archive to help departments and sports use photos for promotional needs.
• Collaborate with other external leadership on brand management decisions and quality control for printers and outside vendors.
• Create graphic content for digital and print from conception through completion using the Adobe Creative Cloud (primarily but not limited to Photoshop, InDesign and Illustrator).
• Produce multimedia content (motion graphics, video and still photography) for distribution on digital and social platforms.
• Assist in advancing the department’s mission, vision and strategic plan.
• Perform other duties as assigned.

Required Education and Experience

• 2 years of experience in graphic design, photography or multimedia content creation.

Preferred Qualifications

• At least three years of experience working in a college or professional sports environment in a similar leadership capacity.
• Proficiency with the Adobe Creative Suite (Photoshop, InDesign, Illustrator, After Effects, Premiere).
• Strong initiative, goal‑oriented and self‑motivated.
• Detail‑oriented for accuracy of data, information and brand standards.
• Strong understanding of design layout and typography in both print and digital media.
• Comprehensive knowledge of the visual aspects of digital, social and web design.
• Kno…