Job Summary:
The MD+I Creative Lead will expand the program’s marketing and recruitment capacity, add dedicated oversight and creativity to program communications and add instructional bandwidth, which is necessary to meet growing student cohort and program needs. Most of all, the Creative Lead will be responsible for ensuring that the MD+I vision and voice are clearly communicated across all channels – including internal, external, digital, analog, written and visual channels. The Creative Lead collaborates regularly with the Academic and Program Directors to ensure alignment of all communications with program principles.
The MD+I Creative Lead is responsible for translating the vision, mission, activities and accomplishments of the program to a broad audience, especially prospective students.
The MD+I Creative Lead uses multiple mediums including print, web, video and more to establish a clear identity and narrative for the program in a national and international context of our peers and competitors. The Creative Lead is responsible for maintaining existing design (brand) standards across mediums and for establishing new standards, where appropriate. Since MD+I is a professional design program, including a specialization in Communication Design, the Creative Lead is expected to model the cutting edge of this design field in the way they carry out their duties. We prefer that they are an experienced educator capable of instruction or co-instruction in the capstone program as needed, and candidates who are qualified for this role will have demonstrable experience that aligns with one or more of the program’s specializations (especially in UI/UX and/or Communication Design. The Creative Lead will also nurture & maintain a consultative relationship with the School of Human Ecology’s Communications and Advancement team to elevate identified projects/initiatives in design.
Responsibilities: Manages, plans, and executes the production of creative content to support the strategic objectives of the unit or institution. Provides subject matter expertise and may supervise staff.
- 20% Develops, implements, and maintains design standards, policies, and procedures to ensure appropriate use of financial, administrative, and staffing resources
- 30% Creates, designs, and produces content through various mediums
- 10% Monitors and evaluates creative development work for in-house and freelance creative professionals
- 20% Works collaboratively with other creative professionals, engages in and responds to creative feedback, manages project workflow and timing, maintains files, and follows established work unit processes
- 5% May monitor the unit budget and financial records
- 15% May facilitate classroom, online, and/or laboratory instruction for the capstone program, including assessment of student performance
Institutional Statement on Diversity:
Diversity is a source of strength, creativity, and innovation for UW-Madison. We value the contributions of each person and respect the profound ways their identity, culture, background, experience, status, abilities, and opinion enrich the university community. We commit ourselves to the pursuit of excellence in teaching, research, outreach, and diversity as inextricably linked goals.
The University of Wisconsin-Madison fulfills its public mission by creating a welcoming and inclusive community for people from every background – people who as students, faculty, and staff serve Wisconsin and the world.
For more information on diversity and inclusion on campus, please visit: Diversity and Inclusion
Education:
Required
Bachelor’s Degree
Preferred
Master’s Degree
Preferred focus in fields such as UI/UX, interaction design, multimedia design, marketing, advertising, storytelling, writing, art or creative direction, graphic design and allied design and communication fields.
Qualifications:
Minimum Qualifications:
– Advanced communication design thinking: The candidate should have a deep understanding of communication design principles and possess the ability to apply them in a creative and effective manner.
– Ability to produce outcomes: The candidate should be able to produce high-quality outcomes in various mediums, including websites, social media, and press/storytelling.
Preferred Qualifications:
– Well qualified candidates will have several years of experience in the field (including academic and/or professional experience) and collaborative skills to work closely with the MD+I team and share in their vision.
– Ability to identify opportunities: The candidate should possess the ability to identify opportunities for creative communication design that align with the academic vision of the program.
– Creativity and innovation: The candidate should possess a highly creative mindset and be capable of innovating communication design across many mediums, including video, written/verbal, audio, visual, and more.
– Instructional abilities: The candidate should be capable of instructing interdisciplinary capstone courses at the graduate level that involve external partnerships and co-teaching with others.
Overall, the ideal candidate should possess a combination of technical skills, creative abilities, and communication skills to effectively collaborate with the MD+I team and produce high-quality outcomes that align with the program’s academic vision.
Work Type:
Full Time: 100%
It is anticipated this position requires work be performed in-person, onsite, at a designated campus work location.
Appointment Type, Duration:
Ongoing/Renewable
Salary:
Minimum $75,000 ANNUAL (12 months)
Depending on Qualifications
The annual starting salary for this position is listed as $75,000 but is negotiable based on experience and qualifications. Employees in this position can expect to receive benefits such as generous vacation, holidays, and paid time off; competitive insurances and savings accounts; retirement benefits.
Additional Information:
MASTER OF SCIENCE IN DESIGN + INNOVATION (MD+I): The University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Master of Science in Design + Innovation (MD+I) is an interdisciplinary program that equips students with the skills and knowledge necessary to design, develop and implement innovative products, services and systems. The 12-month curriculum combines design, engineering, business, information and art coursework through partnerships with five UW-Madison schools and colleges. Throughout the program, MD+I students have the opportunity to work on real-world projects in collaboration with industry, community and academic partners. Graduates of the program typically pursue careers in design strategy, product design, user experience design, innovation management and more.
DESIGN STUDIES DEPARTMENT: The Design Studies Department is a vibrant community that approaches design from a broad range of disciplinary and practice-based approaches, and supports a range of undergraduate (Textile and Fashion Design, Interior Architecture, third major underway) and graduate programs (MFA, PhD, and M.S. Design + Innovation). The Textile and Fashion Design Program, rooted in studio practice and cultural context, is currently undergoing a program revision to focus on producing graduates who are responsible, resourceful, and research-driven about the place of textiles and fashion in global societies, cultural, economies, and environments.
SCHOOL OF HUMAN ECOLOGY: The mission of the School of Human Ecology is to understand the complex relationships and interdependence among individuals, groups and families, and to focus on quality-of-life issues through research, creative innovation, education, and outreach. The School has four academic departments (Civil Society and Community Studies, Consumer Science, Design Studies, and Human Development & Family Studies) with a collective undergraduate enrollment of 2,000 students, and 100+ graduate students. See https://humanecology.wisc.edu/.
UW-MADISON: The University of Wisconsin-Madison has a strong reputation as a research university and for producing research that improves people’s lives. The University consistently ranks among the top 6 institutions in national research expenditures. In 2015, the University received a community engagement award from the Carnegie Foundation for its commitment to deeply engaging with local, regional, national, and global communities. It is a land-grant institution with an enrollment of about 43,000 students. Madison (pop. 243,000) is the state capital and combines the culture of a large urban area with the comfort of a small city. See http://wisc.edu.
How to Apply:
Please click on the “Apply Now” button to start the application process.
To apply for this position you will need to upload a resume and cover letter that addresses your qualifications. Applicants will also be asked to include a portfolio showing recent professional and student work samples (maximum of 20 pages) delivered as a single PDF. Applicants will also be asked to provide contact information for three professional references (including current supervisor, if applicable) who can speak to their abilities as pertains to this position. References will only be contacted once a candidate is a finalist and never without prior notification to the candidate.
Contact:
Lizzie Druke
edruke@wisc.edu
Relay Access (WTRS): 7-1-1. See RELAY_SERVICE for further information.
Official Title:
Creative Manager(CM047)
Department(s):
A27-SCHOOL OF HUMAN ECOLOGY/DESIGN STUDIES
Employment Class:
Academic Staff-Renewable
Job Number:
281277-AS