Director of Creative Content

Position Introduction:

The Director of Creative Content contributes to the overall vision and goals of Oklahoma Athletics by creating engaging visual content that creates compelling narratives through print and digital graphic design. This position will lead the creative direction for their assigned teams as well as the department's external units (including, but not limited to Digital Media, Communications, Marketing, Event Management and SoonerVision) to coordinate strategy, production and execution of creative content aimed at engaging recruits, fans and donors, while maintaining a consistent brand and tone across all platforms.

Reports To: Assistant Athletics Director – Graphic Design and Facility Project Management.
Positions Directly Supervised: Shared oversight of Graphic Design Student Interns.

Essential Functions:

• Contribute to the overall Oklahoma Athletics creative strategy and collaborate on department initiatives that maintain and elevate the OU brand and the fan and student-athlete experience and generate revenue. Ensure all creative content adheres to the OU brand identity, standard and guidelines.
• Lead creative strategic planning, project management and design efforts for assigned sports. Organize and manage multiple design projects in various stages of progress.
• Formulate design concepts, presentations, templates, layouts, merchandise, signage and other collateral from initial idea to final execution while meeting self-imposed and external deadlines.
• Formulate graphic concepts and templates that can be distributed and deployed by others’ use within the department.
  Participate in new content development and idea generation to help drive the brand and narrative of Oklahoma Athletics
• Collaborate with photographers to develop creative direction. Work directly with the photography department on initiatives related to assigned sports and help them facilitate preseason photoshoots and in-season special requests.
• Lead and mentor student intern staff, assigning projects and providing feedback to maintain and elevate the brand standard.

Skills:

• Comprehensive understanding of visual branding, graphic design, photography, and multimedia production principles.
• In-depth knowledge of creative strategy, campaign development, and brand management within collegiate athletics or sports marketing environments.
• Familiarity with NCAA, conference, and institutional guidelines related to marketing, branding, and student-athlete representation.
• Strong understanding of digital media platforms, content distribution strategies, and fan engagement trends.
• Knowledge of project management principles, production workflows, and creative resource allocation
• Maintain a professional and collaborative attitude when working with outside vendors, partners, and campus stakeholders.
• Foster positive and productive relationships with colleagues across the Athletics Department.
• Collaborate closely with supervisors and departmental leaders to ensure consistency in messaging and visual identity across all design projects and materials.
• Demonstrate proficiency in Adobe Creative Suite applications (including, but not limited to, Photoshop, Illustrator, and InDesign).
• Effectively manage responsibilities in a fast-paced, high-demand environment that may include evenings, weekends, and travel.
• Exhibit strong organizational, problem-solving, and communication skills.
• Maintain a high level of attention to detail to ensure accuracy in information, data, grammar, and adherence to brand standards.

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Required Education and Experience:

• Bachelor's degree.
• 4 years of experience in graphic design, creative services, visual communications or related field.

Equivalency/Substitution: Experience or a combination of education & related experience can be considered in lieu of degree. A one-to-one ratio is used to determine the number of years of experience required in place of a degree.

Department Preferences:

• Previous experience working in a college or professional sports environment.
• Practice a professional attitude when working with outside sources.
• Develop a good rapport with other members of the Athletics Department.
• Work closely with supervisors to ensure a cohesive message and look across all design projects and materials.
• Proficient with Adobe Creative Suite (Primarily, but not limited to Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, etc.).
• Ability to work in a demanding, fast-paced environment that often requires irregular hours, nights, weekends and travel.
• Excellent organizational, problem-solving and communications skills.
• Detail-oriented for accuracy of information, data, grammar and brand standards.
• Adherence to university, SEC and NCAA rules.