Art Director, Opinion

Society for News Design; Northern, New York (KY, NY); Hybrid; USD 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Annual bonus

Restricted stock

Medical benefits

Dental benefits

Vision benefits

401(k)

Employee stock purchase plan

Paid vacation

Sick days

Parental leave

Tuition reimbursement

Professional development

Job summary

The New York Times is seeking a creative and collaborative Art Director to join our Opinion Design team in New York. You will reimagine our daily pages to establish a distinct visual identity separate from the newsroom and organize complex information into engaging designs.

You will combine typography, photography, data visualization, and commissioned artwork, or create real-time illustration when needed, to push print layouts.

Qualifications

• 5+ years of print and digital design experience leading editorial projects, product launches, and redesigns alongside senior leadership.
• Proven art direction and visual editing skills, including commissioning talent, curating photo assets, and illustrating under tight timelines.
• Mastery of design tools and pre-press production, including color correction and print-ready prep.

Responsibilities

• Conceptualize and execute design solutions from concept through publication across print and digital platforms.
• Partner with editors, photo editors, and stakeholders to align visual vision and translate complex interactive journalism into print formats.
• Commission and art direct illustrations, growing a network of creative talent to elevate storytelling.

Skills

Editorial design

Art direction

Design leadership

Storytelling

Tools

Adobe Creative Suite

Figma

Pagination software

Job description

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• 5+ years of print and digital design experience leading editorial projects, product launches, and redesigns alongside senior leadership
• Proven art direction and visual editing skills, including commissioning talent, curating photo assets, and illustrating directly under tight timelines
• Mastery of design tools (Adobe Creative Suite, Figma, pagination software) and pre-press production, including color correction and print-ready prep

Preferred Qualifications

• Strong communicator capable of managing a high-intensity, news-driven schedule, including nights and weekends
• Experience in a newsroom or media environment with a strong visual judgment of illustration and photography trends
• Passion for off-platform visual storytelling and strong knowledge of domestic and international competitors
• Experience optimizing design workflows to support editorial deadlines and team efficiency managing multiple stakeholder feedback

This position is represented by the NewsGuild of NY.

Candidate Use of GenAI Tools

We’re excited to learn more about you and your experience. To keep our hiring process as fair and authentic as possible, we ask that you submit your own work and not use GenAI tools to generate substantive content during the application and interview process.

If you’re an engineering candidate, we’ll let you know what specific GenAI tools you are permitted to use for your technical assessment.

Description

The New York Times is looking for a creative and collaborative Art Director to join our award-winning Opinion Design team. Partnering closely with Opinion Print Editors, you will reimagine our daily pages to establish a distinct visual identity separate from the newsroom. You will demonstrate your talent to organize complex information and create engaging designs. As a story-first editorial partner, you will combine sophisticated typography, photography, data visualization, and commissioned artwork, or create real-time illustration when needed, to push the boundaries of print layouts. You are passionate about print and interested in generating innovative ways to present and adapt digital-first content. You will bring advanced editorial design experience, strong project management skills to support daily deadline pressure, a deep passion for journalism, and a portfolio demonstrating versatile, high-impact narrative storytelling.

This is an in-office position based in New York and includes regular attendance in the office four days each week. There may be some flexibility to work remote per your departmental guidance.

Responsibilities

• Conceptualize and execute design solutions from initial concept through publication across print and digital platforms
• Partner with editors, photo editors, and key stakeholders to align visual vision, define story approach, and translate complex interactive/video journalism into print formats
• Commission and art direct illustrations, growing a deep network of creative talent to elevate storytelling
• Push layout boundaries through sophisticated art placement, structure, and illustration integration
• Craft display copy and edit text independently to improve layout flow
• Manage full project lifecycles within proprietary publishing systems, meeting tight daily deadlines in a fast-paced constantly evolving news environment
• Provide flexible coverage for the Sunday section when schedules require
• Demonstrate support and understanding of our value of journalistic independence and a strong commitment to our mission to seek the truth and help people understand the world
• You will report to the Design Director, Opinion.

Salary & Benefits

Additional Compensation and Benefits For roles in the U.S., dependent on your role, you may be eligible for variable pay, such as an annual bonus and restricted stock. Benefits may include medical, dental and vision benefits, Flexible Spending Accounts (F.S.A.s), a company-matching 401(k) plan, employee stock purchase plan, paid vacation, paid sick days, paid parental leave, tuition reimbursement and professional development programs. For roles outside of the U.S., information on benefits will be provided during the interview process.

Company

The mission of The New York Times is to seek the truth and help people understand the world. That means independent journalism is at the heart of all we do as a company. It’s why we have a world-renowned newsroom that sends journalists to report on the ground from nearly 160 countries. It’s why we focus deeply on how our readers will experience our journalism, from print to audio to a world-class digital and app destination. And it’s why our business strategy centers on making journalism so good that it’s worth paying for.