Athletics Creative Director: Visual Brand & Storytelling

Critical Playground LLC; Northern (KY); Hybrid; USD 52,000 - 70,000; Full time

Job summary

Norfolk State University Athletics seeks a Director of Creative Services to lead the department’s visual content, strengthen the NSU Athletics brand, and support revenue initiatives across digital, print, in-venue, recruiting, and other platforms. The role oversees a full-time staff and interns, ensuring high-quality creative output with brand consistency.

The successful candidate will balance strategic leadership with hands-on production in a fast-paced intercollegiate environment, including

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in graphic design, visual communications, digital media, or related field.
• Professional experience in graphic design, creative services, and multimedia production.
• Advanced proficiency in Photoshop and independent production ability.
• Strong portfolio of graphic design, visual storytelling, and digital content.
• Experience creating content for social media and digital platforms.
• Ability to manage multiple projects and deadlines.

Responsibilities

• Lead creative direction for NSU Athletics and establish visual content direction.
• Conceptualize and produce graphics for social media, digital, print, and event materials.
• Ensure brand standards across all assets and supervise staff, interns, and vendors.
• Develop templates and scalable design systems to improve efficiency.
• Coordinate photography, videography, and multimedia content for competitions and events.
• Collaborate with Marketing, Strategic Communications, and coaches on campaigns.
• Balance strategic leadership with hands-on production in a fast-paced environment.
• Provide feedback and mentorship to students and interns.

Skills

Adobe Photoshop

Graphic design

Visual storytelling

Social media content

Photography/ videography

Project management

Brand consistency

Independent & collaborative work

Evenings/weekends work

Education

Bachelor’s degree in graphic design or related field

Tools

Adobe Creative Cloud

After Effects

Premiere Pro

Lightroom

Job description

Norfolk State University Athletics seeks a Director of Creative Services to lead the department’s visual content, strengthen the NSU Athletics brand, and support revenue initiatives across digital, print, in-venue, recruiting, and other platforms. The role oversees a full-time staff and interns, ensuring high-quality creative output with brand consistency.

The successful candidate will balance strategic leadership with hands-on production in a fast-paced intercollegiate environment, including