Director of Creative Content

University of Oklahoma; Norman (OK); On-site; USD 70,000 - 110,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Benefits Eligible

Job summary

University of Oklahoma Athletics seeks a Director of Creative Content to lead the creative direction for assigned sports and coordinate across Digital Media, Communications, Marketing, and SoonerVision. This role ensures brand consistency and compelling narratives across print and digital content.

The position collaborates with photographers, manages multiple design projects, and mentors student interns while adhering to NCAA guidelines and departmental timelines.

Qualifications

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

Responsibilities

• Contribute to the OU Athletics creative strategy and brand goals.
• Lead design efforts for assigned sports and coordinate with internal departments.
• Formulate concepts, templates, layouts, merchandise, signage and collateral from idea to execution.
• Develop templates for distribution and ensure brand consistency across materials.
• Collaborate with photographers to guide visual direction and manage shoots.
• Mentor student interns and provide feedback to elevate the brand.

Skills

Visual branding

Graphic design

Photography

Multimedia production

Creative strategy

Brand management

Adobe Creative Suite

Project management

Team mentorship

Communication skills

Education

Bachelor's degree

Tools

Adobe Photoshop

Adobe Illustrator

Adobe InDesign

Adobe Creative Suite

Job description

Pay Range: Commensurate with education and experience

Benefits Eligible: Yes

Work Schedule: Monday – Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. (may include some weekends); Occasional evenings, holidays, and weekends based on departmental needs.

Travel: May be required

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.

View Full Job Description

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.

Hiring Contingent Upon a Background Check

Yes