Art Director

Art Director

Job Title: Art Director

Reports To: Executive Director

Department: MarCom, Creative

Works With: SGU Copy Team, Brand Team, digital and media teams, admissions marketing, and outside vendors

Position Summary

The Art Director is a new, senior design role for St. George's University. It builds on the Graphic Designer role and adds ownership of strategy, accuracy, and the systems that store and share SGU's creative. The Art Director turns creative strategy into design that gets prospective students to act: request information, attend an info session, apply, and enroll. This role is measured on results, including response and conversion rates, on-time and error-free delivery, and how well SGU's photo library and Content Hub serve the teams that use them.

The Art Director works independently, taking projects from brief to launch with little oversight, and also works as a close partner to the SGU Copy Team and Brand Team. This role also manages SGU's digital asset management system, PhotoShelter, and owns SGU's Content Hub and the relationship with the vendor that runs it, Ansira.

Who You Will Be Reaching

This role designs for individuals making one of the biggest decisions of their lives, not for businesses. Core audiences include:

• College students and recent graduates planning to apply to medical school.
• Applicants weighing their options after the MCAT or after U.S. medical school decisions.
• Career changers and post-baccalaureate students.
• Parents, partners, and family members who help make the decision and often help pay for it.

Essential Functions

Art Direction and Design

• Set the visual direction for campaigns and design on-brand work across paid media, email, social, website, landing pages, blog, digital video, infographics, presentations, direct mail, brochures, and event materials.
• Design every piece around one clear action, with the offer, next step, and call to action easy to see at a glance.
• Produce assets in all formats and sizes needed for print and digital campaigns.
• Work independently, managing your own projects from brief to final files, and step in as a hands-on designer whenever the work calls for it.
• Give design direction and feedback to graphic designers and freelancers to keep quality and consistency high.

Strategy and Accuracy to the Brief

• Work closely with the SGU Copy Team and Brand Team to carry out the agreed creative strategy, so words and visuals work together.
• Make sure every asset follows the approved strategy and matches the creative brief: the right audience, message, offer, call to action, and channel specs.
• Check that facts, figures, and claims (such as match rates and student outcomes) are accurate and approved before launch.
• Take part in brainstorms and creative reviews, and explain design choices clearly to partners.

Performance and Testing

• Design test versions of headlines, images, layouts, formats, and calls to action with the copy and digital teams.
• Review campaign results and use them to decide what to keep, change, or stop.
• Refresh or replace creative when results start to drop.
• Keep a record of what works visually for each audience and channel, and share it with the team.

Digital Asset Management: PhotoShelter

• Manage SGU's digital asset management system, PhotoShelter, as the single home for approved photos, video, logos, and design files.
• Set and maintain how files are organized, named, and tagged so anyone can find the right asset quickly.
• Track usage rights, photo releases, and expiration dates so only approved assets are used.
• Manage user access, train staff on how to use the system, and remove outdated assets.

Content Hub and Vendor Management: Ansira (about 10% of time)

• Own SGU's Content Hub, the platform where teams get approved marketing materials, currently managed by Ansira.
• Own the relationship with Ansira: set priorities, manage timelines and budget, review their work, and hold them to agreed service levels.
• Keep the Content Hub stocked with current, on-brand templates and materials, and retire anything out of date.
• Gather feedback from the teams that use the Content Hub and work with Ansira to improve it.

New Ideas and Workflow Improvements

• Bring forward new creative ideas, formats, and approaches to reach prospective students.
• Find and propose ways to make the creative process faster and simpler, such as better templates, clearer handoffs, and fewer review rounds.
• Keep up with design trends, tools, and AI features that can save time or improve results.

Production and Quality

• Uphold SGU brand standards and keep all designs consistent.
• Prepare and package files for print and digital with close attention to production specs.
• Check final work for layout accuracy, correct branding, and proper formatting before launch.
• Manage many projects at once while meeting deadlines and keeping quality high.

How Success Is Measured

Specific targets are set each year with the Creative Director. This role is accountable for:

• Creative results: click, conversion, and response rates for the campaigns and assets this role leads.
• Testing: number of design tests launched each quarter and the lessons put into use.
• Accuracy to the brief: share of work approved in the first or second round, and error-free launches.
• Speed: time from brief to launch, and on-time delivery.
• PhotoShelter: share of assets correctly tagged and cleared for use, and how easily teams find what they need.
• Content Hub: how often teams use it, how current its materials are, and whether Ansira meets agreed timelines and budget.
• Workflow: improvements put in place and the time or cost they save.

Essential Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities

• Strong proficiency in Adobe Creative Suite (Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign); familiarity with Figma with a goal of leveraging Figma more purposely in the future.
• Solid understanding of layout, typography, color theory, and digital design best practices.
• Experience creating graphics built for web, social, email, and paid media, plus print and direct mail.
• Strong grasp of how design affects response, and comfort reading campaign results.
• Ability to work on your own with little direction and as an active member of a team.
• Experience running a digital asset management system; PhotoShelter experience is a plus.
• Experience managing outside vendors or agencies, including timelines, budgets, and quality.
• Ability to manage many projects in a fast-paced setting, meet deadlines, and adapt quickly to feedback.
• Clear communicator who can present and explain design choices to partners and leaders.

Qualifications

• 6 or more years of professional design experience, including at least 2 years in an art director or senior designer role, preferably in direct-to-consumer or performance marketing.
• A strong portfolio of digital and print work that shows the goal of each piece and the results it delivered.
• Experience in higher education enrollment, healthcare, or other high-consideration consumer decisions is a plus.
• Bachelor's degree in Graphic Design, Visual Communications, or a related field (or equivalent work experience).

Employment for this role will be through University Support Services LLC, the services entity for Medforth Group.