The Director of Creative Services provides strategic and hands-on creative leadership for Norfolk State University Athletics, overseeing the development and execution of visual content that strengthens the NSU Athletics brand, promotes student-athletes and teams, supports revenue-generating initiatives, and increases engagement across digital, social, print, in-venue, recruiting, and other platforms.
The Director serves as the department’s lead creative professional and must possess advanced graphic design capabilities, strong visual storytelling skills, and the ability to independently develop high-quality creative materials from concept through completion.
The position supervises one full-time creative services staff member and provides leadership, direction, training, scheduling, and quality control for student interns and other assigned creative personnel. The Director establishes creative workflows, manages project priorities and deadlines, maintains brand consistency, and collaborates closely with Strategic Communications, Marketing, Broadcast/Production, Corporate Partnerships, coaches, administrators, and other departmental stakeholders.
The Director must balance strategic leadership with hands-on production and perform effectively in a fast-paced intercollegiate athletics environment that requires evening, weekend, and event-day work.
ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS
Creative Direction & Graphic Design
- Serve as the lead creative professional for Norfolk State Athletics and establish the visual direction for departmental creative content.
- Conceptualize, design, and produce high-quality graphics for social media, digital platforms, websites, print materials, game-day presentations, marketing campaigns, recruiting, special events, ticket sales, fundraising, corporate partnerships, and other departmental initiatives.
- Maintain advanced proficiency in Adobe Photoshop and other applicable design software and independently execute graphic design assignments from concept through final production.
- Develop and maintain templates and scalable design systems that improve efficiency while maintaining creative quality.
- Provide creative direction and quality control for work produced by other creative staff, interns, freelancers, and vendors.
- Ensure visual materials adhere to Norfolk State University, Athletics, conference, NCAA, and applicable partner brand standards.
- Prepare artwork appropriately for digital, print, signage, promotional, and other production specifications.
Content Creation & Digital Storytelling
- Develop compelling visual storytelling concepts highlighting Norfolk State Athletics, student-athletes, coaches, competitions, traditions, accomplishments, alumni, and departmental initiatives.
- Produce and/or oversee photography, videography, graphics, short-form video, motion graphics, and other multimedia content.
- Develop creative concepts for season launches, schedule releases, championship recognition, rivalry games, theme games, special events, milestones, and other priority campaigns.
- Identify opportunities for timely and engaging content rather than relying solely on assigned requests.
- Support real-time content production during athletic competitions and major events.
Social Media & Digital Strategy
- Collaborate with Strategic Communications and Marketing to develop visual content supporting departmental social media and digital strategies.
- Create platform-appropriate content designed to increase engagement, audience growth, attendance, brand awareness, and affinity for Norfolk State Athletics.
- Use performance data and engagement trends to help inform creative approaches and content development.
- Maintain awareness of emerging creative, digital, social media, and collegiate athletics trends while ensuring content remains consistent with the NSU brand.
Photography & Videography
- Provide or coordinate professional-quality photography and videography for athletic competitions, practices, media days, special events, recruiting initiatives, community engagement, and other departmental activities.
- Maintain organized photo, video, graphic, and multimedia archives for efficient departmental access and future use.
- Ensure appropriate file organization, naming conventions, storage, backup, and asset management procedures.
- Maintain and properly manage assigned photography, video, lighting, computer, and production equipment.
Brand, Marketing & Sponsorship Support
- Collaborate with Marketing to develop creative assets supporting ticket sales, attendance, promotions, theme games, fan engagement, and special events.
- Work with Corporate Partnerships and Development to create appropriate sponsor, donor, fundraising, and revenue-generating creative materials.
- Ensure sponsor integration is accurate, professional, contractually appropriate, and consistent with institutional brand standards.
- Support development of presentations, signage, promotional materials, digital advertisements, event collateral, and other revenue-supporting assets.
Recruiting & Student-Athlete Promotion
- Collaborate with coaches and sport programs to develop recruiting and promotional materials consistent with departmental priorities and NCAA requirements.
- Develop creative campaigns highlighting student-athlete accomplishments, awards, academic achievements, community engagement, personal stories, and competitive success.
- Support student-athlete brand-building initiatives consistent with university and departmental policies.
Project Management & Workflow
- Establish and maintain an organized creative request and production process.
- Prioritize projects based on departmental objectives, event schedules, deadlines, strategic importance, and available resources.
- Establish realistic production timelines and communicate proactively when deadlines or deliverables are at risk.
- Maintain a departmental creative calendar aligned with competition schedules, marketing campaigns, communications priorities, special events, recruiting periods, and other major initiatives.
- Track assigned projects from request through completion and maintain clear records of project status.
- Identify production barriers early and recommend solutions rather than allowing projects to remain incomplete because of resource or workflow challenges.
SUPERVISION & LEADERSHIP
- Directly supervise one full-time creative services staff member and assigned student interns.
- Establish clear roles, responsibilities, assignments, deadlines, and performance expectations for creative personnel.
- Conduct regular staff meetings/check-ins and monitor project progress and workload.
- Review and approve creative work to ensure accuracy, quality, brand consistency, and timely completion.
- Delegate assignments appropriately while retaining accountability for the overall quality and performance of the Creative Services function.
- Recruit, train, develop, schedule, and mentor student interns and other assigned creative personnel.
- Provide constructive feedback and professional development opportunities designed to strengthen staff capabilities.
- Coordinate freelance photographers, videographers, designers, temporary employees, or vendors when authorized.
- Foster a creative environment emphasizing accountability, collaboration, innovation, responsiveness, professionalism, and solutions-oriented thinking.
- Address performance, workflow, or quality concerns promptly and elevate significant issues through the appropriate supervisory structure.
ACCOUNTABILITY
The Director is accountable for the quality, accuracy, creativity, timeliness, and professionalism of Creative Services deliverables and for ensuring that assigned projects are completed by established deadlines.
The Director is responsible for maintaining brand standards; managing creative assets and equipment; protecting confidential information; prioritizing departmental requests appropriately; identifying production challenges; communicating delays before deadlines are missed; and developing practical solutions when resources, staffing, information, or other circumstances affect production.
The Director is expected to operate with a high degree of independence and should require minimal supervision for routine creative operations.
COMMUNICATION
Demonstrates excellent written, verbal, interpersonal, and visual communication skills.
Clearly communicates creative concepts, project requirements, production timelines, resource needs, and potential barriers to administrators, coaches, staff, student-athletes, vendors, and other stakeholders.
Provides timely project updates and proactively communicates when additional information, decisions, resources, or adjustments are required.
RESPONSIVENESS
Responds promptly to requests and changing departmental priorities.
Effectively manages competing assignments based on athletic schedules, departmental priorities, deadlines, and strategic importance.
Provides timely and real-time creative coverage during athletic events when required and demonstrates flexibility in responding to breaking news, competitive success, schedule changes, milestones, and other emerging opportunities.
DECISION-MAKING
Independently manages routine creative operations, including graphic design, photography, videography, editing, project scheduling, formatting, asset management, production corrections, staff assignments, and routine content adjustments.
Exercises sound professional judgment regarding visual presentation, brand consistency, production quality, workflow, and prioritization.
Seeks appropriate approval for sensitive or controversial content, crisis communications, significant brand changes, confidential personnel matters, unapproved sponsor messaging, NCAA/conference/legal concerns, major campaigns outside established priorities, or matters that could materially affect the reputation of Norfolk State University or the Department of Intercollegiate Athletics.
REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS
- Bachelor’s degree in graphic design, visual communications, digital media, communications, marketing, journalism, sports management, or a related field.
- Demonstrated professional experience in graphic design, creative services, multimedia production, sports creative, marketing, communications, or a related field.
- Advanced proficiency in Adobe Photoshop and demonstrated ability to independently create professional-quality graphics.
- Strong portfolio demonstrating graphic design, visual storytelling, and digital content capabilities.
- Experience developing creative content for social media and digital platforms.
- Demonstrated photography and/or videography capabilities.
- Demonstrated ability to manage multiple projects and deadlines simultaneously.
- Strong organizational, communication, collaboration, and problem-solving skills.
- Ability to work independently while contributing effectively within a collaborative team environment.
- Ability and willingness to work evenings, weekends, athletic competitions, special events, and postseason activities as required.
PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS
- Bachelor’s degree or previous experience in graphic design, visual communications, digital media, communications, marketing, journalism, sports management, or a related field.
- Experience working in intercollegiate athletics, professional sports, sports communications, or a comparable fast-paced creative environment.
- Previous supervisory or team-lead experience, including management of full-time employees, student workers, interns, freelancers, or other creative personnel.
- Advanced knowledge of Adobe Creative Cloud, including Photoshop, Illustrator, Premiere Pro, Lightroom, and related applications.
- Experience with motion graphics and Adobe After Effects.
- Professional photography and videography experience.
- Experience developing recruiting and student-athlete promotional campaigns.
- Experience supporting ticket sales, corporate sponsorships, fundraising, donor engagement, and other revenue-generating initiatives.
- Understanding of NCAA, conference, institutional, and sponsor-related considerations applicable to collegiate athletics creative content.
- Experience managing digital assets, creative workflows, production calendars, and equipment.
CORE COMPETENCIES
Leadership; Accountability; Advanced Graphic Design; Creativity; Visual Storytelling; Communication; Responsiveness; Technical Competence; Project Management; Collaboration; Attention to Detail; Adaptability; Problem-Solving; Time Management; Brand Management; Staff Development; Initiative.
UNIVERSITY SERVICE
Participates in university committees, special events, recruitment activities, student engagement initiatives, professional development, institutional initiatives, and other assigned service activities.
PUBLIC SERVICE
Represents Norfolk State University and the Department of Intercollegiate Athletics professionally in interactions with student-athletes, prospective student-athletes, families, alumni, donors, sponsors, media, community organizations, vendors, fans, and other external constituents.
PHYSICAL DEMANDS / WORKING CONDITIONS
Works in office settings and indoor/outdoor athletic facilities. Duties may require extended periods of sitting, standing, walking, bending, reaching, repetitive computer use, and operation of photography, video, lighting, and other production equipment.
The position may require lifting, carrying, setting up, and transporting production equipment and working in varying weather conditions.
Regular evening and weekend work may be required for athletic competitions, practices, media days, special events, postseason competition, and other departmental activities.
Applicants must provide a link to a professional portfolio demonstrating graphic design and multimedia work. Applications without a portfolio may not receive full consideration.
Salary range from-$51,500.00-$70,000.00
Special Instructions:
You will be provided with confirmation of receipt when your application and/or résumé is submitted successfully. Please refer to “Your Application” in your account to check the status of your application for this position.
Candidates may show interest by submitting via online, the following:
1. A letter of interest (via cover letter).
2. A current resume (via resume).
3. Completed Application via Workday
4. Transcripts of highest degree conferred (unofficial transcripts accepted, however, official transcripts are required of finalist) (via transcripts).
5. Names and contact information for three job references (include with resume).
Application and/or résumé for this position must be submitted electronically by 11:59 p.m. on the closing date through the Workday Human Capital Management System (HCM). Mailed, emailed, faxed, or hand delivered applications and/or résumés will not be accepted. Applicants who possess an Interagency Placement Screening Form (Yellow Form) or a Preferential Hiring Form (Blue Form) as issued under the Department of Human Resources Management (DHRM) Policy 1.30 Layoff (Commonwealth of Virginia Employees Only), must attach these forms when submitting their state application and/or résumé. The decision to interview an applicant is based solely on the information received for this position from either the electronic application and/or résumé. RMS provides a confirmation of receipt when your application and/or résumé is submitted successfully. Please refer to “Your Application” in your RMS account to check the status of your application for this position.
Norfolk State University conducts background checks on all candidates identified as a finalist for employment consideration. The type of background check(s) performed are dependent upon the type of position for which you have been identified as a finalist and may include criminal history, including sexual offender registry checks, reference checks, degree validation, DMV (driving) records, license verification, and credit report reviews. The results of background checks are made available to University employing officials. As a finalist, you will be required to sign an Authorization to Release form. Norfolk State University utilizes Form I-9 and E-verify in the verification of eligibility for employment. Applicants must be authorized to work in the U.S. without employer sponsorship.
Contact Information:
Name: Office of Human Resources
Phone: 757-823-8160
Email: NO EMAILED DOCUMENTS ACCEPTED
In support of the Commonwealth’s commitment to inclusion, we are encouraging individuals with disabilities to apply through the Commonwealth Alternative Hiring Process. To be considered for this opportunity, applicants will need to provide their Certificate of Disability (COD) provided by a Vocational Rehabilitation Counselor within the Department for Aging & Rehabilitative Services (DARS), or the Department for the Blind & Vision Impaired (DBVI). Veterans are encouraged to answer Veteran status questions and submit their disability documentation, if applicable, to DARS/DBVI to get their Certificate of Disability. If you need to get a Certificate of Disability, use this link: Career Pathways for Individuals with Disabilities, or call DARS at 800-552-5019, or DBVI at 800-622-2155.
Each agency within the Commonwealth of Virginia is dedicated to recruiting, supporting, and maintaining a competent and diverse work force. Equal Opportunity Employer
