Associate Creative Director

Overview

The Associate Creative Director plays a key role in the university’s integrated marketing strategy, reporting to the Assistant Vice Chancellor of Marketing and leading a small internal team and external creative partners. This position offers an exciting balance of creative oversight, brand leadership, direct team management, and a strategic, data-informed approach to campaign collaboration and testing—especially in partnership with the media team and agency partners.

Please note: The role requires an 8 am - 5 pm PST schedule. Potential travel to bi-annual commencements and meeting in person with vendors 1-4 times per year. Remote work is available from the following states: Alabama, Arizona, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Minnesota, Nevada, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, Wisconsin.

The hiring range for this position is $90,000 - $112,000 per year. Offers are determined by factors including geographical location, knowledge, skills, years and depth of experience, and equity with internal team members.

Internal applicants should access the Jobs Hub app on the Workday Dashboard homepage to apply for the position.

TYPE OF SUPERVISION:

• General Direction — indicates that the incumbent receives guidance in terms of broad goals and overall objectives and is responsible for establishing the methods to attain them. Generally, the incumbent is in charge of an area of work; and typically formulates policy for this area but does not necessarily have final authority for approving policy

POSITION DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES:

ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS:

Creative & Brand Direction:

• Lead and approve all creative and branded marketing assets for digital, print, collateral, and campaigns
• Act as chief brand steward to ensure consistency with institutional guidelines and accessibility standards
• Collaborate with internal teams and agencies to set creative vision and adapt work for a range of channels and formats (e.g., programmatic TV, social, Search/PMax, paid/organic), while continuously investigating evolving industry trends and technologies, including AI

Management & Leadership:

• Mentor and assign work to the Senior Graphic Designer and Marketing Copywriter, support their development and the team’s high-performance culture
• Manage freelance creatives and agency partners to ensure all output aligns with university brand and strategy
• Serve as a connective leader facilitating collaboration, efficient delivery, and transparency across marketing, sales, and media teams

Campaign Support & Channel Adaptation:

• Serve as a key creative leader and cross-channel expert in campaign planning and execution with the media team, agency, and creative partners
• Ensure all creative and copy is tailored to the strengths of each platform (e.g., Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, programmatic TV, PMax)

Creative Testing:

• Champion and utilize campaign analytics and creative performance tools (such as iSpot) to track effectiveness and drive ongoing A/B and multivariate testing, maximizing creative results per channel and audience

Vendor & Collateral Program Coordination:

• Serve as primary point of contact for the university's sales collateral/event material vendor, overseeing program effectiveness and proper material use
• Coordinate closely with the Marketing Coordinator to plan inventory and lead annual reviews—making informed recommendations to retain, revise, or retire collateral based on usage and business needs
• Perform other duties, as assigned

Education, Experience, Certification and/or Licenses:

• Bachelor’s degree in Graphic Design, Marketing, Advertising, Fine Arts, or a related field
• At least 6 years of professional creative/marketing experience, including 2+ years in a supervisory or team lead role
• Hands-on experience developing and directing integrated, multichannel marketing campaigns, especially digital and social media
• Proven ability managing agency and freelance relationships, as well as leading creative testing and campaign performance optimization

Essential Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities:

• Advanced proficiency with Adobe Creative Suite and strong understanding of digital channel requirements (web, social, video, etc.)
• Demonstrated skill in creative leadership, team development, and cross-functional collaboration
• Knowledge and ability to use creative analytics/testing (e.g., A/B testing, platform analytics tools like iSpot), and ability to adapt creative based on data and channel insights
• Up-to-date knowledge of current and emerging trends in marketing, design, media formats, and creative technology

Machines, Tools, Equipment, Electronic Devices and Software: Laptop computer running Mac OS, suitable for high-end graphic design and video editing; Design & Creative Software including Adobe Creative Suite and additional tools such as Figma for rapid prototyping and digital asset creation; Project Management & Collaboration Platforms; Digital Asset & Content Management systems and file-sharing platforms such as SharePoint for organizing and distributing creative files and collateral; Creative Testing & Analytics Tools.

Contact with Students: Occasional

Contact with Faculty and/or Staff: Frequent

Contact with Community and Vendors: Frequent

Special Requirements:

The individual in this role is also expected to travel to bi-annual commencements and meet in person with vendors and/or agencies 1–4 times per year. Applicants for this position are subject to a background check and a criminal history review.

Equal Employment Opportunity – UMass Global is committed to providing an educational and work environment free of unlawful discrimination and harassment in any form. UMass Global prohibits all forms of discrimination and harassment on the basis of age, race, color, religion, citizenship, pregnancy, sex, gender identity, gender expression, transgender status, national origin, disability, medical condition, military status, veteran status, marital status, sexual orientation, genetic information, or any other characteristic protected by local, State or Federal law.

Reasonable Accommodation – UMass Global provides reasonable accommodations to applicants with disabilities. If you need a reasonable accommodation for any part of the application and hiring process, please notify the recruitment department at