Principal Multimedia Designer, Creative Strategy & Enablement

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USA TODAY Co., Inc. is a diversified media company with expansive reach at the national and local level dedicated to empowering and enriching communities. We seek to inspire, inform, and connect audiences as a sustainable, growth focused media and digital marketing solutions company. Through our trusted brands, including the USA TODAY NETWORK, comprised of the national publication, USA TODAY, and local media organizations, including our network of local properties, in the United States, and Newsquest, a wholly-owned subsidiary operating in the United Kingdom, we provide essential journalism, local content, and digital experiences to audiences and businesses. We deliver high-quality, trusted content with a commitment to balanced, unbiased journalism, where and when consumers want to engage. Our digital marketing solutions brand, LocaliQ, supports small and medium-sized businesses with innovative digital marketing products and solutions. USA TODAY Co. open roles are featured on various external job boards. When applying to a position at USA TODAY Co., you should be completing an application on USA TODAY Co. Careers via Dayforce. Job postings directing you to complete an application on other external sites may not be valid. If you are a California resident, you acknowledge that by applying for a job with us, this California Job Applicant Privacy Notice will apply to our collection, use, and disclosure of your personal information. To connect with us, visit www.usatodayco.com 

designIQ is a full-service creative, design, and pre-media group supporting internal and external partners across print, digital, social, video, branding, campaign creative, imaging, and ad production services.

Our work ranges from high-volume production to agency-level creative solutions. That includes print and digital advertising, social media creative, short-form video, logos, brand identity systems, company stationery, branded materials, direct mail, billboards, packaging, product design, glossy and newsprint products, campaign assets, and custom creative solutions.

We’re looking for a senior creative leader who can operate beyond execution. This person will serve as creative counsel to the Sr. Director of Creative Operations, support sales and partner conversations, help shape creative standards, and assist with training and enablement across the creative operation.

This role is ideal for someone who can think like an agency creative, work like a production expert, communicate like a client-facing partner, and help move a large creative operation forward.

Role Summary:

• The Principal Multimedia Designer, Creative Strategy & Enablement is a highly experienced creative professional responsible for supporting elevated creative work, client-facing creative conversations, internal training, sales enablement, and quality improvement across designIQ.
• This role sits at the intersection of creative strategy, multimedia design, production excellence, client consultation, and operational enablement. The person in this position should be able to understand a business need, translate it into a creative approach, guide others toward stronger work, and produce high-quality creative when needed.
• The role will regularly partner with the Sr. Director of Creative Operations to help shape creative direction, review strategic opportunities, support new business conversations, advise on creative capabilities, and strengthen the overall quality and consistency of designIQ’s work.
• This person may attend internal meetings, external partner meetings, sales calls, discovery calls, client-facing creative discussions, and training sessions. They should be comfortable speaking with sales teams, customers, creative teams, production teams, leadership, and external partners.
• The ideal candidate brings agency-level design experience, strong multimedia capability, polished communication skills, and the ability to teach, coach, and influence without needing direct authority in every situation.

Key Responsibilities:

• Serve as creative counsel and strategic design partner to the Sr. Director of Creative Operations.
• Support sales calls, discovery calls, partner meetings, and client-facing conversations where creative expertise is needed.
• Help translate client goals, sales objectives, and business challenges into clear creative recommendations.
• Provide creative direction and guidance on complex, high-value, or strategically important work.
• Create, review, or advise on agency-level creative across print, digital, social, video, branding, direct mail, billboards, packaging, product design, glossy publications, newsprint products, and campaign-based deliverables.
• Assist in shaping creative approaches for new business opportunities, partner onboarding, premium creative services, and custom creative requests.
• Help determine whether a creative request belongs in standard production, premium creative, Studio-level work, or a custom scope.
• Support the development of creative briefs, intake standards, client discovery questions, and creative readiness requirements.
• Join internal planning meetings to represent creative quality, design feasibility, production needs, and client experience.
• Partner with sales and customer-facing teams to explain design recommendations, creative limitations, available solutions, and best-fit options.
• Present and explain creative work, design direction, and creative recommendations to internal and external stakeholders.
• Create polished finished creative when needed, especially for strategic work, sample work, pitch support, training examples, or high-priority client needs.
• Assist with creative training across the operation, including design fundamentals, multimedia best practices, AI-assisted workflows, social creative, video, brand consistency, production standards, and quality expectations.
• Help develop training materials, creative playbooks, design examples, before-and-after reviews, checklists, templates, and quality standards.
• Mentor designers and creative team members by providing thoughtful feedback, coaching, and design guidance.
• Review creative work for concept, execution, accuracy, visual hierarchy, brand alignment, production readiness, and overall effectiveness.
• Help identify quality gaps, workflow issues, training needs, and recurring creative weaknesses across the operation.
• Use AI-assisted creative tools to improve ideation, versioning, image exploration, workflow efficiency, and scalable creative output.
• Guide responsible use of AI across creative work, making sure final output remains accurate, brand-safe, original, legally appropriate, and professionally finished.
• Stay current on design trends, digital advertising trends, social media formats, video trends, AI tools, print production practices, and evolving client expectations.
• Support the creation of scalable templates, design systems, campaign frameworks, and repeatable creative solutions.
• Design with performance in mind, including audience behavior, offer clarity, mobile-first composition, visual hooks, readability, and conversion-focused calls to action.
• Apply accessibility-minded design practices, including legibility, contrast, hierarchy, mobile readability, and inclusive digital design principles.
• Serve as a trusted creative voice in conversations about workflow, staffing, capabilities, quality, training, AI adoption, and creative operations strategy.

Required Qualifications:

• Portfolio required. Portfolio must show advanced creative work across multiple media types and demonstrate strong design thinking.
• Significant professional experience in multimedia design, graphic design, advertising, agency creative, publishing, brand design, digital media, or a related creative field.
• Proven ability to create and guide agency-level creative across print, digital, social, video, branding, and campaign-based work.
• Experience creating or directing logos, brand identity systems, corporate stationery, branded collateral, direct mail, billboards, packaging, product-related creative, glossy publications, newsprint products, digital campaigns, and social media assets.
• Strong understanding of design fundamentals, including typography, layout, hierarchy, color, composition, branding, messaging, visual storytelling, and production accuracy.
• Ability to create polished finished work with limited direction.
• Ability to evaluate incomplete briefs, identify missing information, and still move work forward with sound creative judgment.
• Strong client-facing communication skills.
• Ability to interact confidently with internal teams, external customers, sales leaders, creative teams, production stakeholders, and senior leadership.
• Ability to explain creative decisions clearly to non-design audiences.
• Experience participating in client meetings, sales conversations, creative reviews, or discovery calls.
• Strong understanding of print, digital, social, video, branding, and production workflows.
• Working knowledge of digital advertising, social platform requirements, mobile-first design, paid social formats, display creative, email graphics, and campaign extensions.
• Experience with video, motion graphics, animation, HTML5-style creative, short-form content, or multimedia storytelling.
• Working knowledge of AI-assisted creative tools and how to use them responsibly in a professional design workflow.
• Ability to write effective prompts, refine AI-assisted outputs, identify weak results, and avoid generic or low-quality creative.
• Strong ability to teach, coach, mentor, and influence other creative professionals.
• Strong organizational skills with the ability to balance strategic work, meetings, training, creative reviews, and hands-on design needs.
• Ability to work in a fast-paced, deadline-driven environment while maintaining high creative standards.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree in graphic design, visual communication, digital media, advertising, marketing, or a related field, or equivalent professional experience.
• Experience working in an agency, media company, publishing organization, creative studio, in-house agency, or high-volume production environment.
• Experience supporting local, regional, and national advertisers.
• Experience developing creative for new business, pitch support, client presentations, sales enablement, or strategic account growth.
• Experience building or improving creative training programs.
• Experience developing creative playbooks, design standards, quality checklists, templates, or internal enablement materials.
• Experience mentoring designers or serving as a senior creative reviewer.
• Experience supporting brand development, campaign concepts, product launches, promotional campaigns, or multi-channel marketing efforts.
• Experience creating campaign extensions across print, digital, social, email, outdoor, video, and branded materials.
• Experience reviewing creative performance or designing with campaign outcomes in mind.
• Understanding of accessibility standards, including WCAG-informed digital design practices.
• Experience helping teams adopt new tools, including AI, automation, design systems, or workflow platforms

Technical Skills:

• Advanced working knowledge of Adobe InDesign, Photoshop, and Illustrator required.
• Experience with Adobe Premiere Pro, After Effects, Adobe Express, Figma, Canva, or similar creative tools preferred.
• Experience with AI-assisted creative tools such as Adobe Firefly, Photoshop generative tools, Canva AI, ChatGPT, Midjourney, Runway, or similar platforms preferred.
• Experience with tools that support motion graphics, digital animation, short-form video, HTML5-style creative, social creative, and platform-ready digital assets preferred.
• Strong understanding of print specs, prepress standards, file packaging, bleed, trim, resolution, color profiles, image quality, vendor requirements, and production-ready file preparation.
• Familiarity with digital campaign specs, social media specs, display ad specs, email creative requirements, and landing page asset needs.
• Microsoft Office experience required.
• Ability to learn company-specific workflow tools, ad tracking systems, digital asset systems, approval platforms, and production processes.

Leadership and Influence:

• This role may not require direct people management, but it does require strong creative leadership.
• The Principal Multimedia Designer should be able to influence through expertise, clarity, collaboration, and credibility. This person should be trusted by designers, sales teams, customers, production partners, and leadership.
• They should be able to step into unclear situations, bring creative order to the conversation, and help move the work toward a better outcome.
• This person should know when to teach, when to challenge, when to simplify, and when to raise concerns.

What Success Looks Like:

• Serves as a trusted creative advisor to the Sr. Director of Creative Operations.
• Improves the quality, consistency, and strategic value of creative work across designIQ.
• Supports sales and client conversations with confidence, clarity, and practical creative guidance.
• Helps turn vague requests into clear creative direction.
• Strengthens creative training and helps raise the skill level of the broader team.
• Creates or guides polished creative across print, digital, social, video, branding, and multimedia channels.
• Balances creative excellence with production realities, deadlines, scalability, and business needs.
• Uses AI and emerging tools to improve speed, quality, exploration, and efficiency without weakening creative standards.
• Helps identify gaps in intake, workflow, training, quality, and client communication.
• Builds trust with internal and external customers.
• Can move between strategy, consultation, training, review, and hands-on execution with ease.
• Helps designIQ present itself as a serious creative partner, not just a production resource.

Portfolio RequirementsL

• Applicants must submit a portfolio that demonstrates:
• Advanced print and digital advertising work.
• Branding, logo, or identity system work.
• Social media and digital campaign creative.
• Agency-level creative, such as billboards, direct mail, packaging, product design, branded materials, signage, glossy layouts, newsprint layouts, campaign assets, or client presentations.
• Strong typography, layout, composition, and visual hierarchy.
• Ability to create finished work from limited direction.
• Examples of campaign thinking, concept development, or multi-channel creative.
• Examples of performance-minded creative, audience-focused design, or conversion-driven layout.
• Video, motion, animation, or multimedia samples preferred.
• Training, presentation, creative review, or before-and-after examples preferred.
• AI-assisted creative examples are welcome when the candidate can explain their process, judgment, and role in the final work.

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The annualized base salary for this role will be $70 000,00 - $85,000.00.  Variable compensation is not reflected in these figures and based on the role, may be applicable. Exact compensation may vary based on skills, experience, location, and union representation, if applicable.