Newsroom Design Director

About The Philadelphia Inquirer, PBC

Since 1829, The Philadelphia Inquirer has been "asking on behalf of the people" by providing essential journalism for the diverse communities of the Philadelphia region. The Inquirer, a for-profit public benefit corporation owned by the non-profit Lenfest Institute, produces Pulitzer Prize-winning journalism that changes lives and leads to lasting reforms. Its multiple brand platforms - including newspapers, Inquirer.com, e-Editions, apps, newsletters, and live events - reach a growing audience of more than 10 million people a month. "In a free state, there should always be an inquirer asking on behalf of the people: Why? Why? Why?" - John Norvell, Inquirer co-founder

Summary

The Philadelphia Inquirer has been "inquiring on behalf of the people" for 192 years. Now we're seeking a Design Director to work in partnership with our Creative Director and fuse that heritage with Philadelphia's current-day dynamism, creating a consistent and compelling design voice and brand across all our products.

This is a pivotal moment in The Inquirer's long history. We are merging our siloed design teams, creating a unified team of visual storytellers across print and digital. We're looking for a Design Director with the vision to lead this transition, and the management and leadership skills to implement a dynamic and cohesive new design and workflow for all platforms.

The Design Director directly supervises our newsroom developer, graphics and design teams, managing their daily work and long-term development. You'll direct design on major investigations and projects. You'll also be responsible for ensuring that editorial design standards and the Inquirer brand are understood across all of our touchpoints and embraced by digital producers, news developers, page designers and our video and photo teams.

This masthead-level position will report directly to the Managing Editor, but you'll work closely with senior leaders throughout the organization including the SVP Creative Director, Brand, Managing Editor, Visuals, as well as the Director of Product Design.

What You'll Do

• Lead and manage a team of designers, developers and graphic artists
• Transition the print design team through a redesign of the The Inquirer
• Ensure design fidelity and consistent editorial design execution across all platforms
• Work with the Creative Director to develop editorial applications of the brand style guide
• Direct the design and visual storytelling for big stories and projects, in collaboration with the ME for Visuals (Photo & Video
• Collaborate constantly with leadership of all desks, including print, digital and all content-generating desks

Who we're looking for

• 10 or more years experience in design or art direction,
• including at least five years experience in editorial design or art direction
• Two or more years experience managing a team
• Experience working in a multitude of journalistic formats,
• including service, explanatory, narrative and investigative journalism
• A demonstrated talent for identifying and executing multiple forms of a single project, optimizing for different platforms
• A clear understanding of the power and importance of a coherent brand visual language
• A track record of collaborating across visual disciplines
• An ability to influence direction in related teams in a matrixed reporting structure
• Demonstrated ability to think strategically as well as creatively
• Robust technical expertise in web development languages and and print design tools and software

Other Things To Know

We know not everyone reading this will fit exactly what we've described. We encourage everyone to apply who shares our passion for indispensable journalism and our drive to create a sustainable business model to support it. As an equal opportunity employer, The Inquirer is committed to fostering a diverse and inclusive culture, and we especially encourage members of underrepresented communities to submit an application, including women, people of color, veterans, LGBTQ+ people, and individuals with disabilities.

We are an equal opportunity employer and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability status, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law.

Other details

• Pay Type Salary

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