Assistant Director - Design / UX - Strategic Communications and Marketing

The Department within Strategic Communications and Marketing at West Virginia University is currently accepting applications for an Assistant Director - Design and UX.

About the Opportunity

The Assistant Director - Design and UX within Strategic Communications and Marketing plays a strategic leadership role in shaping the user experience, visual identity, and front-end execution of West Virginia University's (WVU) web presence. Reporting to the Director of SCM - Digital, this position is responsible for establishing and maintaining web design standards, developing UX strategies, and contributing to the growth and implementation of the WVU Design System. The Assistant Director collaborates closely with technical and content leads to ensure that WVU's websites are accessible, user-centered, brand-consistent, and high-performing across platforms.

This position leads the design process for key institutional websites, including high-profile projects such as the WVU Home Page and Office of the President site. The role includes responsibilities in art direction, UX research and design, front-end development, and supervision. The Assistant Director also works to advance collaboration and knowledge sharing across the University's distributed web and design teams, leading regular meetings and offering strategic feedback to ensure design excellence and adherence to standards. In addition, the role helps develop new brand guidelines for digital platforms, consults with campus stakeholders, and mentors junior team members in both design and development best practices.

We strongly believe in work-life balance and keeping time for things we love outside our work. WVU offers generous benefits, including:

• 37.5-hour work week
• 13 paid holidays (staff holiday calendar)
• 24 annual leave (vacation) days per year (employee leave)
• 18 sick days per year (for when you're ill, for when you need time to care for sick family, for your own, or your family's, regularly scheduled medical appointments. Who is family for the purpose of this leave? A lot of people in your life including immediate relatives and in-laws as well as others considered to be members of your household living under the same roof)
• WVU offers a range of health insurance and other benefits
• 401(a) retirement savings with 6% employee contribution match, eligibility to continue health insurance, and other retiree perks. Looking for more retirement benefits information? Check out retirement health insurance benefits, retirement income, and FAQ's.
• Wellness programs

What You'll Do

Leadership and Development

• Provide key contributions to the WVU Design System. Work with the Director of SCM - Digital to develop principles, guidelines, and best practices for building WVU websites. Provide art direction, design and UX guidance for Design System components. Help ensure adherence to brand, accessibility, and performance standards.
• Work closely with the Assistant Director of SCM - Principal Software Engineer to conceptualize new features and functionality into WVU's CMS (CloudCannon) theme and static (Hugo) websites.
• Serve as primary contact between SCM - Digital and SCM - Design in the absence of the Director.
• Establish processes for designing WVU websites, including research, client-intake, content assessment, prototyping/wireframing, and IA (information architecture) development, to help others across the University understand WVU's design process.
• Work with SCM senior leadership on high-level WVU websites, including the Office of the President.
• Help develop WVU's visual identity. Establish new brand guidelines for the web. Work with SCM senior leadership and the Director of SCM - Digital to establish new, audience-appropriate brand elements, and standards, to ensure consistency across web and print materials.
• Foster design collaboration across University organizations. Lead monthly designer meetings. Share new ideas and technology with other designers and developers across campus.
• Work closely with the lead content strategist to establish standard content models in order to share content across University websites, including student and faculty profiles and academic programs.
• Lead client intake meetings when needed. Communicate WVU's design process to clients, coordinate with content writers, and work with stakeholders at each step of the design process.
• Serve on SCM working teams for Prospective Students, Current Students, and General Brand Awareness. Work on highly visible websites critical to recruitment (e.g. WVU Home Page and Admissions).

Art Direction

• Advise SCM - Digital team members, as well as other designers and developers across campus, on how to best apply the WVU Brand/Design System to WVU websites.
• Provide feedback to designers across the University regarding the use of photography, information hierarchy, content organization, page layout, typography, use of color, and how to apply design principles when designing websites.
• Provide feedback on the WVU Email Design System.
• Approve new WVU website designs.

UX (User Experience) Design

• Research conventions and potential user needs for new websites.
• Lead client intake meetings to determine goals, audiences, and key user needs. Help prioritize user needs.
• Perform content audits on existing sites. Help determine how well existing content meets goals and user needs and develop strategies for existing as well as new content based on content assessment.
• Develop information architecture based on client goals, user needs, and content strategy.
• Design and develop prototypes for new websites.

Front-End Development

• Build website templates for WVU's CMS (CloudCannon) theme and SSG (static-site generated) websites using a variety of technologies (Hugo SSG; Go Language; CSS/Sass; HTML).
• Ensure that WVU websites are mobile- and tablet-friendly.
• Ensure cross-browser compatibility of WVU websites.
• Ensure that WVU websites are performant.
• Ensure that WVU websites meet federal accessibility standards.

Supervision

• Manage and supervise junior designers and front-end web developers within the unit, provides guidance, and teach required design skills and processes.

• Bachelor's degree in Graphic Design or related field

• A minimum of five (5) years of related experience

• Any equivalent combination of related education and/or experience will be considered.

• All qualifications must be met by the time of employment.

  Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities

• Expert knowledge of the design process
• Expert knowledge of Photoshop, Illustrator, Figma and/or XD
• Knowledge of version control software (Git) for collaboration with other developers
• Knowledge of Section 508 and WCAG accessibility guidelines
• Knowledge of website performance issues and solutions
• Knowledge of Gulp/task automation

• Knowledge of WVU web standards and brand guidelines

• Ability to contribute to team goals at both the conceptual level and applied, hands-on level
• Ability to express technical information to non-technical users
• Demonstrated ability to take direction from peers
• Demonstrated ability to work and communicate in challenging situations
• Strong analytics skills to research, analyze, detect and correct errors throughout the website development process
• Demonstrated ability to reason logically and draw valid conclusions
• Demonstrated ability to manage multiple tasks and prioritize tasks as needed
• Shows initiative and motivation to request, accept and complete tasks as required
• Demonstrated ability to complete tasks on time
• Ability to train others
• Ability to work with clients to identify project requirements and guide all phases of the design process
• Ability and willingness to learn other programming/templating languages
• Strong attention to detail

West Virginia University is a place of purpose and community. We take pride in our profound impact on the state of West Virginia and are committed to the personal and professional growth of our employees.

From the groundbreaking R1 research at our flagship campus in Morgantown to the career-oriented programs at WVU Potomac State in Keyser, and the technology-intensive programs at WVU Tech in Beckley, the contributions of WVU employees resonate across the state, touching lives and shaping futures.

At WVU, you will discover a supportive community that champions work-life balance and fosters a collaborative atmosphere. Our core values - service, curiosity, respect, accountability and appreciation - unite us as Mountaineers.

Join us at West Virginia University, where your work will make a lasting impact. To learn more about WVU, visit wvu.edu.

West Virginia University is an Equal Opportunity Employer. We invite all qualified applicants regardless of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, genetic information, or Veteran status.