Senior Visual Comm. Designer, Systems Comm.

University of Utah Health is seeking a Senior Visual Communications Designer specializing in executive and internal communications. This role supports organizational change and other institutional priorities by distilling complex leadership messaging into compact, visual-first assets designed for immediate comprehension across a large organization with four missions: health care, academics, research, and community collaboration., * Manage competing priorities and stakeholder needs. Work responsively across multiple concurrent projects, adapting to shifting timelines and requirements while maintaining accuracy, brand consistency, and a high standard of design execution.

• Choose the right platform for the job. Determine the appropriate tools and platforms based on how an asset will be used, shared, edited, and maintained. This judgment - not just tool proficiency - is central to the role.
• AI Tool Integration and Brand Stewardship: Leverage familiarity with LLMs and productivity AI tools (ChatGPT, Claude, Copilot, Gemini) to design standardized presentation templates, handouts, and brand toolkits for executive and leadership use.
• Design and maintain templates aligned to the University’s brand and style guide, ensuring consistency across departments and campaigns.
• Provide design consultation to internal teams and stakeholders on design decisions, template use, and brand application.
• Produce motion, animation, and transition graphics to support communications and presentations where movement improves comprehension or engagement.
• Maintain cloud folder structures and file-sharing conventions in accordance with University network and information-governance standards.
• Present and pitch design solutions to leadership and cross-functional stakeholders, articulating design rationale clearly and persuasively., * Drupal - the University’s CMS; this role will only occasionally touch web content, with support available from the Digital Experience team
• Campaign Studio (email/marketing platform)
• Acquia (digital asset management)
• Asana (project management)
• Prior experience in higher education, corporate change management, or large decentralized organizations

Special Instructions What Makes This Role Distinctive

Unlike a general brand or marketing designer, this position sits at the intersection of design production and organizational and change communication. Comparable roles in the market (e.g., Presentation Designer and higher-ed “Visual Designer” roles supporting executive and institutional messaging) typically emphasize one half of this skillset - either visual production or strategic communications - rather than both with equal weight. This role requires genuine fluency in both.

This is a senior design role requiring strong visual judgment, communication skills, and systems thinking. The ideal candidate knows not just how to design, but where-moving fluidly between Adobe and Microsoft ecosystems depending on what an asset needs to do. Importantly, this position understands how to leverage modern AI tools to build smart, on-brand templates and guardrails that enable leadership to self-serve without compromising organizational brand integrity., * Fluency in Adobe Creative Cloud, with advanced proficiency in Illustrator, Photoshop, and InDesign; working proficiency in After Effects/Premiere preferred. Hands-on experience using embedded AI features (e.g., Photoshop Generative Fill, Illustrator Text to Vector) to solve real-world production challenges.

• Fluency in Microsoft 365 apps - PowerPoint and SharePoint (priority); Word, Excel (secondary)
• Familiarity with LLMs and productivity AI Tools including: ChatGPT, Claude, Copilot, Gemini

Core Competencies

• Strong critical thinking and systems-oriented problem-solving
• Excellent visual storytelling and information design skills
• Strong written and verbal communication skills
• Confident presentation and pitch skills, including the ability to explain design rationale to non-design stakeholders
• Collaborative and adaptable, with the ability to incorporate diverse and sometimes competing feedback while maintaining design quality, communication objectives, and brand standards.
• Proven ability to manage multiple concurrent priorities, stakeholders, and deadlines in a fast-paced environment, with a track record of responsiveness, accuracy, and sound judgment as needs shift.
• Exceptional attention to detail and commitment to producing highly accurate, polished work, particularly for executive and organization-wide communications, EQUIVALENCY STATEMENT: 1 year of higher education can be substituted for 1 year of directly related work experience (Example: bachelor’s degree = 4 years of directly related work experience). Graphic Designer, V: Requires a bachelor’s in Graphic Design, Visual Communication, or a related field (or equivalency) + 10 years Design experience, preferably including internal communications, corporate communications, presentation design, or change management contexts or a master’s (or equivalency) + 8 years of directly related work experience.