Digital Media Associate
University of Chicago
Summary
As a member of the Institute for Climate and Sustainable Growth's communications team, the Digital Media Associate will play a central role in elevating the Institute's visual identity and digital content across social media, web, and email platforms. This role is responsible for leading social media graphic and video creation, supporting video production and design, and building out the Institute's evergreen visual content library, while also contributing to broader communications and design efforts including web, email and social content production support.
Job description
Responsibilities
- Creates social media graphics and visual assets for Institute social media accounts, developing design-forward content in alignment with brand templates and guidelines.
- Maintains and updates Canva templates for use across the Institute's communications team, ensuring brand consistency; supports Communications Specialists across Institute programs with graphic creation and review, as well as template guidance for campaign and event launches; and manages team access to Canva projects.
- Supports in shooting and editing short-form, platform-native social video content, such as student spotlights and event coverage, tailored to platform and audience, from student communities on Instagram to professional audiences on LinkedIn, in partnership with Communication Specialists.
- Supports in the development of design assets such as research summaries, 1-pagers, and other digital and print design needs.
- Supports in higher-production video workflows, including assisting with video shoots, footage organization, basic editing, captioning, and formatting video content for platform-specific requirements.
- Collaborates with the Multimedia Designer to build and maintain a library of high-resolution photography and video footage for use across Institute communications channels.
- Organizes this digital asset library, maintaining consistent file naming conventions and ensuring assets are easily accessible across cloud-based platforms (Box, Google Drive) and team systems.
- Manages the Institute's YouTube presence, including uploading video content, writing titles and descriptions, creating thumbnails, and maintaining consistent organization and tagging across channels; supports embedding and updating video content across Institute websites.
- Supports email marketing production from a creative standpoint, including image sizing, asset formatting, and visual quality assurance.
- Organizes digital media within the email marketing platform.
- Contributes to the development of an evergreen content library, drafting and organizing reusable written and visual content for use across social media platforms.
- Ensures visual content meets accessibility standards, including writing alt text for images and applying captions to all video content across platforms.
- Supports paid social campaigns with creative asset production, including resizing graphics and formatting visual content to platform specifications.
- Supports a comprehensive audit and update of naming conventions across Institute web and email properties, ensuring consistency and discoverability of digital content.
- Supports website content updates and uploads across Institute web properties as needed.
- Provides scheduling support for social media content as needed.
- Creates graphic artwork, such as charts, graphs or illustrations, for various publications, advertising materials and/or customers with limited supervision.
- Works within defined processes to ensure that graphic projects are completed on time, within budget, and to the user's satisfaction.
- Performs other related work as needed.
Minimum Qualifications
- Education: Minimum requirements include a college or university degree in related field.
- Work Experience: Minimum requirements include knowledge and skills developed through < 2 years of work experience in a related job discipline.
Preferred Qualifications
- At least two years of professional experience in a graphic design, digital media, or communications role.
- Demonstrated experience creating graphics and visual content for social media in a professional or organizational capacity.
- Demonstrated experience creating short-form, platform-native video content (Reels, TikTok, or similar) for an organization or brand.
- Experience supporting higher-production video workflows is a plus.
- Background in energy, climate, policy, or in a university setting encouraged.
- Proficiency in Canva; comfort with mobile-first video creation tools, such as CapCut and Instagram native tools, for short-form content.
- Working knowledge of industry-standard non-linear video editing software, especially Premiere Pro and After Effects, strongly preferred for video support responsibilities.
- Familiarity with Photoshop and Illustrator a plus; willingness to grow Adobe Premiere proficiency expected.
- Familiarity with content management systems, such as WordPress, and basic web content practices.
- Familiarity with email marketing systems is a plus.
- Proficiency in MS Office and Google Suite.
- Strong visual sense and foundational understanding of design principles, including layout, typography, color, and composition.
- Translate complex ideas into clear, compelling visual content.
- Clear written communication skills, to adapt tone and format for different platforms and audiences.
- Excellent organizational skills and attention to detail, particularly in managing digital files and assets.
- Manage multiple projects and priorities in a fast-paced environment and meet deadlines with professionalism.
Requirements
- College or university degree in related field
- Less than 2 years of work experience in a related job discipline
- At least two years of professional experience in graphic design, digital media, or communications
- Demonstrated experience creating graphics and visual content for social media
- Demonstrated experience creating short-form, platform-native video content
- Proficiency in Canva
- Comfort with mobile-first video creation tools (CapCut, Instagram native tools)
- Working knowledge of non-linear video editing software (Premiere Pro, After Effects)
- Familiarity with content management systems (WordPress)
- Proficiency in MS Office and Google Suite
- Strong visual sense and understanding of design principles
- Clear written communication skills
- Excellent organizational skills and attention to detail
- Ability to manage multiple projects and meet deadlines
Benefits
- Health Insurance
- Retirement Plan
- Paid Time Off
Company overview
The University of Chicago is a world-renowned private research university founded in 1890 and located in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood. As a premier academic institution, it operates one of the most comprehensive biomedical research enterprises in the United States through its Biological Sciences Division, which includes over 1,100 faculty members across 10 basic science and 14 clinical departments. The university manages extensive research infrastructure including the University of Chicago Medicine Comprehensive Cancer Center, multiple specialized research institutes, and maintains affiliations with Argonne National Laboratory and Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory. With research funding exceeding $450 million annually and more than 3,300 patents filed since 1987, the institution is a global leader in scientific discovery and innovation. The Biological Sciences Division alone supports over 500 research-active faculty who secure an average of $588,000 in NIH funding per principal investigator, focusing on areas including cancer biology, immunology, microbiology, molecular metabolism, neuroscience, and evolutionary biology. The university's commitment to interdisciplinary research and its unique position as manager of national laboratories creates unparalleled opportunities for translational research and scientific advancement.