Director of Creative Solutions | Spartan Ventures

East Lansing, Michigan, Spartan Ventures is seeking a Director of Creative Solutions to lead the day-to-day creative direction and design execution of Creative Solutions within Spartan Vision. This position will serve as the team’s working creative leader, supervising and developing full-time creative staff and student employees while remaining actively involved in creating high-level visual content for Michigan State Athletics and Spartan Ventures. The Director of Creative Solutions will help establish the visual direction of the Michigan State Athletics brand, develop scalable graphic systems and team templates, and serve as a primary designer for select sport programs and department initiatives. The position will work collaboratively across Spartan Vision and with Communications, Marketing, Ticketing, Partnerships, NIL, and other Spartan Ventures functions to ensure creative work is strategic, consistent, timely, and aligned with organizational priorities. The ideal candidate is an experienced creative leader who is equally comfortable leading people and doing the work, someone who can provide art direction and feedback in one moment, build a campaign or team graphic package in the next, and manage the workflow required to keep a high-volume creative operation moving. This position sits within Creative Solutions, a unit of Spartan Vision within Spartan Ventures, supporting Michigan State Athletics. Position Overview The Director of Creative Solutions will lead the day-to-day operations, creative direction, and staff development of the Creative Solutions team while remaining a hands-on designer and content creator. This position will oversee visual standards and creative quality across department priorities while having direct creative responsibility for select Michigan State Athletics teams and initiatives. Responsibilities may include developing season-long visual systems, team graphic templates, campaigns, posters, digital assets, social graphics, in-venue elements, and other creative needs. The Director will work closely with the Vice President of Strategic Content & Brand Management to establish priorities, manage workload, and ensure Creative Solutions has the structure and processes necessary to support Michigan State Athletics and Spartan Ventures effectively. The position will also play an important role in developing student designers and emerging creatives, helping create an environment where students receive meaningful assignments, feedback, and opportunities for professional growth. Characteristic Duties & Responsibilities Lead the day-to-day operation of Creative Solutions within Spartan Vision, including creative direction, staff supervision, workload management, prioritization, feedback, and professional development. Supervise, mentor, and develop full-time Creative Solutions staff while fostering a collaborative, accountable, and growth-oriented creative environment. Provide art direction and creative quality control for high-profile Michigan State Athletics and Spartan Ventures projects and initiatives. Remain an active, hands-on designer responsible for taking priority projects from concept through final execution. Serve as a primary creative resource for selecting Michigan State Athletics sport programs, including the development and maintenance of team graphic packages, season-long visual systems, and other creative needs. Develop and evolve logos, marks, lockups, graphic packages, and visual identity systems for sport programs, department initiatives, special events, championships, announcements, campaigns, and other approved uses in coordination with brand and licensing standards. Develop and maintain scalable graphic templates that allow teams, communications staff, social media staff, and other approved users to create consistent, high-quality content efficiently. Create campaign graphics, posters, digital assets, social content, print materials, videoboard elements, environmental graphics, presentations, and other creative materials as assigned. Lead or support creative development and production for team intro content and other priority video initiatives, including concept development, art direction, content capture, and on-set collaboration with video and production staff. Participate in and, when needed, lead photography and video content capture for team introductions, campaign launches, promotional initiatives, and other priority creative projects. Work with photography and video staff to integrate imagery, motion, video, and other multimedia elements into creative campaigns and visual systems. Collaborate with Social & Digital Strategy, Content & Storytelling, live production, and other Spartan Vision teams to develop integrated creative approaches across platforms. Partner with Communications, Marketing, Ticketing, Partnerships, NIL, Spartan Athletic Foundation, and other Michigan State Athletics and Spartan Ventures stakeholders to translate organizational objectives into effective creative solutions. Support revenue-generating priorities, including sponsorship activation, ticket sales, NIL initiatives, fundraising, and other commercial opportunities through campaign concepts, partner deliverables, promotional assets, and new creative inventory. Help establish Creative Solutions priorities, project timelines, and resource allocation in collaboration with Spartan Vision leadership. Use Wrike to manage projects, assignments, deadlines, approvals, and workload across Creative Solutions. Develop and continuously improve workflows for project intake, creative review, revisions, approvals, asset management, and final delivery. Use Slate and other content-management and creative tools as appropriate to support scalable social and digital creative workflows. Maintain organized creative assets, templates, visual systems, brand resources, logos, and working files to improve consistency and efficiency across the organization. Recruit, train, mentor, and develop student designers and creative employees. Assign meaningful student projects based on skill level and provide regular creative feedback designed to support their professional development. Collaborate with other Spartan Vision staff to create educational opportunities for students across graphic design, motion graphics, photography, video, and digital content. Help educate Michigan State Athletics and Spartan Ventures staff on brand standards, visual identity, logo usage, and appropriate creative applications. Ensure consistent and appropriate use of Michigan State Athletics branding and adherence to licensing, trademark, and Big Ten Conference ancillary media rights requirements. Stay informed about design trends, sports creative, social content, emerging technology, AI, and other tools that can improve creative quality, efficiency, or workflow. Perform other duties as assigned. Required Qualifications Bachelor’s degree in graphic design, visual communications, advertising, marketing, digital media, or a related field, or equivalent combination of education and professional experience. Minimum of five years of professional creative/design experience in athletics, sports, entertainment, agency, brand, or another relevant creative environment. Previous professional leadership, supervisory, or creative-team management experience. Demonstrated ability to lead and develop designers or other creative professionals while providing clear, constructive creative feedback. Strong portfolio demonstrating advanced graphic design, visual storytelling, campaign development, and brand execution. Advanced proficiency with Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator, and InDesign. Demonstrated experience developing visual systems, templates, and brand-consistent creative across multiple formats and platforms. Strong understanding of typography, composition, visual hierarchy, branding, and contemporary design practices. Demonstrated ability to take creative projects from concept through final execution. Experience managing multiple projects, priorities, and deadlines in a high-volume creative environment. Experience using Wrike, Asana, or another comparable project-management platform to manage creative projects, workflows, and deadlines. Strong organizational, asset-management, and file-management skills. Excellent written and verbal communication skills. Ability to collaborate effectively with creative staff, coaches, student-athletes, administrators, students, and internal stakeholders. Ability to receive feedback, provide creative direction, and make sound decisions under deadlines. Proficiency in PC and Mac environments. Ability to work flexible hours, including nights, weekends, and holidays, based on athletics schedules and department priorities. Ability to work on-site as part of a collaborative creative team. Preferred Qualifications Experience working in collegiate athletics, professional sports, entertainment, or another high-volume creative environment. Experience creating visual identities and graphic packages for individual sports, teams, or major campaigns. Experience designing posters, environmental graphics, digital advertising, social content, and in-venue creative. Working knowledge of Adobe After Effects and motion-graphics workflows. Working knowledge of Adobe Premiere Pro and video-editing workflows. Experience incorporating photography and video into graphic and multimedia creative. Experience with Slate or comparable social content-management platforms. Experience supporting ticketing, sponsorship, NIL, fundraising, or other revenue-related initiatives. Experience recruiting, training, and mentoring student employees, interns, or emerging creative professionals. Experience developing templates and scalable creative systems for non-designers or distributed content teams. Familiarity with emerging creative technologies, including AI-assisted creative and workflow tools. Growth-oriented creative leader who enjoys developing people, solving problems, and remaining actively involved in the work. Portfolio Requirement To be considered, applicants must submit a relevant portfolio demonstrating creative direction, graphic design, brand development, campaign work, visual systems, and hands-on execution. Candidates are encouraged to include examples that demonstrate both individual creative contributions and projects completed while leading or directing other creatives. To apply, please complete the application  here  and send your resume to hr@spartanventures.org indicating which position you are interested in.