Job Description
Department:
Creative Services
Pay Rate Type:
Salary
Employee Type:
Job Summary:
Colby’s office of communications oversees strategic communications and marketing for the College. The Colby communications staff is responsible for all official College print and digital publications, major sections of the website, media relations, design services, and the College’s main social media accounts.
The Designer will be responsible for leading the development and execution of creative solutions for marketing and communications initiatives at Colby College that reflect the College’s brand and support our goals. The designer ensures that all design work aligns with the College’s branding and messaging guidelines while helping to continuously grow the brand identity. This position requires a candidate who is skilled in brand and marketing design in both print and digital formats, as well as a creative thinker who can deliver concepts, execute designs, and collaborate with cross-functional teams in a fast paced environment.
Essential Functions and Key Responsibilities

To perform successfully in this position, an individual must be able to perform essential duties satisfactorily as well as possess education/experience, employ the knowledge, skills, and abilities as listed in representative fashion. Colby College actively supports the Americans with Disabilities Act and will consider reasonable accommodations to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions of the position. This listing of essential duties is not all-inclusive, but representative; other duties may be assigned.

• Develop and execute creative solutions for various marketing and communications initiatives, including but not limited to Colby Magazine and other print collateral, digital materials, websites, advertisements, posters, social media graphics, email templates, and more.
• Manage multiple design projects from concept to delivery, ensuring that all materials meet established brand guidelines, style standards, and production specifications.
• Maintain and improve content libraries, templates, and tools to ensure seamless brand asset sharing and long-term usability across campus.
• Collaborate with writers, photographers, developers, and other team members to create engaging content that supports the College’s mission and goals.
• Evolve the College’s brand identity (colors, typography, and Colby’s ecosystem of logos), helping to ensure clarity and consistency across the College.
• Manage relationships with external vendors, such as printers and freelance designers, as needed.
• Keep up-to-date with design trends, software, and best practices to ensure that our materials are innovative and effective, and make recommendations for new approaches.

Position Qualifications
Minimum Qualifications:

Education and experience:

• Bachelor’s degree in graphic design, visual communication, or a related field
• 5+ years of professional experience in graphic design, with a strong portfolio that demonstrates proficiency in both print and digital design.
• Skilled in Adobe Creative Suite, including Photoshop, Illustrator, and InDesign and ability to do animation.
• Strong knowledge of typography, color theory, layout principles, and visual elements (typefaces, layers, fonts).
• Experience designing for the web (with an emphasis on accessibility), knowledge of HTML/CSS, Wordpress, responsive design, and website user interface design.
• Familiarity with and ability to adapt to evolving technologies, including having a basic understanding of parameters within various media/platforms and the ability to select the best method and approach for each project.
• Excellent project management skills, with the ability to manage timelines, budgets, and estimate project hours based on scope.
• Excellent communication, collaboration, and interpersonal skills.
• Ability to work independently, prioritize tasks, and meet deadlines in a fast-paced environment.
• A passion for design and commitment to creating work that aligns with the College’s values and mission.
• Comfortable with presenting work to peers and stakeholders.

Physical/Mental Demands

The physical demands and work environment characteristics described herein are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform essential functions of this position and/or may be encountered while performing essential functions. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

• To successfully perform the essential functions of this position, an employee must be able to maintain appropriate confidentiality with regard to employee data, documents, issues, etc., and respect privacy needs of employees and past employees with regard to the same.
• The ability to comply with highly inflexible deadlines is required to successfully perform the essential functions of this position; there will be multiple occurrences of sudden, urgent task completion required.
• There may be occurrences of employees, past employees, members of the general public, and others who express opinions, may exhibit strong emotions, which will require the employee to interact professionally, diplomatically, and appropriately in such situations.
• While performing the essential duties of this position, an employee would frequently be required to move around the office space as well as within hallways, meeting rooms, and other parts of the campus facilities.
• There may be multiple/daily instances of prolonged personal computer use which would include keyboard and/or mouse usage as well as viewing a computer monitor.
• An employee must frequently lift and/or move up to 10 pounds and occasionally lift and/or move up to 35 pounds to perform essential position functions.
• Specific vision abilities required by this position include close vision, distance vision, and ability to adjust focus.
• The overall work environment requires the mental ability to shift focus quickly due to interruptions; an employee must be able to mentally track multiple projects and tasks as well.

• The noise level in the work environment is usually moderate; however, there may be unexpected instances of somewhat loud sounds.

  Please submit a resume, portfolio with example

To perform successfully in this position, an individual must be able to perform essential duties satisfactorily as well as possess education/experience, employ the knowledge, skills, and abilities as listed in representative fashion. Colby College actively supports the Americans with Disabilities Act and will consider reasonable accommodations to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions of the position. This listing of essential duties is not all-inclusive, but representative; other duties may be assigned.

• Develop and execute creative solutions for various marketing and communications initiatives, including but not limited to Colby Magazine and other print collateral, digital materials, websites, advertisements, posters, social media graphics, email templates, and more.
• Manage multiple design projects from concept to delivery, ensuring that all materials meet established brand guidelines, style standards, and production specifications.
• Maintain and improve content libraries, templates, and tools to ensure seamless brand asset sharing and long-term usability across campus.
• Collaborate with writers, photographers, developers, and other team members to create engaging content that supports the College’s mission and goals.
• Evolve the College’s brand identity (colors, typography, and Colby’s ecosystem of logos), helping to ensure clarity and consistency across the College.
• Manage relationships with external vendors, such as printers and freelance designers, as needed.
• Keep up-to-date with design trends, software, and best practices to ensure that our materials are innovative and effective, and make recommendations for new approaches

The physical demands and work environment characteristics described herein are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform essential functions of this position and/or may be encountered while performing essential functions. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

• To successfully perform the essential functions of this position, an employee must be able to maintain appropriate confidentiality with regard to employee data, documents, issues, etc., and respect privacy needs of employees and past employees with regard to the same.
• The ability to comply with highly inflexible deadlines is required to successfully perform the essential functions of this position; there will be multiple occurrences of sudden, urgent task completion required.
• There may be occurrences of employees, past employees, members of the general public, and others who express opinions, may exhibit strong emotions, which will require the employee to interact professionally, diplomatically, and appropriately in such situations.
• While performing the essential duties of this position, an employee would frequently be required to move around the office space as well as within hallways, meeting rooms, and other parts of the campus facilities.
• There may be multiple/daily instances of prolonged personal computer use which would include keyboard and/or mouse usage as well as viewing a computer monitor.
• An employee must frequently lift and/or move up to 10 pounds and occasionally lift and/or move up to 35 pounds to perform essential position functions.
• Specific vision abilities required by this position include close vision, distance vision, and ability to adjust focus.
• The overall work environment requires the mental ability to shift focus quickly due to interruptions; an employee must be able to mentally track multiple projects and tasks as well.
• The noise level in the work environment is usually moderate; however, there may be unexpected instances of somewhat loud sounds