Position: Art & Design Manager (Temporary)
Reports To: Vice President of Exhibit Design and Interpretation
Compensation: $27 per hour
Duration: Approximately 4/8/26 - 7/1/26
Position Summary:
The Art & Design Manager leads the creative team in the development of creative concepts and visual solutions. This position is responsible for ensuring that finalized collateral pieces are high quality and effective. The Art & Design Manager works with the creative team to meet deadlines and maintain an efficient work flow. They will also be responsible for directly creating designs for a number of different project types including print, digital, video, and exhibit collateral.
Qualifications:
- Bachelor’s degree in design or equivalent experience
- 5+ years of experience in professional design
- 2+ years of experience managing a team
Preferred Qualifications:
- Innovative, forward thinking and willing to experiment
- Experience designing for exhibitions that include live animals
- Self-motivated
- Decisive leader with the ability to maneuver from big picture, strategic thinking to the tactical delivery of program initiatives
- Experience in project management
Critical Skills/Competencies:
- Proven expertise in design best practices and strategies
- Proven ability to lead, manage and motivate a creative staff with diverse responsibilities under constant deadline pressures
- Ability to design within and maintain style guides and brand standards
- Demonstrated planning and organizational skills to effectively deal with multiple projects, quality control and shifting priorities
- Excellent communication and team-building skills
- Working knowledge of Adobe Creative Cloud software
- Ability to present ideas to a variety of internal and public audiences
- Excellent verbal, written, and visual communication skills
- Ability to work within, and maintain TLPA's 5 Keys
- Demonstrated commitment to TLPA’s Mission and Vision
Essential Duties and Responsibilities:
- Manage the creative process from concept to completion
- Translate marketing objectives into clear creative strategies
- Work closely with multidisciplinary project teams
- Lead and direct the creative team in the production of marketing collateral and exhibit materials
- Ensure visual communication and brand standards are met
- Oversee deliverables, and timelines
- Review work, troubleshoot and provide feedback to creative team
- Stay current on developments and innovations in the design field and at colleague institutions to ensure TLPA designs reflect current best practices and relevant trends
- Develop and manage team and project goals
- Provide effective leadership of the Creative team, maintaining a work environment that fosters creativity, mutual respect and promotes high performing teamwork
- Facilitate effective cross-department teams and maintain effective relationships with key collaborators, especially staff from the Facilities and Fabrication Department, Education Department, and Husbandry Department
- Remain actively involved in hiring and training a creative staff and volunteer workforce that reflect TLPA's institutional commitment to diversity, inclusion and equity
- Manage and cultivate the career development of creative team staff, provide learning and enrichment opportunities to build staff competency
- Other responsibilities as assigned by the Vice President of Exhibit Design and Interpretation
- Ensure that designs comply with ADA requirements, and that experiences are designed with an awareness of guest accessibility including; language, ability, sensory inclusion, etc.
Scope of Position:
- Periodic weekend or evening work is regularly scheduled including some holidays
Physical Demands of the Job:
- This position requires periods of standing and walking
- Extended periods of sitting with technology systems and reporting
Special Working Conditions:
- The role will primarily be within an attraction environment.
- The overall work environment while performing this job includes exposure to weather conditions and the noise level is usually moderate
While this job description attempts to describe the essential functions of the position, it does not prescribe or restrict the tasks that may be assigned. It does not restrict management’s right to assign or reassign duties or responsibilities to this job at any time. The overall work environment while performing this job includes exposure to weather conditions and the noise level is usually moderate. The employee is expected to adhere to all policies and to act as a role model in the adherence to the policies.
