Art Director - Chicago Blackhawks (Chicago · IL)
Job Title: Design Manager
Department: Creative
Reports to: Director, Creative
# Direct Reports: N/A
Perks and Benefits:
FREE: breakfast, lunch, parking, on-site gym and training classes, gym membership at Chicago Athletic Clubs, Chicago Blackhawks tickets, and annual merchandise kit. Unlimited snack and nourishment kitchen in office, free Peloton membership, casual dress environment, access to United Center concert events, yearly stipend for home office equipment, flexible work schedule where applicable, competitive total rewards package, full benefits (medical, dental, vision, 401k matching, paid life insurance), comprehensive PTO package, social events, volunteer opportunities, and focused learning and development.
What It’s Like Working Here:
The Chicago Blackhawks experience isn’t just on the ice. Our office, located in the United Center, promotes a fun, engaging, fast-paced and collaborative atmosphere where we can celebrate both hockey and each other. Our commitment to curating an environment where all individuals feel empowered to bring their best self to work each day can be seen throughout our organization. Whether you are a job seeker looking to join the organization, a current member of our amazing team, or someone looking to help support our mission, our goal is the same – to reimagine the potential of hockey through memorable, inclusive experiences.
The Top Shelf:
The Design Manager will collaborate with the Director, Creative to develop the organization’s creative demands and assist in overseeing the department’s workflow by managing the day-to-day design operations. He/she will balance hands on design and art direction while being responsible for leading a team of designers and motion artists to create best-in-class creative for a variety of mediums, including campaigns, digital, social, and print media.
A successful candidate must be an organized, inspired individual who demonstrates a high level of technical ability, a strong sense of design principles, attention to detail, and experience supervising design staff. We are looking for a smart, skilled, passionate person who understands how to align design decisions to business goals.
How You’ll Contribute:
- Work with Director, Creative to define and establish creative strategy and transform high-level client needs into engaging creative, including evolving the organization’s brand identity and visual standards
- Assist Director, Creative with unifying the brand look and feel across digital and in stadium production departments
- Create and maintain design standards and guidelines to ensure consistency in all visual materials
- Develop seasonal style guidelines and campaign “look books” ensuring a strong and distinguishable visual identity to be implemented across all touchpoints.
- Lead and manage a team of designers to ensure surgical execution and consistent delivery of high-quality visual content across all platforms and materials
- Collaborate with internal teams, such as marketing and digital, to conceptualize and execute projects that engage fans and promote the Blackhawks brand
- Stay current with design trends and technology, and bring new ideas and techniques to the team
- Oversee and approve all design projects from concept to completion
- Serve as a design lead in asset creation for Blackhawks channels, including Blackhawks.com, social media, in-venue and e-mail/digital marketing
- Assist production team(s) on location and in-studio during photo shoots and special events.
- Responsible for daily logo usages approvals by internal and external partners
- Participate and lead brainstorming sessions with creative and production staffs
Player Stats and Qualifications:
- Bachelor’s degree in Graphic Design or related industry experience.
- Minimum 6+ years of full-time experience in a creative role for an entertainment brand, creative agency or sports team/league, with 1-3 years in a supervisory role.
- Strong sense of design and thorough understanding of design theory including principles such as color, typography, and composition.
- Advanced ability in Adobe Creative Suite (Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, After Effects) and other graphic design technologies.
- In depth understanding of motion design and motion principles
- Intermediate experience using project management processes and software.
- Strong organizational and time management skills and attention to detail.
- Strong ability to multi-task and uses time efficiently.
- Excellent interpersonal skills and ability to maintain smoothly functioning relationships across various departments.
- Excellent communication skills including written and verbal; ability to present ideas clearly and concisely.
- Ability to work nights and weekends to assist in game night coverage.
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Must present a portfolio of works that represents a diverse, creative skill set including:
- Publication layout
- Typography
- Social graphics
- Identity/logo design and style guide development
- Photo editing and compositing
- Motion graphics
- Retail/Product design
- Environmental design
- Ability to address, adapt to, and overcome challenges in a fast-paced, dynamic environment
- Demonstrated aptitude for driving results
- High attention to detail
- Demonstrates Chicago Blackhawks core values of integrity, curiosity, empathy, collaboration, and originality
The Team:
The Chicago Blackhawks started their journey as one of the NHL’s “Original Six” professional ice hockey teams in 1926. Members of the Central Division in the NHL’s Western Conference and six-time Stanley Cup Champions (1934, 1938, 1961, 2010, 2013, 2015), the team calls the United Center home.
The Chicago Blackhawks proudly show up every day #ReadyToWork to make Chicago Proud and reimagine the potential of hockey. At its core, the team and greater organization uphold its mission through its core values centered around integrity, curiosity, empathy, collaboration, and originality. They are fiercely dedicated to evolving and delivering new and legendary fan experiences and captivating new and diverse audiences, both on and off the ice. As part of their unwavering commitment to drive impact and purpose in the Chicago community, the organization opened the Fifth Third Arena (the team’s official practice facility and community space for youth hockey development), continues to make expansions to the Chicago Blackhawks Foundation, and acquired the AHL team the Rockford IceHogs.
The Chicago Blackhawks continue to grow in its commitments to honor and celebrate Black Hawk's legacy by offering our platforms, making meaningful contributions, collaborating with Native American people, and reimagining ways to support the many Native American people and communities they live amongst and alongside. They engage in this work through their formal partnership with Black Hawk’s ancestral tribe, the Sac and Fox Nation of Oklahoma, which the tribe established with the Chicago Blackhawks in 2021.
The Chicago Blackhawks is an equal opportunity employer that values diversity at all levels. All individuals, regardless of personal characteristics, are encouraged to apply. All qualified applications will receive consideration for employment without regard to gender, race, religion or religious creed, color, gender identity, gender expression, national origin, ancestry, physical or mental disability, medical condition, marital status, registered domestic partner status, age, sexual orientation, military or veteran status, or any other basis protected by federal, state, local law, ordinance, or regulation and will not be discriminated against on these bases.
