Motion Graphics & Production Designer

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WQED Multimedia is seeking a Motion Graphics Designer for its Local Production team to work with our storytellers to imagine and design high-quality visual elements for multidisciplinary creative content. You will be expected to create rich motion graphics that provoke emotional reactions and sensory experiences across WQED’s content (linear television, streaming, web, social media, with consideration for audio simulcasts).

Reporting to our Manager of Content and Creative Operations, this role will be responsible for developing and designing concepts and materials that enhance WQED’s stories through production and postproduction. We expect you to elevate our visual identity, creating a tangible shift in how audiences perceive and appreciate WQED’s unique and diverse content portfolio.

We’re seeking a problem-solving, detail-oriented self-starter and brand champion who values accountability for cohesive consistency across all formats and distribution channels. You should be an excellent communicator with superior organizational skills. Someone who can initiate their own ideas, while both providing and receiving direction through respectful collaboration and value for a beloved and local legacy multimedia organization. This role requires originality and talent that elevates creativity beyond templated rinse-and-repeat approaches.

This is a hybrid role that’s expected to commute to and contribute from WQED’s offices in the Oakland neighborhood of Pittsburgh at least three days per week.

ABOUT WQED

WQED Multimedia champions communities by telling stories and creating experiences that educate, entertain and inspire our neighbors and friends in Pittsburgh and across southwestern Pennsylvania. Seventy years ago, we launched the country’s first community-supported television station—a forerunner to PBS. Fifty years ago, our classical radio station went on the air. Looking forward, we aim to become known as more than a broadcaster as we enrich communities through education and storytelling.

COMPENSATION & BENEFITS

Compensation for this full-time position ranges between $28.00 and $32.00/hour, commensurate with experience. Employer-sponsored benefits include health insurance via UPMC’s Business Advantage plan ($500 deductible, with premiums on a wage-based sliding scale). WQED pays 100% of the premiums for: Delta Dental PPO, long-term disability insurance from The Hartford, and basic life insurance at 1.5X salary. We offer optional vision insurance through Vision Benefits of America. After 12 months, WQED also contributes 5% of employees’ salary to a 403(b) retirement plan managed by TIAA-CREF.

RESPONSIBILITIES (including but not limited to)

• Design, execute, and adapt motion graphics and related visual assets for WQED’s original productions, within broader brand guidelines and creative frameworks
• Create and deliver high quality video graphic packages(i.e. title sequences, lower thirds, credits, etc.), designs, animations and motion graphics in numerous styles, options and alternatives, that complement and heighten the storytelling experience
• Innovate new ways for graphics to foster higher engagement and enhance WQED’s unique storytelling
• Brainstorm with multidisciplinary creative content teams, as a contributing leader of inspiration for projects of all kinds
• Develop fresh ideas that can serve as the creative connective tissue across all screens, offering a harmonious and consistent content experience that inspires and invites viewers to be emotionally engaged and moved by WQED’s storytelling
• Conduct research on emerging trends, industry standards, innovative formats and efficient techniques that enable the continual evolution of engagement and creativity
• Make decisions based on data insights, brand guidelines and WQED’s strategic priorities
• Provide creative art-direction and mentorship to junior and freelance designers
• Properly archive new designs and develop familiarity with past designs for potential retrieval and use in future projects

SKILLS & QUALIFICATIONS (including but not limited to)

• 8+ years of motion graphics and graphic design experience that has aligned and evolved with innovation and emerging trends
• Strong understanding of design principles, composition, typography and trending layouts
• Master of After Effects, Photoshop, Illustrator, Premiere Pro and other software for creating motion and still graphics. 
• Established success as a future forward innovator of concept development, storyboarding and creative problem solving
• Consistent demonstration of attention to detail when it comes to the finer notes of brand consistency
• Proven ability balancing multiple projects, while meeting tight and shifting deadlines, without compromising high quality results
• Communication skills that articulate vision, educate benefits and establish comfort around design decision and rationale
• Strong technical understand of motion design concepts, staying updated on trends, coupled with the ability to take calculated risks in the spirit of innovation
• Experience working with multidisciplinary teams and creatives from producers to designers to marketing professionals
• Exceptional accountability, reliability, professionalism and self-awareness to lead projects from start to finish managing expectations along the way and integration of collaborative direction

EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY

WQED Multimedia is a fair and equal employer, providing access and opportunities to all applicants without regard to race, color, creed, religious beliefs, gender, gender identity, self expression, sexual orientation, marital status, age, national origin, ethnicity, ancestry, citizenship, disability, medical condition, pregnancy, veteran status, membership in the uniformed services, genetic information, or any other basis protected by applicable law and as directed by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. WQED Multimedia provides equitable consideration for employment for qualified applicants with criminal histories in a manner consistent with relevant legal requirements. Qualified applicants with a disability or disabled veterans who are unable or limited in their ability to apply (as a result of their disability) have the right to request reasonable accommodation by emailing careers@WQED.org.