Deputy Design Director, De Los (Temporary)

The Los Angeles Times is seeking a temporary deputy design director who will be responsible for managing and maintaining the visual identity for The Times' platform, De Los.

De Los, through reporting, social media and stunning visual display, brings to life the vibrancy of the U.S. Latino experience with a focus on culture and identity. This treasured space for Latino storytelling builds on the success of the Latinx Files newsletter, digital Día de Muertos altar and packages on the Chicano Moratorium, Fernandomania @ 40and LA Vanguardia. The initiative is multi-platformed in approach, with rich visual storytelling, provocative commentary and live events. 

The ideal candidate has experience working in digital media and creating content for social media audiences, with a portfolio that shows off high-level skills in design, typography and visual storytelling. 

This visual journalist will have a deep understanding of the Latino community, not just in Southern California but across the country, and have a proven track record of working across platforms to create compelling digital journalism. 

They will be adept at working under the deadlines of a busy newsroom, building story layouts for our digital stories and creating photo illustrations and assets for social feeds. They will be able to shift from assigning illustrations and videos one minute to creating a compelling visual for our social media platforms the next. 

The person in this role will be comfortable managing an art director and working with freelance artists and video journalists, with experience delegating and assigning tasks.

We want to make the visual voice of the Los Angeles Times truly special — a creative reflection of Los Angeles — and are looking for an energetic collaborator to join our team. If you are passionate about design, content creation and Latino culture, we want to hear from you.

In this position, you will:

• Work with senior leadership to maintain De Los’ visual identity, receive feedback and iterate 
• Work with De Los’ general manager and editorial director to further the project’s direction
• Learn and follow style guidelines
• Have an understanding of digital video and social media platforms including Instagram and TikTok
• Manage an art director, delegate and assign tasks 
• Commission and art-direct freelance illustrators
• Create photo illustrations for daily digital stories and social media
• Commission and art-direct freelance video journalists for social videos
• Manage and conceptualize the design of long-term projects and develop innovative design ideas and approaches to storytelling
• Attend daily and weekly team meetings
• Organize and track visuals for upcoming stories and projects 
• Maintain De Los’ social platforms, create social posts and captions
• Work with De Los editors and reporters with story layouts for our digital stories
• Bring people together across multiple disciplines (editing, photo, video, audio, etc.) to create cohesive experiences

Requirements:

• 5-10 years of related experience 
• Impeccable journalistic instincts and an unimpeachable commitment to ethics 
• A deep understanding of the Latino community
• Experience designing responsively across platforms
• Experience working with custom CMS platforms and maintaining special web builds
• Experience within a digital-first publishing environment, preferably in a newspaper or magazine setting
• Prior management or equivalent leadership experience
• A portfolio showcasing your top editorial design projects. Must demonstrate a knowledge of typography, photo editing, color and information organization
• Demonstrated ability to lead long-term projects 
• High level of experience with the Adobe Creative Suite 
• A collaborative skill set and disposition
• An imaginative eye and a willingness to think differently about stories and pitch your approach to collaborators in the newsroom
• Excellent verbal and written communications skills
• Strong time-management skills
• Highly detail oriented with a love for organization, workflow and processes
• Exceptional art direction and design skills
• Ability to produce multiple design concepts for projects and stories
• Positive self-starter capable of performing under pressure and making good decisions

This full-time temporary position is expected to start in January or February and last six months. It will be based in El Segundo, Calif. Occasional night and weekend work is possible. Qualified applicants should upload a resume, cover letter and portfolio to Deputy Design Director Martina Ibáñez-Baldor at the apply link. Your cover letter should outline, in brief terms, the strategy you’d apply to build on the work of De Los and engage our digital audiences. Please also include desired skills, qualities and characteristics that tell us more about you as a leader.

The L.A. Times is an equal opportunity employer and welcomes all qualified applicants regardless of race, ethnicity, religion, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, disability status, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law. We actively work to create an inclusive environment where all of our employees can thrive. This Privacy Notice for Los Angeles Times sets forth how we will use the information we obtain when you apply for a position through this career site. Explore our company history, achievement, values, mission and more on our career site. 
 
The pay scale the Company reasonably expects to pay for this position at the time of the posting is $57.69 to $60.10 and takes into account a wide range of factors including but not limited to skill set, experience, training, licenses, certifications, and other business or organizational needs. Compensation will be determined based on the above factors along with the requirements of the position. At the L.A. Times, it is not typical for an individual to be hired at or near the top of the range for the role. Please visit our career site to view the benefits available to our employees. We recommend adding our applicant tracking system domain (@dayforce.com) as a safe sender or contact, sometimes these emails get filtered to candidates' spam folders.
 
The Company is a mandatory vaccination employer for COVID-19 and its variants. The Company requires that its employees be fully vaccinated as of their start date. If you require a medical or religious accommodation, we will engage in the interactive process with you. Proof of vaccination will be required prior to start. If we make you an offer and you are not yet vaccinated, we will accommodate a delay in start date.