Art Director, News Design

Join the hundreds of talented and innovative team members who are making an impact every day at California Times, incorporating Los Angeles Times and San Diego Union-Tribune, two of the most iconic media brands in the nation. Whether you love to tell compelling stories or want to drive our award-winning powerhouse in new directions, the Los Angeles Times team is the place to be.
Summary
The Los Angeles Times is seeking an art director to join its news design team. The ideal candidate has experience working in digital media, commissioning and art-directing illustrations, with a portfolio that shows off high-level skills in design, typography and visual storytelling. This person will be comfortable working under the deadlines of a busy newsroom and be willing to roll up their sleeves when needed to build story layouts for our digital stories, design branding for newsletters or podcasts and create photo illustrations. 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.

In this role you will:

• Design and art-direct A1 as well as section covers and inside pages for the California, Business, Sports and Opinion sections, booking as necessary
• Organize and take the lead on digital design projects such as Instagram accounts or newsletters, as well as coach designers to do the same
• Develop innovative design ideas and approaches to storytelling
• Learn and follow style guidelines
• Seek out new illustrator portfolios to add to our inclusive database of illustrators, with an emphasis on L.A. artists
• Design, art-direct and coordinate projects and the digital builds of our stories using our CMS
• Commission and art-direct freelance illustrators
• Create branding for new initiatives
• Collaborate with copy editors, assigning editors, reporters, website producers, graphics editors and photo/visual journalists to tell stories with impact
• Create photo illustrations for daily digital stories and social media
• Work with design managers to ensure brand coherence
• Experiment with what we can do as digital designers

Requirements

• Exceptional verbal and written communication skills
• Positive self-starter capable of performing under pressure and making good decisions
• High energy and enthusiasm for journalism and visual storytelling
• Experience with animation, motion graphics or After Effects a plus
• Previous experience with CCI Newsgate or similar CMS
• Strong editorial news judgment, impeccable journalistic instincts and an unimpeachable commitment to ethics
• Excellent time-management skills
• Strong working knowledge of design software such as InDesign, Photoshop and Illustrator
• A minimum of seven years of experience at a comparable digital-first journalistic publication or website
• Demonstrated ability to design for daily digital stories and social media
• A portfolio of work that demonstrates excellence in photo editing, typography and art direction
• Ability to work effectively in a team environment
• Ability to work on a tight deadline, especially in breaking news situations
• A keen eye for current design trends and the ability to create designs in a variety of styles

This position is listed as Art Director in the Los Angeles Times Guild and will be based in El Segundo, Calif. Night and weekend work is expected.
The L.A. Times is an equal opportunity employer and welcomes expressions of interest from people with diverse backgrounds and perspectives.
The pay scale for this position is $82,347 to $110,074. This is the pay scale range the Company reasonably expects to pay for this position at the time of this posting. Compensation will be determined based on skills, qualifications and experience of the applicant along with the requirements of the position. Please visit our career site to view the benefits available to our employees as well as our company history, achievement, values, mission and more.
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.
Qualified candidates should submit a resume, cover letter and portfolio to Deputy Design Director Allison Hong at the apply link. Please note, the opportunity to attach additional documents appears on the third screen and is labeled "Upload."

Thank you for your interest in joining our team at the Los Angeles Times! We look forward to reviewing your application.