About the Role

• The New York Times Opinion department is looking for a Design Director to work with editors and visual teams to distinguish our coverage wherever it is encountered.
• You will help convey to audiences on all platforms how Times opinion coverage is distinct from newsroom coverage.
• You will partner with senior visual leaders, collaborating with graphics, photography, video and podcast teams.
• You will work with Opinion editors and teams across the company to reach new audiences with ideas and formats that provoke intelligent conversation and debate.
• You are an imaginative leader, able to translate complex ideas into accessible narrative experiences with a high standard of craft.
• This is both a design and management role.
• You will be responsible for hands-on design and art direction.
• You will also play an active part in the broader design community, mentoring outside artists and designers as contributors and cultivating new talent.
• This is an in-office position, based in New York City and includes regular attendance in the office.
• There may be some flexibility to work remotely per your departmental guidance.

Responsibilities

• Partner with editors to conceptualize and execute a cohesive creative vision across print and digital platforms, translating editorial into original visual storytelling.
• Lead art direction and develop weekly concepts for the Daily Opinion report and Sunday Opinion, including high-impact cover stories, features, and packages.
• Translate complex journalism into immersive, scalable, visually driven digital experiences, shaping interactive storytelling, across platforms.
• Drive concept development from ideation through execution, inspiring and nurturing designers while presenting multiple creative explorations and format options.
• Collaborate closely with cross-functional teams—including editorial, photo, design, data, audience, video, and audio—to align storytelling and design.
• Ensure visual consistency and creative excellence across print, digital, audio, and video platforms.
• Provide rigor in all details of execution, through hands-on execution in design, graphics, and typography.
• Collaborate with and cultivate relationships with artists and illustrators from sketches through final execution.
• Demonstrate support and understanding of our value of journalistic independence and a strong commitment to our mission to seek the truth and help people understand the world.
• You will report to the Creative Director.

Basic Qualifications

• 7+ years of design experience across print and digital, with 3+ years leading designers and art directors.
• Deep expertise in design fundamentals across digital, mobile, print, and video, with advanced proficiency in Figma, InDesign, and Adobe Creative Suite.
• Proven ability to shape and develop editorial content, collaborating with a global network of illustrators, photographers, filmmakers, and videographers.
• Strong communicator of visual ideas, translating concepts through conversation, sketches, and wireframes for cross-functional teams.
• Portfolio showcasing exceptional typographic, illustrative, and conceptual design work.

Preferred Qualifications

• 2+ years of digital design experience with some understanding of product limitations.
• Familiar with UX/UI guidance for complex storytelling and basic knowledge of front-end design wireframes.
• Experience working in a news/media environment.
• Highly-developed judgment of trends and styles in both illustration and photography.
• Experience maintaining brand identities while working with emerging platforms.
• Experience building collaborative environments that foster trust, mentorship and growth opportunities.
• Open to working in a fast-paced, constantly evolving news environment, managing tight deadlines, multiple stakeholder feedback, and a flexible, news-driven schedule that may include nights or weekends.