Designer, Visual Storytelling

Location: Remote (U.S. Only)

About the role

We are seeking a full-time designer focused on visual storytelling to join The 19th's award-winning Creative team. This role will be instrumental in bringing our most ambitious journalism to life visually, in service of our mission to center women, LGBTQ+ people, and others historically underserved by traditional news media.

You will work closely with the Editorial Director of Visuals to develop original visual storytelling across illustration, social graphics, and visual identity systems, spanning both daily news and long-term editorial projects. On the Creative team, you'll work within the social and brand systems built by our Brand Designer while focusing your own work on story-specific visual journalism. You'll also collaborate with our Multimedia Producer to ensure visual consistency across platforms and formats.

This is a multidisciplinary role for a visual journalist who can move quickly between editorial illustration, social design, daily news graphics, and larger visual projects. You will support the newsroom's daily publishing needs while also partnering with the Brand Designer to develop distinct visual identities for features, series, elections, and other major coverage. You will independently manage many assignments from concept through publication and will assign and art-direct freelance illustrators when a project requires a particular style, perspective, or additional capacity.

Responsibilities

• Create daily editorial designs and illustrations, often completing multiple assignments in a day:
  • Produce story art, original illustrations, and social graphics for breaking news and planned coverage.
  • Match the complexity of the work to the deadline, platform, and editorial importance of the assignment.
• Develop thoughtful visual approaches for The 19th’s core coverage areas:
  • Find original, specific ways to visualize reporting on gender and sexuality, reproductive health, caregiving, disability, economic inequality, and political representation, particularly when stories are sensitive or lack an obvious visual solution.
  • Avoid clichés, stereotypes, and repetitive visual shorthand.
• Translate reporting into clear and accurate visual concepts:
  • Read story drafts, identify the central idea the visual(s) should communicate, and collaborate with reporters, editors, and audience producers to confirm framing and factual details.
• Collaborate with Audience on visual strategy:
  • Partner with the Audience team in an ongoing feedback loop — bringing audience insights, visual expertise, editorial judgment, and the needs of the story together to shape and refine visual approaches over time.
• Manage projects and communicate clearly from assignment through publication:
  • Track timelines, deliverables, and feedback across multiple concurrent projects.
  • Keep the Editorial Director of Visuals and project stakeholders informed about progress and raise questions about deadlines, scope, or blockers early.
• Develop visual identities for major editorial projects:
  • Create visual systems for series, features, elections, and other special coverage in partnership with the Brand Designer.
  • Build approaches that feel distinct to the project while remaining connected to The 19th’s broader visual identity.
• Assign and art-direct freelance illustrators:
  • Identify appropriate artists, review portfolios, write creative briefs, and guide commissioned work from initial sketches through final delivery.
  • Coordinate artist selection, scope, schedule, and budget with the Editorial Director of Visuals.
• Collaborate across the newsroom to develop and refine visual storytelling:
  • Work closely with the Editorial Director of Visuals and other members of the Creative team, as well as audience producers, reporters, and editors, to brainstorm concepts, identify the strongest visual approach, and incorporate editorial and creative feedback from assignment through publication.
• Adapt and prepare work for publication across platforms:
  • Create versions of the work adapted to The 19th’s website, newsletters, and social channels, accounting for mobile presentation, cropping, accessibility, and platform requirements.
• Manage assignments from brief through final delivery:
  • Confirm deliverables and deadlines, communicate progress, incorporate feedback, maintain organized files, and flag when competing priorities require a reduced scope, adjusted timeline, or outside support.
• Maintain editorial, brand, and accessibility standards:
  • Review final work for accuracy, spelling, sourcing, licensing, legibility, and technical quality.
  • Avoid visual framing that misrepresents the reporting, reinforces harmful stereotypes, or implies facts that have not been established.
• Contribute to editorial and creative planning:
  • Participate in relevant meetings and visual critiques, surface upcoming design needs, and recommend when a story should use an existing template, an original illustration, a new visual system, or a freelance collaborator.
• Non-essential functions (as capacity permits):
  • Participate in culture building and inclusive decision-making.
  • Contribute to cross-team learning, leadership development, and organizational planning.
  • Participate in team, organizational, and individual relationship building and professional development throughout the year.

Requirements

• 4+ years of experience in visual journalism, editorial design, illustration, or a related field, ideally within a newsroom, media organization, or agency setting, working in a fast-paced, deadline-driven environment.
• A strong portfolio of editorial illustration, story-specific graphics, and identity systems built for special projects.
• Demonstrated ability to work as a visual generalist and move efficiently between daily production, original illustration, and larger creative projects.
• Demonstrated ability to develop original visual concepts for complex, abstract, or sensitive subjects that may not have an obvious visual solution.
• Experience developing visual identities or design systems for individual stories, series, or special coverage.
• Experience commissioning illustrators, writing creative briefs, and art-directing work through final delivery.
• Strong working knowledge of Figma and Adobe Creative Suite.
• Strong prioritization, communication, and project-management skills, including the ability to work independently and manage several assignments at once in a remote workplace.
• Working knowledge of accessibility principles for digital design, including contrast, typography, reading order, and mobile presentation.
• A demonstrated commitment to journalism that serves women, LGBTQ+ people, and communities historically underserved by traditional news organizations.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience working in nonprofit media organizations or public-interest journalism environments.
• Experience creating maps, charts, timelines, or other explanatory graphics.
• Familiarity with motion design, simple animation, or video graphics.

Skills

• A visual storyteller who understands the power of design in journalism and audience engagement.
• An independent problem-solver who can bring creative ideas to life while balancing multiple priorities.
• A team player who thrives in cross-functional collaboration and can work seamlessly with both creative and editorial teams.
• Passionate about The 19th’s mission and committed to making journalism more inclusive, accessible, and impactful.

Benefits

• Vacation time off (20 days per year)
• Sick time off (10 days per year)
• Personal time off (6 days per year)
• Holidays (18 days on average)
• Paid family leave (100% up to 6 months)
• Caregiver leave (100% up to 4 months)
• 401(k) plan (up to 3.5% matching on 6% contribution)
• Flexible Spending Plan (for qualifying medical or child care expenses)
• Health Savings Account
• Health, vision, and dental insurance (100% for employee / 60% for dependents)
• Professional development stipends
• Wellness and work-from-home reimbursement benefits
• Long-term and short-term disability insurance
• Life insurance

Pay

$80,000 - $105,000

Schedule

• Full-time
• Travel requirements: 1-2 times per year