UTS - Temporary Graphic Designer at UNC Chapel Hill

About the role

This position is a temporary-technical/paraprofessional role at UNC Chapel Hill, focusing on graphic design tasks that support various departments' marketing, advancement, events, and institutional priorities.

Responsibilities

• Create and update event collateral such as invitations, save-the-dates, programs, signage, name badges, displays, donor materials, and promotional pieces.
• Develop graphics for email campaigns, websites, social media, digital advertising, and other online communications.
• Support creative needs associated with the department’s upcoming facility transformation, new exhibits, immersive technology, and major public and donor-facing initiatives.
• Translate project briefs, messaging, and content into compelling visual concepts that align with established UNC and department brand standards.
• Audit existing designs and campaigns into multiple sizes, formats, and applications while maintaining visual consistency.
• Prepare production-ready files and coordinate specifications for commercial printing, signage, displays, and other physical installations.
• Edit, retouch, crop, and optimize photography and other visual assets for print and digital use.
• Maintain organized project files, editable source files, fonts, images, and final production assets to ensure materials can be easily accessed and reused by the organization.
• Work collaboratively with Advancement, Marketing, Programs, Guest Relations, and other department staff to understand project objectives and meet communications needs.
• Incorporate feedback and complete revisions efficiently, often within short production timelines.
• Provide design support for high-priority and time-sensitive projects as needs arise.
• Review finished materials for visual quality, brand consistency, accuracy, accessibility, and production readiness.
• Cook up with external printers, vendors, photographers, or other creative partners when necessary.
• Help strengthen and maintain a consistent visual identity across the department’s expanding portfolio of communications and experiences.
• Perform other graphic design and creative production duties as assigned in support of the department’s mission and strategic priorities.

Requirements and Preferences

• 3-5 years of experience in graphic design.
• Strong graphic design and visual communication skills, with a portfolio demonstrating high-quality print and digital work.
• Proficiency in Adobe Creative Suite, particularly InDesign, Illustrator, Photoshop, and Acrobat.
• Experience designing event collateral, including invitations, signage, programs, presentations, digital displays, and promotional materials.
• Strong layout, typography, color, and composition skills.
• Experience preparing files for professional printing and production, including bleed, crop, color profiles, and print specifications.
• Experience creating or adapting PowerPoint presentation graphics and templates.
• Ability to resize, reformat, and adapt creative assets efficiently across multiple platforms and formats.
• Strong attention to detail, particularly with proofreading, brand consistency, image quality, and production specifications.
• Ability to manage multiple projects and competing deadlines in a fast-paced environment.
• Comfortable receiving feedback and making revisions quickly while maintaining design quality.
• Strong organizational and file-management skills, including maintaining clear naming conventions and editable source files.
• Collaborate effectively with marketing, advancement, events, and program staff.
• Demonstrated ability to take a creative brief or general concept and translate it into a polished visual product with limited supervision.
• Familiarity with accessible design practices and designing for diverse audiences.
• Photography, photo editing, illustration, motion graphics, or basic video-editing skills are desirable.
• Familiarity with Canva and other rapid-production design platforms is a plus.
• Experience in higher education, museums, science organizations, nonprofits, fundraising, or cultural institutions is preferred.