Director of Design

WHO WE ARE

The National Alliance for Public Charter Schools (National Alliance) is the leading national nonprofit organization committed to advancing the public charter school movement.

When given the option, parents increasingly are choosing to enroll their children in public charter schools. In most communities, the demand for charter schools is far outpacing the supply. There are over 3.7 million students attending 8,150 charter schools with 251,000 teachers across 45 states, Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico, and Guam with charter schools in development in Kentucky and North Dakota.

The work of the National Alliance and the charter school movement itself has never been more current, visible, and vital. With increased growth, public awareness, recognition, and parents’ increased appetite for school options, charter schools are poised to make a lasting, positive, and measurable impact on the public education system. At the same time, the work to increase the number of high-quality schools is not easy; there are well-resourced opponents of charter schools that are organized better than ever before in their attempt to halt our progress. Fueled by a sense of possibility and recognizing the challenges we face, the National Alliance is seeking a talented Director of Design to help advance our mission through compelling, strategic, and high-impact visual communications.

WHAT WE DO

The National Alliance occupies a critical role in the charter movement: as a leader in federal education policy, as a major force for improving state charter policy and advocacy, and as a prominent national voice in the policy and public discourse on public charter schools. We work to:

• Fuel the growth of high-quality public charter schools by advocating for increased public funding of charter schools;
• Improve the overall health and perception of the movement to increase our political influence with policymakers; and
• Shape federal and state policy to create the climate in which high-quality charter schools can grow.

The National Alliance speaks and advocates for the millions of students attending and hoping to attend a charter school. Through our advocacy efforts at the federal and state level, our legal activities, our research, and our national communications work, we ensure lawmakers, the media, opinion-shapers, public charter school leaders, thought leaders, and the general public understand what charter schools are, the promise they hold for our children, and how best to promote the growth of high-quality, innovative schools nationwide.

WHAT YOU'LL DO

Our movement succeeds when every touchpoint, from a Capitol Hill one-pager to a 60-foot conference screen, looks and feels world-class. As our first Director of Design, you will build an entrepreneurial, in-house studio that delivers best-in-sector visual communications at the speed of policy and public debate.

What you'll own and Why it's important

End-to-end creative vision, production, design, print, infographics, digital, motion, and environmental assets: research reports, annual reports, data viz, social campaigns, microsite “skins,” conference assets, rapid-response graphics, PowerPoints, fact sheets, and congressional leave-behinds.

We release high-stakes publications and need brand-perfect visuals on tight deadlines.

Brand governance & refresh: auditing and evolving our visual identity; codifying standards; supporting team so every slide deck and tweet advances one strong brand voice.

Consistency fuels credibility.

Vendor leadership: managing, educating, and inspiring designers, freelancers, photographers, and illustrators; manage budgets and timelines with a producer’s rigor.

Scalable capacity keeps us agile year-round.

Collaborating with web developers to ship world-class, performant site templates; prototype new digital storytelling formats that amplify research and advocacy.

Our data and stories must shine online.

Executive & donor visuals: crafting high-impact decks, infographics, and motion pieces that help our CEO, policy leads, and development team win hearts, minds, and resources.

Design accelerates influence.

WHO YOU ARE

• You have a strong artistic vision—able to take rough concepts or minimal direction and develop creative, visually cohesive designs tailored to different campaigns and audiences.
• You have a portfolio of game-changing work spanning print, web, social, motion, and environmental graphics showcasing mastery of typography, color, composition, and storytelling.
• You bring an entrepreneurial builder’s mindset: you relish inventing systems, tools, and processes from scratch and iterating fast.
• You have expert command of Adobe suite of tools, Figma, Keynote/PowerPoint, and basic HTML/CSS; Wordpress, motion or 3-D skills (After Effects, Cinema 4D) a plus.
• You bring strategic thinking & news sense, ability to distill complex education policy into visuals that move policymakers, parents, and press.
• You operate with inclusive leadership and proven record of mentoring diverse creative teams and championing accessible design.
• You have 8 or more years of experience, with a significant portion in a mission-driven, high-velocity environment (media, advocacy, agency, or tech) and at least two years managing people or vendors.
• You seek relentless quality and rapid turnaround; you thrive where excellence and urgency coexist.
• You have data-informed creativity, you love A/B-testing a tweet graphic as much as polishing a 120-page report layout.
• You are a collaborative diplomat and cheerful contributor, fluent working across comms, research, policy, and events to align goals and feedback.
• You have experience in the charter school sector or similar industries.

WHAT WE OFFER

The National Alliance for Public Charter Schools offers a sector-leading salary and benefits package. The National Alliance covers 100% of an employee’s medical, dental, and vision premiums, and 50% for spouses and dependents, including an HRA to cover 100% of in-network medical deductibles. We also offer the ability to contribute to a 403(b) retirement account with up to a 6% match after 90 days of employment. Employees have access to automatic life insurance coverage, short- and long-term disability coverage, FSA, and 12 weeks of fully paid parental leave. All employees receive 25 PTO days a year, as well as every federal holiday off and a week off at the end of the year. The National Alliance is a virtual organization and provides a monthly reimbursement for internet and cellular service, as well as a $500 home office setup stipend in your first 90 days.

The National Alliance is committed to providing an equitable and competitive compensation package for all employees. The anticipated base salary range for this role is $85,000–$110,000, commensurate with experience and qualifications.

HOW TO APPLY

To apply, please visit www.publiccharters.org/jobs and submit an application. Please include a resume, cover letter, and link to your portfolio.