Ascend Learning is a national leader in data driven, online educational solutions for learners, educators and employers in high-growth, licensure-driven professions spanning healthcare, fitness and wellness, skilled trades, insurance, and financial services. We are passionate about accelerating learning while impacting job readiness, employment success and employee retention with the belief that our work changes lives.
Our culture is intentionally results-driven and selfless with a relentless focus on our customers. We believe in trust, transparency, freedom, and responsibility with a commitment to meritocracy, inclusion and diversity of thought. Continual investment in our over 1400 employees is also a core principle realized through ongoing professional development and providing opportunities to grow, develop and lead. Ascend Learning is headquartered in Burlington, MA with additional office locations and remote workers in cities across the U.S. and in the U.K.
Since 1989, National Healthcareer Association (NHA) has been partnering with education programs, organizations and employers across the nation to award more than one million allied health certifications to empower people to access a better future. We offer eight nationally accredited exams, certification preparation and study materials; industry-leading outcomes-based analytics, as well as learning resources, ongoing professional development and continuing education for our certification holders.
NHA is currently hiring a Graphic Design and Creative Marketing Manager. The Graphic Design and Creative Manager must be an organized, detail-oriented, driven & creative individual both in mind and heart who is passionate about our brand and driving value for our customers. This designer must bring the brand to life visually across a variety of mediums and understand how to do this for each of our audiences in a way that encourages engagement and helps with NHA’s demand generation and brand efforts. This person will be responsible for daily design needs of the business unit, more complex creative and concepting, and everything in between, working with external resources (agency and freelancers) when needed to achieve business goals.
Roles and Responsibilities:
Help NHA evolve our creative strategy, working with the VP, Brand + Marketing
Design campaign, tradeshow and digital concepts and deliverables that engage, create interest and generate demand to achieve business results
Provide design support to internal teams, delegating to outsourced resources (agency, freelancers) as needed to create efficiencies
Regularly evolve & propose updates to our visual brand guidelines and monitor brand guideline utilization to optimize our perception in the market
Advise on and evaluate creative produced by our agency, vendors, resources
Propose ideas for, build and maintain our creative asset library (videos, images, brand assets; also manage related contracts and usage rights), keeping track of inventory and ensuring brand assets are accessible as needed to internal employees and vendors
Oversee the design of our website; Propose, update and optimize layout and landing pages to encourage engagement and demand generation
Manage all creative brand assets across digital/online and multi-media
Design online and print ads or provide direction to agency/freelancer to produce effective, engaging advertisements
Work with printers and manage file sharing/collection and quality checks post-production
Manage creative and supply vendors and related budgets, resources, working with VP and other Marketing Managers
Leverage best practices to lead design and use of key digital lead gen assets (e.g. virtual tradeshow booths, interactive landing pages, videos, etc.)
Manage key stakeholder relationships in complex technical projects
Provide creative/art direction and concepting and project manage and execute key strategic design projects on-time, with impact (e.g. annual access™ publication, brand pitch deck, national business meeting)
Leverage digital, design & tech stack best practices to create engaging, ROI-driven campaign assets
Manages and gives direction to freelance resources/designers
Proposes creative resources, tools & processes to assist with efficiencies and engagement
Oversees the flow of requests and projects to give guidance on prioritization and resource allocation across internal/external resources
Reviews data/results of marketing efforts to propose and implement needed creative adjustments and apply learnings to future projects/asset design
Identifies and applies creative best practices and principles to improve user experience to then in-turn improve engagement
Uses technology and tools (e.g. HubSpot marketing automation) to implement impactful creative assets
Education and Experience:
B.A., B.F.A. or B.S. in Graphic Design or related degree
3 + years of brand, creative, corporate, or ad agency specific experience
Excellent skills and abilities in both Adobe Creative Suite as well as Microsoft Office (Excel, Power Point, Word)
Experience working with and/or managing vendors and freelancers and working in a team environment
Experience with design inside marketing automation tools (such as HubSpot) preferred
Intermediate web design, development or intermediate HTML coding experience, a plus
Of professional experience, 1-2 years of agency design experience is preferred
Skills and Abilities:
Excellent verbal, written and presentation skills with ability to sell ideas across the business
Ability to work in fast-paced, deadline-driven, high-growth environment from concepting to execution
Ability to work with variety of personalities, peers and all levels of management with ease and confidence in a support and creative lead role
Appreciates new perspectives and is open-minded to change; ability to be flexible and agile as needed to support the business
Values quality and is detail-oriented
Excited about and open to continually learning, growing and evolving in the role with potential to indirectly or directly manage other creative resources in the future
Candidates should be aware that Ascend Learning currently maintains a policy requiring all employees to be fully vaccinated. Newly hired employees must be fully vaccinated by their start date. Ascend Learning is an equal opportunity employer and will provide a reasonable accommodation to those unable to be vaccinated where it is not an undue hardship to the Company to do so as provided under federal, state, and local law. Exceptions to the vaccine requirement may apply for employees living or working in Montana.
Ascend Learning, LLC is proud to be an equal opportunity employer (M/F/Vets/Disabled). No agency or search firm submissions will be accepted. Applications for U.S. based positions with Ascend Learning, LLC must be legally authorized to work in the United States and verification of employment eligibility will be required at the time of hire.
