Assistant Athletic Director, Content Studio; U Intercollegiate Athletics

Departmental Overview

The Department of Intercollegiate Athletics consists of more than 275 staff members and coaches and sponsors 30 varsity sports programs. These 30 programs include more than 850 student‑athletes who participate in the various sports programs annually within the National Collegiate Athletics Association.

This role serves as the chief architect of the Cal Athletics brand, bridging high‑level executive strategy with professional‑grade digital production. This leader oversees the overarching visual narrative across all platforms, driving essential goals like elite student‑athlete recruitment, fan engagement, and revenue generation through brand partnerships. Operationally, the role focuses on scaling a high‑output team, mentoring full‑time creators and a large student workforce while integrating emerging technologies like AI to maintain a fast‑paced, innovative, and brand‑aligned content powerhouse.

• Define and oversee the visual identity and brand narrative for Cal Athletics, ensuring consistency across all sports and external platforms.
• Translate the department's external strategy into actionable creative concepts that drive fan engagement, student‑athlete recruitment and retention, generate revenue, and build brand loyalty.
• Proactively pitch high‑level storytelling concepts to senior leadership, aligning creative output with broader institutional goals.
• Direct the visual look and feel; for major revenue‑generating campaigns, season ticket launches, and premium in‑venue experiences.

• Supervise the Athletics Content Creators and manage the recruitment, training, and performance of a large workforce of student interns and freelancers.
  Develop and implement a comprehensive Content Creation Program to mentor student staff, ensuring they execute professional‑level storytelling that meets brand standards.
• Establish workflows and quality control measures to maintain high‑impact output across a decentralized team of creators, inclusive of regular cross‑functional syncs with sports‑specific content teams and leadership.

• Identify and integrate emerging technologies, including AI‑driven tools, to increase the speed, scale, and efficiency of content production.
• Manage the studio's production timelines and resources to ensure the successful execution of bespoke projects under tight deadlines.
• Maintain a solution‑oriented mindset to navigate the fast‑paced demands of live sporting events, 24/7 digital cycles, and the 365 nature of the sport.

• Collaborate with teams to scale and operationalize recruiting and retention content strategy and develop personalized digital content tailored for elite student‑athletes and coaching staff.
  Collaborate with marketing and development teams to produce assets specifically designed for external revenue generation and donor engagement.

• Manage content creation budgets, track expenses, and evaluate the content effectiveness via feedback and data to improve future work.

• Deep knowledge of brand development, with the ability to define and maintain a cohesive visual identity across multiple sports and platforms.
• Strong background in managing staff members in a team environment, promoting an established vision, direction, and goals.
• Expert‑level understanding of composition, typography, and cinematic narrative techniques to create "high‑impact" assets.
• Thorough knowledge of NCAA Division I rules and regulations, particularly regarding social media, recruiting, and name/image/likeness (NIL) considerations.
• Understanding of how digital content integrates with marketing funnels to drive ticket sales, donor engagement, and sponsorship value.
• Advanced skills in the full Adobe Creative Suite, specifically Premiere Pro, After Effects, Photoshop, and Illustrator.
• Knowledge of emerging generative AI tools to accelerate content scaling and improve production efficiency.
• Proficiency with high‑end cinema camera systems, lighting, and audio recording for access‑driven content.
• Technical…