Creative Director

Job Summary:

FUSE seeks an innovative and technically capable Creative Director (CD). The CD leads the creative direction, design, software development, and implementation support that make FUSE challenges and studios engaging, accessible, and sustainable. The position directs creative staff and projects; develops digital media, print, web, and educational materials; creates software and interactive tools with contemporary AI-assisted development methods; co-designs and tests FUSE challenges;

and supports educators in using challenges, software, and fabrication technologies such as 3D printers.

* Note:

Not all aspects of the job are covered by this job description.

Specific Responsibilities:

Creative Leadership and Project Management

• Works with PI Reed Stevens and Program Director Lizzie Perkins to set the creative vision for FUSE to achieve its educational, communication, marketing, and program-development goals.
• Leads, designs, and manages the creative process and produces digital media and printed materials, including websites, educational and training materials for youth and educators, brochures, reports, marketing, advertising, and promotional materials.
• Manages creative staff, student workers, freelancers, consultants, and vendors; assigns work; develops timelines; leads meetings; reviews work; provides feedback; and maintains project-management documentation.
• Develops and maintains FUSE design, branding, accessibility, and digital-asset guidelines and ensures compliance across materials and platforms.
• Co-leads creative sessions with the PI/Founder, Program Director, researchers, software and challenge developers, media specialists, partners, and consultants to generate and improve ideas.
• May be asked to represent FUSE at conferences, demonstrations, workshops, press events, and partner meetings as appropriate.

FUSE Challenge Design, Curriculum, and Facilitator Training

• Serves as a core member of the FUSE challenge-design team and contributes the arts/design, user-experience, and technology perspective to challenge development.
• Researches, designs, develops, prototypes, tests, and improves FUSE challenges that integrate arts/design with science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEAM).
• Conceptualizes and conducts user studies and observations with students and educators; gathers user feedback, analytics, and evidence from implementation to improve challenges and other program components.
• Leads or supports user testing of FUSE challenges, facilitator-training materials, digital tools, and related program components.
• Develops challenge, training, and website content; oversees the design, testing, accessibility, and publication of content supporting FUSE challenges.
• Provides direct support and troubleshooting guidance to FUSE facilitators using challenges, including help with challenge flow, materials, software, student-facing resources, and adaptations.
• Helps train and coach new FUSE facilitators and supports professional learning for educators integrating arts/design and STEM.

Software and AI-Assisted Application Development

• Participates in the development of FUSE software, interactive learning tools, challenge-support applications, web experiences, and internal workflow tools.
• Partners with FUSE staff, educators, students, and other users to translate educational and creative needs into software features, prototypes, and usable products.
• Uses contemporary AI-assisted software-development tools responsibly to accelerate ideation, prototyping, coding, testing, debugging, documentation, accessibility review, and maintenance; independently validates, secures, and maintains all AI-generated or AI-assisted code.
• Researches emerging software, AI, web, data, and fabrication technologies and recommends tools that improve FUSE challenges, educator support, or program operations.
• Applies secure development practices, data protection, version control, documentation, and appropriate human review when using AI tools or handling student, educator, partner, or program data.

Creative Media, Communications, and Collateral

• Oversees the design and production of digital media, printed collateral, promotional materials, and educational media for FUSE.
• Writes and edits copy for diverse digital and print materials and develops storyboards for creative concepts.
• Designs and produces engaging digital media for marketing, branding, educational, and training purposes.
• Guides the Digital Media Producer and other collaborators in creating and publishing…