Creative Associate Director, University of Wisconsin-Madison Cartography Lab

The Cart Lab Creative Associate Director manages student-facing, client-based design contracts, provides undergraduate and graduate students a unique apprenticeship experience, and assists with Cart Lab administration and leadership activities.

Established in 1953, the UW-Madison Cartography Lab is a full-service production facility conducting research and development on cartographic design and geographic visualization. The Cart Lab is a center within the UW-Madison Department of Geography, which has been a leading center for cartographic design and research for the past 75 years. The Cart Lab works with partners across the UW system, municipal through federal agencies, and commercial clients and publishers, providing both undergraduate and graduate students a unique apprenticeship experience for research and design projects. The Cart Lab comprises a permanent Faculty Director (1-month salary equivalent), Creative Director (12-month, 100% FTE), and Graduate Project Assistant (50% FTE), several affiliated faculty, and student hourly positions with computing capacity up to 17 students, who can be recruited from any of the Geography Department’s two undergraduate majors, three research graduate programs, and four professional graduate programs. The Cart Lab sits in an open-floor plan room in historic Science Hall in the heart of campus, with the Creative Director assigned an adjacent private office.

The Creative Director works with the Cart Lab Faculty Director to establish, implement, and review lab vision, services, budgets, and policies. The Creative Director manages student-facing, client-based design contracts, including client communication, bidding and budgeting, student hiring, design specification, and contract delivery and closing. In this capacity, the Creative Director mentors students, and provides professional development opportunities for undergraduate and graduate students for various job tracks in the cartographic industry. As a member of the UW Geography Department, the Creative Director collaborates with department faculty, staff, and students on mapping projects and contributes to departmental and campus service and governance.

The ideal candidate will leverage demonstrated cartographic design and leadership experience to enhance student learning and better prepare students for a career in cartography. The ideal candidate also will have a long-term commitment for maintaining their technical and design skillsets, a wide and growing network of professional relationships in cartography across sectors, and a passion for contributing to the UW-Madison Geography Department’s mission of excellence in research, teaching, community-engaged service, and diversity, equity, and inclusion.

Qualifications

Required Qualifications
– Degree: MA or MS in Geography, Cartography & GIS, or a field related to the position
– Minimum three years of work experience in cartographic design and map production
– Demonstrated experience contributing to or leading small-to-intermediate sized teams on cartographic design projects
– Demonstrated experience working with or bidding client contracts, designing project workflows, reviewing project milestones, and managing project budgets
– Demonstrated experience with ArcGIS Pro and the Adobe Creative Suite, as applied for cartographic design
– Demonstrated experience with web mapping platforms and services such as ArcGIS Online, Esri Story Maps, Mapbox Studio and/or Carto
– The ability to work independently with minimal supervision and as part of a collaborative team

Preferred Qualifications
– Balanced experience in print and online cartographic design
– Familiarity with open source GIS and graphic design software
– Familiarity with web design using HTML and CSS
– Familiarity with JavaScript-based open source web mapping libraries Leaflet.js and D3.js
– Demonstrated experience mentoring employees

Assists with creative content production’s strategic planning and execution. Provides subject matter expertise and consultation to stakeholders and supervises staff.

• 5% Develops, implements, and maintains work unit identity, design standards, policies, and procedures to ensure appropriate use of financial, administrative, and staffing resources
• 5% Develops and monitors creative communication plans and dissemination protocols, workflows, and progress measurements to ensure production adheres to unit objectives in alignment with strategic initiatives
• 15% Creates, designs, and produces artwork per client specifications through various mediums
• 5% Serves as a subject matter expert and liaison between external and internal stakeholders providing information regarding creative design strategies and representing the interests of the unit
• 5% Maintains unit budget and financial records to ensure adherence with institution and rules and regulations
• 45% Exercises supervisory authority, including hiring, transferring, suspending, promoting, managing conduct and performance, discharging, assigning, rewarding, disciplining, and/or approving hours worked of at least 2.0 full-time equivalent (FTE) employees
• 10% Mentors students and organizes student-facing professional development activities and events
• 10% Contributes to departmental and campus service and governance