Video & Motion Designer

DonorsChoose makes it easy for anyone to help a teacher in need, moving us closer to a nation where students in every community have the tools and experiences they need for a great education.
Since 2000, more than 5 million people and partners have contributed $1 billion to support 2 million teacher requests for classroom resources and experiences. Projects range from art supplies to build the set for a school musical, to books and puzzles that affirm students' identities, to bird seed for an at-home science project. We proudly serve all US public schools, public charter schools, and Head Start centers, and we combat systemic inequity by driving a majority of donations to schools that have been historically underfunded due to economic and racial inequity.
DonorsChoose has been recognized as a best place to work by GOOD Magazine and the Nonprofit Times, while Fast Company named DonorsChoose one of the 50 Most Innovative Companies in the World -the first time a charity has made this list. Our dedicated team works from across the United States bring classroom dreams to life.
Team Overview
Come join our passionate and mission driven in-house Brand team! We're seeking an experienced video and Motion Designer to assist us in telling compelling stories that highlight our commitment to education equity. Help us make it easier for everyone to uplift teachers and students while leading the creation of inspiring content that amplifies the voices of teachers, students, and donors.
About the Role
As our Video & Motion Designer, your role is to create engaging visual stories in collaboration with our marketing team. You'll employ various techniques such as in-person recording, video capture, animation, and motion graphics to share the stories of our teachers, students, and donors. Beyond content creation and editing, you'll be instrumental in shaping our video strategy, ensuring seamless planning, organization, and content optimization across all channels, with a strong emphasis on social media.
Responsibilities:

• Direct and manage video projects from start to finish
• Post-production tasks which include reviewing footage, making editorial decisions, audio and music additions, and final editing
• Manage setting up/taking down lights, cameras and sound equipment for live video and photo shoots as needed
• Infuse motion and animation into graphics for social media content
• Create resources and guidelines to ensure consistency and scalability in our work
• Collaborate and brainstorm with diverse teams, including marketing managers, content leads, and product designers
• Understand our audience needs and keep the work donor and teacher-centered

About You
This position might be a fit if you are:

• A content creator with a background in videography, photography, and editing with Adobe Creative Cloud.
• Skilled in planning and executing multimedia campaigns, ensuring a smooth post-production processes and end products high in quality and impact
• Able to manage project timelines, priorities, and design requirements.
• An expert in editing high-quality image and video content, enhancing it with narration, sound effects, music, and graphics with an eye for pop-culture trends
• A strong designer with a portfolio highlighting your ability to tell stories with dynamic visuals such as animation, motion graphics, or your unique visual touch
• Well-versed in social media best practices to captivate and engage new audiences, and ahead of new trends and platform changes
• A passionate and detail-oriented creative collaborator who embraces feedback and provides constructive insights
• Committed to the causes of public education and equity, working harmoniously with like-minded creatives

Bonus skills:

• Experience working in the education space
• Illustration
• Photography

Compensation and Benefits
Our compensation philosophy ensures that we are both externally competitive with tech-forward nonprofits of a similar size and internally fair in our pay practices. The following ranges represent the target offer range given the scope and experience expectations for this role.

• The hiring salary range for this role is $58,000-$63,000
• We have a hiring salary range of $64,000-$70,000 for specific higher cost of labor locations, which include New York City, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Seattle, Boston, and Washington, D.C.

Once employees are hired, everyone at DonorsChoose is eligible to receive annual performance-based raises as they grow in their role. We are open to a variety of experiences, and recognize that the person we hire may be less experienced or more senior than this job description as posted. If you don't check every box listed here, or you know you'd bring additional experience to the table, we hope you'll submit your application.
In addition, we offer full-time staff 25 paid vacation days per year and 11 paid holidays, a rich employer-paid individual and family health plan, a matching 401(k) plan (up to 5% of base salary), annual professional development stipend, and casual and flexible work environment. To learn more about what it is like to work for DonorsChoose, visit our careers page .
Hybrid Workplace and Other Details
In this role, you'll have the option to work a flexible hybrid schedule in our NYC office, or to work fully remotely from CA, CO, CT, DC, FL, GA, IL, IN, ME, MA, MD, MI, NJ, NY, OR, PA, RI, TX, VA, WA, or WI.
Candidates who are not in the NYC area should expect to travel to our NYC office on an as-needed basis, about 4-6 times per year. All work-related travel expenses will be covered by the organization and proper safety precautions will be taken to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
DonorsChoose is a fully vaccinated workplace and all new employees, regardless of their work location, will be asked to share proof of full vaccination against COVID-19 within two weeks of their hire date or request an exemption from this policy due to a disability or sincerely held religious belief or practice. This policy does not apply to employees in states with state restrictions on vaccine mandates.
DonorsChoose participates in E-Verify. We will provide the U.S. Social Security Administration (SSA) and, if necessary, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) with information from each new employee's Form I-9 to confirm work authorization.
To Apply
Please submit your resume and answer the application questions online. Since we're trying to get to know you through our hiring process, we ask that you please refrain from using AI writing tools to craft your response to our application questions. A cover letter is optional and may be addressed to Liza Pagano, Design Director.
A Final Note
The DonorsChoose team works toward a nation where students in every community have the resources needed for an excellent education. To do this we hire and support a diverse team of the best and the brightest talent available.
We are an organization increasingly representative of the varied races and ethnicities, genders and sexual orientations, religious and political beliefs, and abilities that comprise our nation. DonorsChoose focuses on attracting, retaining, and advancing diverse talent because it makes us more effective, high-performing, creative, and resilient.
If you are passionate about our mission, highly skilled in your field, and looking for a place where you can bring all of yourself to work, we want you.