Senior Motion Designer

Northern Trust’s Creative team is looking for a Senior Motion Designer (Digital Marketing) to help shape how motion brings brand, campaigns, and data to life across enterprise channels. This hybrid role in Chicago supports a workflow where motion is conceived, designed, animated, and delivered with clarity, accessibility, and production efficiency in mind.

What you’ll do

• Design and animate motion graphics including typography, titles, transitions, visual effects, data visualizations, iconography, end cards, and branded motion elements.
• Turn complex ideas, messages, and brand stories into clear, engaging motion concepts with polished animation.
• Create cutdowns and platform-specific motion adaptations (16:9, 1:1, 4:5, 9:16) while maintaining brand consistency.
• Translate briefs, scripts, data points, and creative direction into storyboards, style frames, animatics, and finished motion solutions.
• Explore visual approaches that balance strategic clarity, brand expression, accessibility, and production efficiency.
• Partner across creative, strategy, marketing, and production teams from concept through delivery to build motion narratives.
• Develop modular motion systems, templates, toolkits, project structures, and reusable assets that support consistent, efficient content creation.
• Prepare editable motion files, production-ready templates, and exports that enable repeatable use across teams, channels, and campaigns.
• Maintain organized libraries, archives, masters, version history, and source files to support reuse and governance.
• Apply enterprise visual identity, motion principles, and accessibility requirements with precision.
• Help define and evolve motion standards, governance guidance, templates, and best practices for scalable creation.
• Ensure final deliverables meet brand, accessibility, legal, licensing, technical, and quality requirements.
• Present editorial and motion decisions with clear rationale and recommendations.
• Manage multiple assignments, feedback rounds, deadlines, and priorities in a fast-paced environment.
• Identify and surface production risks, rights or licensing needs, accessibility considerations, and technical constraints early.

Tools and technologies you’ll use

Adobe After Effects, Adobe Premiere Pro, Photoshop, Illustrator, Media Encoder, Figma, Adobe Express, Adobe Firefly, MS Office (Word, Power Point), Work Front, plus deliverable formats including 16:9, 1:1, 4:5, and 9:16.

What you’ll bring

• Bachelor’s degree in film, video production, motion design, animation, graphic design, or equivalent experience.
• 5-7+ years of motion design, animation, and video experience in an agency, in-house, studio, or production environment.
• Advanced proficiency in Adobe After Effects and Premiere Pro; working knowledge of Photoshop, Illustrator, Media Encoder, Figma, Adobe Express, Adobe Firefly, and review tools.
• Experience using MS Office (Word, Power Point) and Work Front or similar project management tooling.
• Strong command of motion graphics, animation principles, visual effects, motion typography, editorial pacing, storytelling, sound, color, and finishing.
• Experience delivering content across channels, specifications, and formats including 16:9, 1:1, 4:5, and 9:16.
• Knowledge of production and post-production workflows, file formats, codecs, media management, template creation, captioning, accessibility, and delivery standards.
• Ability to manage complex projects independently, collaborate effectively, and deliver high-quality work under deadlines.
• Experience building reusable motion systems, templates, style frames, and asset libraries for consistent, scalable production.
• A strong portfolio or reel showing motion graphics, animation, visual effects, storyboarding, style frames, and video work across campaigns and content types.

Collaboration and mindset

• Collaborative: navigates feedback, timelines, and stakeholder dynamics with a low-ego approach.
• Future-focused: explores how emerging tools, AI-enabled workflows, and self-service models can responsibly support creative delivery.
• Story-first: uses editing and motion to communicate with clarity and impact.
• Growth-oriented: welcomes feedback, iteration, experimentation, and critique.
• Curious and proactive: asks smart questions, surfaces risks early, and pushes work beyond “done.”

Work model and location

Hybrid (#LI-Hybrid). Time is split between the office in Chicago, IL and working from home.

Compensation

$83,100 - 141,300 USD per year.

Benefits

• Retirement benefits (401k and pension)
• Health and welfare benefits (medical, dental, vision, spending accounts and disability)
• Paid time off
• Parental and caregiver leave
• Life & accident insurance
• Other voluntary and well-being benefits
• Discretionary bonus program that may include an equity component

Work authorization

Applicants must be authorized to work in the U.S. without the need for employment-based visa sponsorship now or in the future. Northern Trust will not sponsor applicants for U.S. work visa status for this opportunity (no sponsorship is available for H-1B, L-1, TN, O-1, E-3, H-1B1, F-1, J-1, OPT, CPT or any other employment-based visa).

Reasonable accommodation

Northern Trust is committed to working with and providing adjustments to individuals with health conditions and disabilities. If you need a reasonable accommodation for any part of the employment process, email [email protected], or discuss your individual requirements with the recruiter you are working with.