Senior Designer Full-time

Reports to: Senior Technical Lead and Director of Technology and Innovation

Contract Terms: 40 hrs, Monday – Friday; Flexible Schedule with a minimum of 3-4 hours overlap with US East Coast business hours required; Employee, 1 year initial contract

Travel: Up to 20% international, including to HOT field project locations

Deadline: August 31, 2020

Estimated Start Date: Candidate dependent

Work Location: Remote

About HOT

Humanitarian OpenStreetMap Team (HOT) is a US-based NGO and global community of thousands of volunteers working together to use maps and open data for humanitarian response and the Sustainable Development Goals. As the world’s preeminent participatory mapping NGO, HOT has fostered a global mapping community composed of more than 230,000 people with ground operations in eight countries. When major disaster strikes anywhere in the world, HOT rallies this global network to create the maps and data that enable responders to reach those in need.

About the Role

The Senior Designer will contribute their creative energy to a passionate team of open source hacktivists. You will be responsible for capturing user insights and creating a collage of imaginative ideas which can be realised through agile collaboration with a team of technical superstars. You will ignite HOT’s dynamic community of digital humanitarians by understanding the needs of a diverse group of staff, stakeholders, volunteers, contributors and users in order to inspire user flow and delight as we map an area home to one billion people.

You will work closely with the Director of Technology and Innovation and the Senior Technical Lead to support the entire team with User Experience and Product Design projects. You will lead and mentor the creative growth of our team and contribute to a culture of open sourced, human centred and inclusive technologies that inspire humanitarian action.

You’ll be involved in every aspect of our product development process, from early concept, to wireframe, to prototype/mockup, to pixel perfect design, build, and launch. Since we are a small team, you’ll also have your hand in directing and prioritizing the product roadmap. In this role, you’ll be responsible for owning the user experience across HOT’s existing and future projects.

The Senior Designer will advance HOT’s mission by operationalizing the HOT_Tech core ethics:

-Human: Our Human ethic is our commitment to people as our priority. At the centre of all our technology sits a human. The ultimate purpose of our technology is to improve human conditions. We use technology to enable and amplify human efforts. We support them at personal and professional levels. We invest in their well-being and their growth. We provide security and stability. When our people thrive, so do we.
-Open: Our Open ethic permeates all we do. Our actions reflect radical openness and transparency. We encourage open inputs and outputs. Our team and technology openly welcomes and engages community, collaboration and contribution.
-Truth: Our Truth ethic reflects an OpenStreetMap core principle; the ‘truth on the ground’. Our activities and decisions will be guided by this ethic, conflicts not easily resolved will defer to this ethic to determine what best reflects and prioritizes the truth on the ground.
-HOT_Tech Principles> https://github.com/hotosm/tech/blob/master/principles/README.md

The Senior Designer will coordinate and collaborate with key HOT_Tech supporting functions including the Director of Technology, Senior Technical Lead, Module Owners and the Community Manager.

Priority Areas for Action and Responsibilities

-Human Centered, Inclusive Experiences: As reflected in our core ethic, we want humans to be at the centre of all we do. The Senior Design Lead will advocate and prioritise this ethic in all dimensions of their role. You will lead the design of user experiences that engage and include all users from the centre, to the edge of the map.
-Lead, Support, Mentor: The Senior Design Lead will inject creative inspiration into the entire team. You will support the module teams in translating user needs to product requirements and provide input for backlog prioritisation. You will facilitate and unlock a culture of design and delight and provide the team with the tools and mentorship to exercise their creativity.
-Connect, Collaborate, Co-create: Through close collaboration with the Senior Technical Lead and Director of Technology and Innovation you will distill the HOT Technology Strategy into elegant technology solutions that respond to community needs. The Senior Design Lead will connect and collaborate with the HOT community to co-create simple, yet sophisticated experiences that support and enhance a mapper’s growth and journey.

Responsibilities

-Contribute to the creative vision and implementation of the HOT technology strategy
-Conceptualise ideas that bring simplicity and user friendliness to complex design challenges
-Facilitate the design thinking process including user research, discovery and product concept to imagine the HOT technology strategy into existence
-Develop and implement successful design strategies, working with and managing feedback from the global HOT community
-Collaborate with HOT’s global tech team and open source community to define, build, and release new user centered updates and enhancements
-Oversee all design projects, from conception to delivery
-Construct user flows, wireframes, and prototypes that effectively communicate design concepts for validation
-Develop and deliver well-documented, product design that accurately reflect HOT’s mission
-Mentor and guide team members, helping them develop and grow
-Creatively guide the team’s design culture through collaboration, feedback, and iteration.
-Additional graphic/visual design assistance and tasks as required

About You

You are passionate about putting people at the centre of technology. You are driven by delivering delight to a community of diverse and unique users. You are a solution hunter and believe that value is delivered when the right solution is in the right hands. You appreciate the sophistication in simplicity and strive to build experiences that build users. You are passionate about principles that drive inclusive technologies and love to translate empathy into experiences.

Qualifications & Experience

-Qualification in relevant creative field or a strong portfolio of relevant creative projects
-5+ years experience with interaction design, user experience design, or similar field
-5+ years experience designing digital products and systems
-Experience working in a dynamic open source community across multiple stakeholder groups and with multiple concurrent projects; OpenStreetMap (OSM) an advantage
-Experience working in international humanitarian or development agencies/NGOs
-Working knowledge of Principles for Digital Development and Human Centered Design
-Experience managing diverse, distributed teams over multiple geographies
-Demonstrated ability to design and define user experiences from whiteboards and post-its to wireframes and prototypes; tool and software flexible
-Demonstrated history of mentoring, teaching, or guiding other designers and team members
-Experience guiding or contributing to agile teams or projects

Role Specific Skills

-A creative mind with a problem-solving attitude
-Facilitating inclusive design thinking methodology; online facilitation an advantage
-Open and encouraging communication
-Leadership and organizational skills along with a keen eye for visual details
-Strong understanding of web interactions: patterns, best practices, common challenges website developers face and solutions to those challenges
-Have a collaborative, self-motivated, “always-learning” spirit, driven to improve user experiences everywhere at all times through smart design and applied effort
-Be fluent in working in a fully or partially remote work environment
-Strong skills working across graphics and product design tools

Compensation & Benefits

-All HOT salaries globally are set according to a framework detailed on our website.
-HOT offers a work-from-anywhere culture, flexible working arrangements, a variety of health care options, 401k retirement savings plans, and 24 days of annual leave for all full-time employees.

To Apply

Please complete the application by August 31, 2020. Please continue to the second page to upload your CV/resume (max 2 pages) and your responses to the following: (1) A motivation statement (150 words) (2) Your experience with the tension between technology and inclusion (200 words) (3) Your experience in an Agile team (250 words). Please ensure to upload only 1 PDF file titled ‘First Name.Last Name.’ No cover letter is required.