Hiring: Designer – website focused

Overview

We’re looking for an inquisitive, ambitious designer who can adapt their style to be appropriate to different audiences.

We don’t expect (or need) you to know how to code but we do expect you to know how to turn research and wireframes into stunning, original solutions across multiple screen sizes.

You’ll be working concurrently across multiple challenges: from research, through innovative, conceptual thinking, site plans and wireframes to the systematic implementation of every detail, including snagging and fixes.

You’ll need to be an excellent listener, able to interpret and digest feedback and assimilate multiple (sometimes contrary) perspectives to inform our solutions.

It’s a hugely rewarding role, helping arts organisations to inspire their audiences. You’ll be tackling different tasks and learning new skills, every day.

You’ll be a key part of a generous, supportive and ambitious team; a Certified B Corporation with three decades of experience and expertise. 

We work in the exciting overlap between the arts and technology so you’ll get even more out of the role if you have interest (and possibly experience) in both.

Salary: around £30K 

We’re genuinely open to a discussion if you feel you are worth more, or if you feel you’d need to work up to this level.

Location: open to discussion

We currently offer two ways of employing full-time people (alongside our freelance team) 

• Home working with occasional trips to the studio, plus some client meetings
• Hybrid: minimum of Mon – Wed in our studio in Greenwich, plus some client meetings

Flexible hours

7.5hrs per day, plus an hour’s lunch. Core hours are 10:00 – 16:00, weekdays (so people can start at 7:30 and work ‘til 16:00, or start at 10:00 and work ‘til 18:30; and anything in between).

Leave

We offer 25 days of annual paid leave (plus bank holidays) which increases after you’ve been here two years.

Things that mark us out: 

• You’ll always be treated with respect and empathy. You’ll work with your line manager to keep learning and developing in ways that suit you
• Funded monthly cultural outing with the team – in person or remote
• Monthly breakfast briefings with leading figures from the sector
• Regular training sessions delivered by team members and guests
• Membership of the Arts Marketing Association with access to online resources
• Membership of the Typographic Circle with discounted event tickets
• Annual team discussion day – where we celebrate the past and play an active part in planning your future
• Occasional team dinners
• Cycle to work scheme 
• Travelcard loans (interest free)
• Free tickets and opportunities to attend shows and client events
• A well stocked kitchen with cupboards full of fancy teas, coffee and biscuits
• The world’s best portfolio of arts clients

The role

Working in our team

• Be equally adept at print and digital design, always learning and always striving to be more efficient and effective 
• Design friction-free, user-informed websites that are technically accomplished, accessible and sustainable. Find the sweet-spot between the most conceptually exciting solutions and the need for us to deliver within expectations and budgets
• Maintain typographic expertise and know how to achieve the most effective results online and in print
• Master the software we use (mostly Adobe Suite), and adopt new platforms where appropriate
• Work with colleagues to create site plans, wireframes and prototypes
• Working with existing guidelines – understand existing brands, work within guidelines and create designs that reflect the personality of that brand
• Working on new guidelines – be able to articulate the essence of a client’s personality into well-considered guidelines that can be systematically applied by other people
• Working on website systems –be able to conceive and implement thorough and detailed design systems that make our processes ever more efficient
• Be consistent across each stage of the design and implementation process – caring as much about the artworking and snagging as about the big-picture thinking

Liaising with the team

• Be the design expert: knowledgeable, enthusiastic and inquisitive
• Be curious and informed about our clients, their work, their internal stakeholders and their audiences
• Be active in meetings, help with research, and workshops to inform our process and enthuse our clients
• Learn to present and advocate for the most interesting, creative solutions, in jargon-free language, backed by research and thinking 
• Work with colleagues to interpret feedback and understand what clients mean (not necessarily what they say)
• Ensure that every communication and document reflects our values 

An active team member

• Be informed enough to be able to work effectively with developers and project managers to make the most of every opportunity
• Don’t be afraid to roll up your sleeves and get involved in any part of the multiple projects that go through our studio
• Always be hungry to learn; be receptive to constructive feedback and know when to ask for help
• Being an enthusiastic advocate of our approach, ethos and culture
• Maintaining and improving our systems: accurately recording time, following admin procedures, swiftly responding to requests from colleagues
• Working closely with your line-manager: actively engaging in your personal development and supporting the development of others
• Recognising the diversity of the individuals within our team and making useful accommodations

Qualities and knowledge required

We’re looking for someone who can show us they’d be a great addition to our team. That probably means they can demonstrate the following: 

• Experience designing websites, branding and campaigns – proven through a portfolio of excellent examples that they can talk us through
• Ability to work in a team environment, perhaps through time spend in a design studio or similar set-up
• Proven competance working with clients or an enthusiasm and aptitude to do so, shown through examples of similar working relationships
• Ability to explain complex tasks in everyday English
• Working knowledge of Adobe software
• Enthusiasm for the sector we work in and empathy for the needs of our arts-based clients, perhaps through personal or professional experience
• A team player with a desire to constantly improve, and to help others do the same

It would be an advantage if you could demonstrate the following: 

• An understanding of the topic of accessibility and a desire to implement best practise and push for inclusivity
• Experience designing site plans and wireframes

How to apply: write (don’t send a CV)

We want to know about you, not where you lived or went to school. Write to us about why you’d be the ideal fit for our team; include a few examples of your work in a small PDF with links and context about each brief.

Apply by: 11am, Monday 8th August 

Email opportunity@cogdesign.com

We’ve got work to get on with straight away. But we’ll happily wait for the right person. 

The process

We’ll respond to everyone. If we need more clarification we’ll ask for it. 

If we select you for the next stage then we’ll arrange an online chat between you and a couple of our team. We’ll send our questions in advance and invite you to do the same so the meeting is as productive as possible. 

We might then invite you to the studio to meet in person. Again, we’ll send discussion topics in advance.