Inclusive Design Lead at Sightsavers

Contract Type: Two Year Fixed Term Contract
Department: Fundraising and Marketing
Reports to: Global head of web, design and branding
Specific Hours: Standard office hours

Job Purpose

• We’re looking for an experienced people-focused designer, practised and enthusiastic about the part inclusive design and accessible communications can play in influencing behaviours, and creating better processes, products and outcomes for design-led work within
• Sightsavers, its partnerships and for those we help.
• You’ll possess the magic ingredients of creativity, empathy and clear-mindedness, and will work in this new role as part of the established and dedicated web, design and branding team at Sightsavers.
• You’ll use your inclusive design skills and experience and accessibility knowledge to improve existing products, services and interventions, as well as designing new ones, especially those focused on Sightsavers’ health and social inclusion programmes.
• You will be passionate about helping colleagues understand and design for real people, and will work to continuously improve outcomes for the communities and individuals we serve.

Responsibilities
Relationships and Project Support:

• Work consultatively with colleagues across the organisation, especially teams looking to bring the benefits of design thinking and inclusive design to their projects.
• Use design thinking techniques (eg Double Diamond model) to help project teams establish clear design briefs and to understand the challenges at hand, considering global, national and local barriers and enablers, and gaining direct insight from those who will make use of new services and products.
• Work with the design researcher and project teams to detail design research needs for projects (eg interviews, observations, asking and listening, cocreation); then work with them to deliver these and be the design lead for the process (leading on the making and testing of prototypes, and the creation of final designs and outputs).
• Work as an integral part of the web, design and branding team to develop Sightsavers’ design communications, ensuring they are powerful, usable and adhere to accessibility standards
• Work with colleagues across the organisation, including our technical leads and global programme staff, especially our behaviour change and web,design and branding teams, to grow understanding and ensure increased implementation of inclusive design and design thinking practice.

Design:

• Approach design with an open, audience-first mindset and use inclusive design tools and techniques to create new products and services and improve existing ones.
• Design tools, services, products and project assets as required by the design brief.
• Work with colleagues in the web, design and branding and technical teams to support and formalise the design process to be used within projects
• Use qualitative and quantitative data to inform decision-making and make sure the design process is properly documented.
• Coach colleagues in inclusive design techniques.
• Work with production staff to clearly brief design requirements for larger projects into team (eg digital or editorial design)

General:

• Use industry research and knowledge sharing to inform design approaches and actively learn from others working in this evolving professional space.
• Work with production staff, especially the project delivery manager and design and production manager to ensure projects are well supported and resources are available as necessary, working within constraints of competing priorities.
• Continuously learn and engage with relevant work, both within and outside of the organisation, sharing knowledge of successes and challenges.
• Deliver accessibility and inclusive design training to colleagues and partners (eg funders, government ministries, other NGOs, etc) for specific projects Flexibility is necessary and the job holder is expected to carry out any other related duties that are within the employee's skills and abilities whenever reasonably instructed.

Job Entry Requirements (Knowledge, Skills and Experience)

• Demonstrable professional experience working in inclusive design, service design or product design, with a sophisticated ability to listen to and interpret people’s needs.
• Experience using relevant inclusive design tools and techniques such as prototyping, design toolkits, qualitative research methodologies, cocreation, etc.
• Able to use creative thinking to make leaps from an identified challenge to possible solutions to that challenge, and possessing an iterative approach to problem-solving.
• Ability to own your sphere of work and adopt a flexible approach.
• Demonstrable sensitivity working cross culturally and with different demographic groups
• Excellent interpersonal skills: able to demonstrate the ability to listen carefully, to ask the right questions at the right time, and to empathise and understand.
• Lateral thinking skills and clarity of thought to identify the best solution from many; and able to communicate why this is so to those with personal and passionate investments in a project.
• Solid understanding of accessibility standards and the importance of these.
• Comfortable working to deadlines on multiple projects.
• Professional experience or qualifications working in a relevant design discipline, eg product design, user experience or service design or academic design background.
• A belief that design and international development have the power to make the world a better place, and an understanding of and commitment to equality of opportunity for disabled people.

Key Relationships:

• Web, design and branding colleagues
• Global thematic technical leads and social behaviour change teams
• Programme teams
• The broader organisation
• Agencies and freelancers as required
• Industry peers

Salary
Local Terms and Conditions apply.