Junior Visual Designer, Office of Innovation, Part-Time, 5 months, Remote

UNICEF works in some of the world’s toughest places, to reach the world’s most disadvantaged children. To save their lives. To defend their rights. To help them fulfill their potential.

Across 190 countries and territories, we work for every child, everywhere, every day, to build a better world for everyone.

And we never give up.

For every child, innovate

UNICEF has a 70-year history of innovating for children. We believe that new approaches, partnerships and technologies that support realizing children’s rights are critical to improving their lives.

The Office of Innovation is a creative, interactive, and agile team in UNICEF. We sit at a unique intersection, where an organization that works on huge global issues meets the startup thinking, the technology, and the partners that turn this energy into scalable solutions.
 
UNICEF’s Office of Innovation creates opportunities for the world’s children by focusing on where new markets can meet their vital needs. We do this by:

• Connecting youth communities (or more broadly — anyone disconnected or under-served) to decision-makers, and to each other, to deliver informed, relevant and sustained programmes that build better, stronger futures for children.
• Provoking change for children through an entrepreneurial approach — in a traditionally risk-averse field — to harness rapidly moving innovations and apply them to serve the needs of all children.
• Creating new models of partnership that leverage core business values across the public, private and academic sectors in order to deliver fast, and lasting results for children.

The Office of Innovation specifically looks to form partnerships around frontier technologies (like drones and UAVs, blockchain, 21st century skills, urban technologies, new banking tools, wearables and sensors, or 3D-Printing) that exist at the intersection of $100 billion business markets and 1 billion person needs – and to identify how they can grow and scale profitably and inclusively.

As part of this role, the Junior Visual Designer will support various efforts within the Office of Innovation, including projects related, but not limited to our blockchain and Innovation Fund work. In this role, the designer will work with a variety of teams from the concept stage to delivering the final design package. Our team takes large ideas and makes them a reality; being able to communicate complex and abstract ideas using visual, verbal and written language is crucial. As the Office of Innovation works with UNICEF offices around the world and in a variety of scenarios, we are seeking someone who has a portfolio of strong, scalable and accessible design work for visual design and experience working with responsive web interfaces. It is important for the candidate to have a strong foundation in graphic design, including exceptional skills in typography, layout, icon design, and visual identity to best support the development and communication of innovation products and initiatives.

How can you make a difference?

The Office of Innovation is seeking a strong self-motivated designer who can maintain strong design sensibilities even under tight time constraints, who can work with a diverse interdisciplinary team to create a plan of action to best communicate ideas visually and who can maintain clarity in their work while juggling and prioritizing several projects at once. This position will support the work of the design team at the Office of Innovation, working closely with the UX/UI Specialist and will work on a series of projects that are on-going.  

Due to the diversity of the role, the team is looking for a hybrid designer (visual and interface design). The candidate should exemplify expertise in communication design (visual storytelling across a range of mediums) as well as a working knowledge of user experience and interaction design. The ideal candidate will have some experience working on tech solutions such as chatbots, blockchain web applications, and mapping solutions, as well as a willingness to learn about and develop new solutions around cutting-edge tools, technologies and platforms.  

Your main responsibilities will be:

• Working closely with our UX/UI Specialist and playing a supportive role between the Design, Innovation Fund and tech teams.
• Creating and validating wireframes and high-fidelity mockups for web-based interfaces, as necessary, while ensuring that branding and technical guidelines are upheld across the various mediums.
• Working with the Design Lead to support office rebranding and resource development.
• Creating campaign materials and communication design assets to support digital products and key initiatives.

To qualify as an advocate for every child you will have…

• A university degree in graphic design, communication design, visual design, interaction design or other relevant field required.
  *A first University Degree in a relevant field combined with 2 additional years of professional experience may be accepted in lieu of an Advanced University Degree.
• A minimum of 1 year of relevant professional experience, with preference given to candidates with experience working on open source solutions such as chatbots, blockchain web applications, and mapping platforms required.
• Advanced knowledge of Adobe CC software (InDesign, Illustrator, Photoshop, Acrobat) and basic knowledge of interface design tools like Sketch required
• Experience in generating user requirements, personas, storyboards, journey maps, and use case scenarios is an asset.
• Experience working with Microsoft Office.
• Experience working with CMS platforms (WordPress, Drupal), and email marketing platforms (MailChimp etc.) is considered an asset.
• Strong information design experience is considered an asset.
• Working knowledge of design systems and front-end architecture is considered an asset.
• Knowledge of capabilities and limitations of Web technologies such as HTML, JavaScript, and CSS is considered an asset.
• Fluency in English is required. Knowledge of another official UN language (Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian or Spanish) or a local language is an asset.

For every Child, you demonstrate…

UNICEF’s values of Care, Respect, Integrity, Trust, and Accountability (CRITA) and core competencies in Communication, Working with People and Drive for Results.

The UNICEF competencies required for this post are

• Applying Technical Expertise – Lv 1
• Creating and Innovating – Lv 1
• Deciding and Initiating Action – Lv 1

To view our competency framework, please visit here.

Click here to learn more about UNICEF’s values and competencies.

UNICEF is committed to diversity and inclusion within its workforce, and encourages all candidates, irrespective of gender, nationality, religious and ethnic backgrounds, including persons living with disabilities, to apply to become a part of the organization.

UNICEF has a zero-tolerance policy on conduct that is incompatible with the aims and objectives of the United Nations and UNICEF, including sexual exploitation and abuse, sexual harassment, abuse of authority and discrimination. UNICEF also adheres to strict child safeguarding principles. All selected candidates will be expected to adhere to these standards and principles and will therefore undergo rigorous reference and background checks. Background checks will include the verification of academic credential(s) and employment history. Selected candidates may be required to provide additional information to conduct a background check.

Payment details and further considerations

• Monthly payment, based on monthly tasks and progress reports, approved upon monthly review with supervisor.
• Consultant is responsible for his/her own health and travel insurance
• Consultant is eligible for standard DSA for all work-related travel

Remarks:

Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and advance to the next stage of the selection process.

Individuals engaged under a consultancy or individual contract will not be considered “staff members” under the Staff Regulations and Rules of the United Nations and UNICEF’s policies and procedures, and will not be entitled to benefits provided therein (such as leave entitlements and medical insurance coverage). Their conditions of service will be governed by their contract and the General Conditions of Contracts for the Services of Consultants and Individual Contractors. Consultants and individual contractors are responsible for determining their tax liabilities and for the payment of any taxes and/or duties, in accordance with local or other applicable laws.