Visual Designer

Location: United States, Remote

Salary Range: $85,000 - $95,000

About Education Design Lab

Education Design Lab ("The Lab") is a national nonprofit that designs, tests, and implements unique education models and credentials that address the rapidly changing economy and emerging technology opportunities to ensure equitable outcomes for learners and earners. The Lab has partnered with some of the most aspirational institutions, and often their ecosystem partners, as they consider how to design their offerings to serve learners flexibly with more data-driven, human-centered models, processes and tools. Our biggest areas of work include improved career pathway visibility, micro-pathways, 21st century skills, microcredentials, alternative on-ramps to degree, upskilling workers, and training college leadership teams in change management and agile prototyping.

The Lab is unlike other organizations in the nonprofit education space. We are boundary- spanners and work across disciplines and alongside schools, employers, entrepreneurs, government, foundations, nonprofits, and innovators. We are known for our work on the ground and have significant experience managing national and local learning cohorts, working with organizations such as Ascendium, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Citizens, Carnegie Corporation of NY, Charles Koch Foundation, Walmart, and a variety of state and regional community college systems. To learn more about the work we do and what we care about, visit www.eddesignlab.org, and follow on Twitter @eddesignlab.

About The Communications Team

The Communications team at Education Design Lab is responsible for developing and executing strategic communication initiatives that amplify the organization's mission to innovate and transform education. This team crafts and disseminates compelling content across various platforms, including digital media, reports, and press releases, to engage stakeholders and highlight the impact of their work. They manage media relations, ensuring consistent messaging and brand alignment while also handling internal and external communications to support organizational goals. Through storytelling and multimedia, the team effectively shares the success stories and insights that drive the Lab's vision forward.

In addition to executing design tasks, the Visual Designer will contribute to shaping the strategic vision for the Lab's visual identity, ensuring that all design work aligns with the broader organizational goals. This role will involve not just creating high-quality visuals, but also defining and evolving the Lab's brand direction to enhance its impact and visibility across various platforms.

About the Role

The Visual Designer will report to the Communications Director to lead the Lab's visual design work and play a vital role in helping the organization drive greater impact. So much of the Lab's work is designing desired and equitable future states with our partners across education, employment, and policy sectors. The Lab is valued for its ability to bring co-designed ideas to life in the form of clear, future-forward visual representations, so we employ a full-time visual designer to work across the organization. Examples of this work include the design of our micro-pathways concept, along with publication design, such as our 2023 thought paper, Transforming Community Colleges: 5 Design Questions to Shape the Future of Learning.

Responsibilities Of The Visual Designer

Visually Design Materials, Big and Small:

• Work within the Lab's brand guidelines to design social media graphics, slide decks, one-pagers, project overviews, publications and reports, concept graphics, and data visualizations.
• Manage multiple deadlines, and support project teams to meet design needs in the best way possible, recruiting contractors when needed.
• Coordinate and track creative requests submitted through the communications request Slack channel, supporting internal Lab needs and shared services to ensure efficient and timely delivery.
  

Continue to Evolve and Refine the Lab's Approach to Brand Design:

• Rethinking existing templates and assets, developing new templates and resources for the team and partners, and responding to new ways in which we collaborate through our work (how we show up virtually versus in-person).
  

Work Within + Further Brand and Style Guidelines:

• Be an expert resource for team members on adhering to the "look and feel" of the brand, briefing new and seasoned Labbies on useful style guidelines and resources.
• Provide knowledge management for our visual resources, managing the process for visual asset development and version control.
  

Develop Novel Visual Solutions That Support Larger Organizational Goals Related to the Lab Brand:

• Build out and evolve the Lab's existing style guide to be a comprehensive asset for the team and our partners.
  

Stay Up-to-Date with the Latest Product Features and AI Workflows Conducive to Visual Design:

• Utilize tools such as Google Drive, Google Slides, Canva, Miro, Slack, Zoom, Adobe Creative Suite, and Circle in a collaborative, remote environment.
  

Qualifications And Experience

Successful candidates will have the following skills and experience:

• At least five years of experience working as a visual, brand, or graphic designer in a professional work environment, with specialized experience in non-profit or education preferred.
• Collaborate across teams to assess visual design needs, identify creative solutions, and develop innovative alternatives to address emerging challenges.
• Experience working with data and comfortability with visualizing data and information in graphics.
• Comfortable designing in Adobe Illustrator, InDesign, and Photoshop, as well as designing across multiple mediums that may include web, print, publication, data, illustration, and product.
• Strong people skills and written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to translate complicated ideas into simple terms — you enjoy working with people as much as you enjoy digging into design work.
• Attention to detail, with the ability and comfort in completing final work as if you are the last person to touch it (light copy editing and proofreading).
• Project management skills, with the ability to manage tasks and workflow independently, while receiving direction from the Communications Director.
  
  

Durable Skills for Success

Collaboration

• Proven capacity to work productively with diverse individuals and groups toward a common goal. Demonstrates proficiency in the four core sub-competencies of effective collaboration:
• Strengthening relationships
• Incorporating diverse perspectives
• Utilizing active listening skills
• Focusing on solutions rather than problems
  

Critical Thinking

• Critical thinking includes the capacity to reason logically and rigorously. Effective critical thinkers exhibit four core sub-competencies:
• Gather and assess relevant information
• Identify patterns
• Question assumptions
• Draw well-reasoned conclusions
  

Creative Problem Solving

• Effective creative problem-solvers exercise four core sub-competencies:
• Exercising divergent and convergent thinking
• Identifying patterns that may not be obvious
• Managing ambiguity
• Applying an iterative process for generating, testing and refining ideas
  

Data shows that women and BIPOC candidates more frequently do not apply for a job because they don't feel that they meet all of the qualifications listed. Our job descriptions are general overviews, not a mandatory comprehensive list. If you feel passionate about our efforts and believe you have the skills to succeed in this role, we want to hear from you!

Additionally, given the Lab's mission and programming, applicants with lived experience as first-generation college students, community college students, those who attended minority-serving institutions (HBCUs, HSIs, AANAPISIs etc.), those who have experience as non-traditional students, and other underserved populations, are particularly encouraged to apply for this role. We do not require a college degree for our applicants for the role.

Compensation & Benefits

The salary compensation for the Visual Designer will fall within a range of $85,000 - $95,000 annually. The benefits package includes:

• 100% employer-paid medical and dental
• Short-term, long-term, and group life insurance coverage
• 403(b) - 100% matching immediately
• Professional development stipend of up to $1,500 after the first year
• Semi-annual organization-wide retreats
• Rest and Relaxation:
• The Lab participates in Responsible PTO for all full-time staff, which allows for managers to approve PTO with no limits and includes unlimited sick leave
• 11 paid federal holidays
• 2 weeks of paid organizational closures
  

Location

At this time, although we are a fully remote organization, we do require for our staff to live/work within the Continental U.S. We are unwilling to make an accommodation as we have numerous factors to consider, including foreign employment laws/taxes/benefits, and travel costs to meet with partners.

Application Deadline: Friday, September 20, 2024

Application Instructions

To apply, please submit a cover letter and resume by the specified deadline. Applicants will be reviewed on a rolling basis until the posted date. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us via email at careers@eddesignlab.org.

Application Timeline

The below will provide a sequence of events that takes place during the Education Design Lab hiring process. We anticipate the hiring and selection process to take, at minimum, between 60-75 days – hiring is critical at Education Design Lab and we engage in a thorough process to learn candidates, their skills and whether they align with the specific needs of the role.

• Initial Application Screening: Applications will be reviewed through the deadline listed above, so early application is encouraged.
• Virtual 'Phone' Screenings: Qualified candidates will be contacted for a virtual screening within 14-21 days after the application deadline.
• Panel Interviews: Shortlisted candidates will be invited to participate in panel interviews. Candidates will be contacted for scheduling within 7 days of their initial phone screen. Depending on the role, there may be a hiring exercise requirement for panel interview participants. Hiring exercises are compensated.
• Second Round Interviews: Selected candidates from the initial interviews will be invited for a second round of interviews. Candidates moving forward will be contacted within 7 days after the conclusion of panel interviews.
• Final Decision: We aim to make our final decision and extend an offer to the selected candidate within 3-5 days after the completion of all interviews.
  
  

Note: The timeline provided is subject to change based on the volume of applications received and the availability of hiring team members. We appreciate your patience throughout the selection process.

Equal Opportunity Employer

The Education Design Lab is an equal opportunity employer; applicants are considered for all roles without regard to race, color, religious creed, sex, national origin, citizenship status, age, physical or mental disability, sexual orientation, marital, parental, veteran or military status, unfavorable military discharge, or any other status protected by applicable federal, state, or local law.