Midweight Integrated Designer

What’s the job?

Small Axe is taking on an integrated Midweight Designer to work across a range of campaigns.

Contract: Permanent, full-time (37.5 hours/week)
Deadline: Wednesday 11th November, 9am
Start date: ASAP
Location: Small Axe Office, London (we expect new starters to be in the office everyday)
Salary: £32,000-38,000 (with paid overtime)

Requires the right to work in the UK.

The deadline for this role has now passed. If you have already applied please use the job spec, and dates for your diary as reference. We aim to get back to all applicants within one month of the closing date.

A Midweight Integrated Designer at Small Axe works within our Campaigns Delivery team. This core team and extended network is made up of campaigners, digital experts, designers, press advisors, filmmakers and content creators who work collaboratively to produce powerful campaigns.

You will work flexibly across a variety of campaigns, from trade union actions like Amazon’s first unionisation drive in the UK, to issue campaigns like Free School Meals for All and working with local communities to welcome refugees, to producing digital fundraising content for the International Rescue Committee responding to global conflicts and crises.

You are a campaigner. But your tools are InDesign, Illustrator, Canva, CapCut and anything else you can lay your hands on to make creative that moves people to act on the most pressing issues of our time.

There is no silver bullet for a winning campaign. That’s why we use multiple crafts and tactics to move our campaigns forward. We’re at our best when we’re working across our three core disciplines – organising, digital and creative – to make maximum impact. An ability to understand and integrate your ideas across these disciplines will give you the tools to respond to any strategic challenge.

As an integrated designer, you’ll join a multidisciplinary and highly collaborative delivery team, focused on winning progressive campaigns.

Please note that all creative roles at Small Axe require a DBS check - as much of our campaigning work takes place in schools. Small Axe will arrange DBS checks for new staff once they’re in post.

If you have any questions about the process, feel free to email hr@thesmallaxe.org. All candidates must have Right to Work in the UK.

Dates for your diary

1st stage video Q&A can be done from home between: 15-17 November

2nd stage in-person interviews will take place: between 22-26 November

3rd stage in-person trial days will take place: between 28-29 November

About the job: What we expect a Midweight Designer to do

Work with colleagues and suppliers to produce creative design for high quality creative including social campaigns, social films, websites, print and branding projects, from concept to delivery.
Work with a range of media, including the Adobe Creative Cloud Suite, always delivering clean, clearly constructed and labelled artwork files.
Be driven to pick up new tools as new creative tech emerges (e.g. CapCut, Canva, AI plug-ins, Veed.io).
Create or complete content natively in social platforms and post your designs.
Balance delivering high quality creative executions across multiple projects and deadlines at once.
Support the commissioning of high quality and impactful film and photography which forms a basis of creative assets.
Make lo-fi film and photo content using mobile phones including capturing & editing, employing simple software like CapCut or Canva.
Work with a range of media, including the Adobe Creative Cloud Suite, and keep up to date with emerging technologies and social media developments.
Translate the creative concepts from idea to mock-up, drawing from your own ideas as well as clients and colleagues.
Think practically about the constraints and opportunities of the medium you’re designing to, whether that’s changing social specs or a new format for campaign print material that will engage people in a compelling way
Look at the impact of your design decisions on campaign objectives to help inform future creative. Is that social graphic performing? How did people react to the leaflet you created? What conversations did it spark? Did people use the QR code on your out-of-home advertisement?
From time to time, send creative outputs to clients, responding to straightforward client feedback and explaining creative decisions in clear but compelling ways.
Liaise with clients or team members to discuss the objectives and requirements and long term objectives of a campaign or project.
Estimate the time and budget required to complete deliverables.
Support with bringing in work e.g. providing quotes for small projects, contributing toward creative pitches and supporting campaign leads with proposals.
Participate in brainstorms on creative concepts and for final deliverables, pulling in internal and external stakeholders, finding creative solutions to problems raised.
Provide critical feedback on the work of suppliers and colleagues.
Reliably follow internal processes to log creative licences, expenses and any other relevant information for the projects you are on.
Support the creative delivery of meaningful campaign actions from livestream design to the visual production of events (e.g. print and ads), to film and photoshoots.
Be willing to occasionally travel or work evenings and weekend hours as required.
Perform other duties as required.

About you: Person Specification

An ability to pace and manage your workload, whether delivering at speed to react to political opportunities, or spotting a creative challenge that needs a bit more time to solve
Experience in balancing multiple projects and competing priorities, knowing when to ask for support when you need it
An eagle eye for spotting mistakes and strong attention to detail
Clear communication skills, able to work constructively and collaboratively through feedback with colleagues and clients to get the best creative out the door
An openness to learning and you’re not afraid to ask questions when unsure
A strong desire to develop your craft
A willingness to understand how creative has performed to learn and improve future work
The Right to Work in the UK

Essential skills, knowledge & experience

At least 2-4 years experience working in design agencies or in a similar freelance capacity.
Proven skills in Adobe Creative Suite (InDesign, Illustrator, Photoshop, XD, After Effects, Premiere and motion graphics knowledge).
Confidence to pick up new tools as new creative tech emerges (e.g. CapCut, Canva, AI plug-ins, Veed.io).
A strong and well-rounded portfolio that shows a solid understanding of digital and print design and core graphic design principles
A demonstrable interest in integrated design - from digital artworking, motion graphics, web page design to print and developing strong visual brands
Ability to brainstorm, develop and make the case for creative concepts
A curiosity about progressive campaigns and the role of creative in communications

Desirable skills, knowledge & experience

Design experience in a campaigning context
Experience with Webflow
Experience with HTML / CSS
Native content creation for social platforms
Working with copy
Experience working with original film and photography
Experience of working at shoots, events or actions