Regional Graphic Designer At International Rescue Committee

PlayMatters reimagines childhood for refugees. It will bring play-based learning to 800,000 children across Ethiopia, Uganda, and Tanzania. It will redefine education and cultivate a generation of lifelong builders. PlayMatters is inspired by LEGO Foundation’s call to challenge the status quo, to offer children the quality education they dream of. Children are not gaining the skills they need, teachers are under-supported, and parents are overwhelmed. The systems built to serve them are failing them. PlayMatters proudly offers something different. It is being delivered by a coalition with a track record of thinking and delivering differently. We bring three distinct characteristics:

1**. Outcomes:** Everything we do is fueled by the social, emotional, cognitive, physical, creative and resilience outcomes we seek. We know learning happens when children are at the center and teachers, parents and the system surrounding them embrace children’s agency and have not only skills and resources, but the motivation to drive change.

1. Research and learning: Effective delivery requires both rigor and a big heart. With LEGO Foundation, PlayMatters will generate scientific evidence that can transform our understanding of play and learning for refugees in East Africa and around the world.
2. Thought leadership: The LEGO Foundation Humanitarian Initiative offers an opportunity to deliver and comes with the responsibility to lead. Our consortium’s members have a record mobilizing others.

Job Overview/Summary:

The graphic designer will be part of the PlayMatters Regional Team in Kampala, covering Ethiopia, Uganda, and Tanzania. The candidate will lead in the design of a variety of materials aimed at nurturing holistic learning through play for children aged 3-12+. The candidate will work closely with the PlayMatters Content Development Committees, Regional Curriculum Specialist, and Technical Advisor in Curriculum Development. The Regional Graphics Designer will adapt, design and contextualize content with the content development teams to create final assets that ensure uptake and understanding. This includes creating graphics, illustrations, printed and digital materials, as necessary for educators, community members, caregivers, and systems actors. The designer will work closely with the team to build initial versions of user guides, workbooks, activity cards, posters, facilitator guides among others to help educators, caregivers, system actors, and community leaders incorporate learning through play into their everyday interactions with children.

Major Responsibilities:

• Design visually appealing content (user guides, workbooks, activity cards, posters, and facilitator guides), aimed at nurturing learning through play. Work closely with content development committees to gather feedback from previously conducted user-testing of these materials. The designer will then conceptualize how best to incorporate this feedback and produce iterated content versions.

• Design layout of art and copy regarding arrangement, size, type size & style, and related aesthetic concepts for key educational materials for teachers, community members, caregivers, and potentially children (with varying literacy levels in mind)

• Participate in iterative design processes to produce flexible variations of products

• Understand the illustrative process and provide technical input and oversight to illustrators who are responsible for creating image ideas and products of various activities to promote learning through play

• Ensure final graphics and layouts are visually appealing and on-brand

• Amend designs after feedback

Requirements

• At least 3 years of relevant graphic design experience.

• Illustration skills is an added advantage.

• High proficiency using creative graphic design and video production software, including but not limited to: Adobe Indesign, Illustrator, Photoshop and/or related software for graphic design to produce aesthetically pleasing and engaging materials for educators, caregivers, and community leaders.

• Ability to conceptualize human-centered designs by keeping the end-users in mind throughout the design process.

• Ability to design unique and individual elements to integrate into design.

• Excellent verbal and non-verbal communication skills

• Work effectively in a multi-cultural environment with international and national colleagues and partners.

• Fluency in English is required.

• Solid organizational skills: the ability to be flexible and work well under pressure, dealing with competing priorities, in a fast-paced team environment.

• Extremely detail-oriented with a keen eye for aesthetics (proven consistency in design across products).

• Good multi-tasking abilities to meet multiple deadlines.

• Strong understanding of humanitarian crises and contexts in Eastern Africa is a plus.

• Strong team player.

• Ability to navigate and creatively engage with diverse artistic traditions of East Africa.

• Flexible and willing to integrate diverse feedback from a variety of technical partners.

• Participation and flexibility throughout in an iterative design process with a number of stakeholders across a large consortium and multiple content development teams.

• Proven experience of graphic production from start to published/printed product with knowledge of printing processes and color management.

Please attach your portfolio when applying for this role, or put a link in your CV.

The IRC and IRC workers must adhere to the values and principles outlined in IRC Way – Standards for Professional Conduct. These are Integrity, Service, Equality and Accountability. In accordance with these values, the IRC operates and enforces policies on Beneficiary Protection from Exploitation and Abuse, Child Safeguarding, Anti Workplace Harassment, Fiscal Integrity, and Anti-Retaliation.