Tech Senior Product Designer - REMOTE

Overview

• Work Location: Remote

• Schedule: 40 hrs, Monday - Friday; Flexible Schedule, with functional overlap to HOT’s core connection hours (UTC 1300 - 1700) required

• Application Close Date: August 14, 2022

• Estimated Start date: September 15, 2022

• Department: Technology Innovation

• Reports to: Director of Technology Innovation

• Terms: Full time, one year initial contract

• Travel: Up to 20% international, including to HOT field project locations

• Level: 8

About HOT

Humanitarian OpenStreetMap Team (HOT) sits at the nexus of participatory mapping, community-led development, humanitarian response, open data and tech. With a talented and diverse team spread around the globe, HOT is an NGO which supports a dynamic global community of thousands of dedicated volunteers using maps and open data for humanitarian response and the Sustainable Development Goals. Working with humanitarian and development partners like the Red Cross, Médecins Sans Frontières, UN agencies, governments and others, the HOT community maps in solidarity with those affected by or at risk of disaster, contributing the maps and data aid workers need to do their lifesaving work.

In 2020 the work of the HOT community was recognized by TED’s Audacious Project, a collaborative philanthropic initiative that serves as a springboard for social impact on a grand scale, leading to an exciting new phase of growth. HOT is expanding its activities: opening four regional hubs and scaling up its support to local mapping communities with the audacious goal of mapping an area home to one billion people in 94 countries at high risk of disasters or experiencing poverty - mapping with communities before they are in crisis.

About the Role

The Senior Product Designer will contribute their creative energy to a passionate team of open tech hacktivists. You will connect with users to ignite imaginative ideas which can be realized through agile collaboration with the hot_tech team. You will delight a dynamic community of digital humanitarians by understanding humanitarian needs of a diverse group of individuals, stakeholders, contributors and collectives in order to generate user flow and delight.

You will work closely with the Director of Technology and Innovation, Senior Product Manager and our Open Tech Collective Facilitator to drive human-centered product evolution. You will lead and mentor the creative growth of our team and contribute to a culture of open sourced, human centered and Just (as in Justice) technologies that inspire humanitarian action.

You’ll be involved in every aspect of our product development process, from early concept, to wireframe, to prototype/mockup, to visual design, build, and launch. In this role, you'll be a custodian of our user experience across all of HOT’s tech projects.

• The Product Designer will advance HOT’s mission by operationalizing the HOT_Tech core ethics:
  Human: Our Human ethic is our commitment to people as our priority. At the center of all our technology sits a human. The ultimate purpose of our technology is to improve human conditions. We use technology to enable and amplify human efforts.
• Open: Our Open ethic permeates all we do. Our actions reflect radical openness and transparency. We encourage open inputs and outputs. Our team and technology openly welcomes and engages community, collaboration and contribution.
• Truth: Our Truth ethic reflects an OpenStreetMap core principle; the ‘truth on the ground’. Our activities and decisions will be guided by this ethic, conflicts not easily resolved will defer to this ethic to determine what best reflects and prioritizes the truth on the ground.
  HOT_Tech Principles > Can be found here >> https://github.com/hotosm/tech/blob/master/principles/README.md

Priority Areas for action and Responsibilities

Priority Areas:

• Human-Centered, Inclusive Experiences: As reflected in our core ethic, we want humans to be at the center of all we do. The Senior Product Designer will advocate and prioritize this ethic in all dimensions of your role. You will lead the design of user experiences that engage and include all users from the center, to the edge of the map.
• Lead, Support, Mentor: The Senior Product Designer will inject creative inspiration into the entire team. You will support the module teams in translating user needs to product requirements and provide input for backlog prioritization. You will facilitate and unlock a culture of design and delight and provide the team with the tools and mentorship to exercise their creativity.
• Connect, Collaborate, Co-create: Through close collaboration with Senior Manager of Products and Director of Technology and Innovation you will distill the HOT Technology Strategy into elegant technology solutions that respond to community needs. The Senior Product Designer will connect and collaborate with the HOT community to co-create simple, yet sophisticated experiences that support and enhance a mapper’s growth and journey.

Responsibilities

• Work closely with hot_tech engage and regional open mapping hub teams to enhance inclusion through product design
• Conceptualize ideas that bring simplicity and user friendliness to complex design challenges
• Facilitate human-centered lean and sprint based design processes
• Collaborate with hot_tech module teams to define, build, and deploy value for product users
• Construct user flows, wireframes, and prototypes to simply communicate design insights
• Mentor and guide team members, helping develop and grow design principles and practices
• Creatively guide the team's design culture through collaboration, feedback, and iteration.

About You

You are passionate about putting people at the center of technology. You are driven by delivering delight to a community of diverse and unique users. You are a solution hunter and believe that value is delivered when the right solution is in the right hands. You appreciate sophistication in simplicity and strive to build experiences that build users. You are passionate about principles that drive inclusive technologies and love to translate empathy into experiences.

Qualifications

Essential

• A portfolio of Design projects related to open mapping, humanitarian or FOSS software
• Extensive experience designing digital products and systems
• Extensive experience with a range of design disciplines (e.g. product, interaction, UX etc.)
• Extensive experience guiding or contributing to agile-inspired lean software development
• Extensive experience working in a dynamic community of diverse or disparate stakeholders
• Extensive experience in all stages of design (e.g sprints, testing, data, insights etc.)
• Extensive experience managing diverse, distributed teams over multiple geographies

Desirable

• Experience working in international humanitarian or development agencies/NGOs
• Experience mentoring, teaching, or guiding non-design oriented roles
• Experience designing for free and open source software projects
• Working knowledge of Principles for Digital Development and Human Centered Design

Other Skills & Experience

• Confidence facilitating inclusive design thinking methodology; online facilitation an advantage
• A bias for experimentation and ‘building forward’ through design
• Dedication to inclusive and transformative design
• Open, engaging and encouraging communication
• Strong understanding of digital interactions: patterns, best practices, common challenges
• Extensive experience working across a range of digital design tools (graphic, prototype, test)

Are you missing a few of the technical skills listed? We would still like to see your application. While the skills above fit our vision of this role, we are open to those candidates with a strong knowledge foundation that are fast learners and highly motivated to close any skill gaps.

Compensation

HOT values transparency and equity. All HOT compensation globally is set according to a framework detailed on our website. HOT offers a work-from-anywhere culture, flexible working arrangements, and various other benefits that support staff wellbeing.

Equal Opportunity

We seek to recruit persons that reflect the diversity of the communities we work with. HOT does not discriminate on the basis of age, gender identity and expression, national origin, race and ethnicity, physical ability, religious or belief systems, political convictions, or sexual orientation. Further, HOT seeks to support the development and advancement of staff within the organization. Our staff includes people who are parents and nonparents, the self-taught and university educated, and from a wide range of socio-economic backgrounds, lived experiences, and perspectives on the world. HOT is an equal opportunity employer. We seek to live our values and promote inclusivity in all locations. All of our staff work collectively and individually to promote a constructive and sensitive approach to others from a variety of backgrounds, where the work of all is valued and respected.

HOT is committed to diversity within our team, and recognizes our role in closing the digital divide, including identifying obstacles that certain groups face in developing skills needed for roles in the humanitarian & technology sectors. Women, nationals of developing countries, and members of other underrepresented groups are strongly encouraged to apply.

To Apply

Please complete the application by August 14, 2022. Your CV/resume should not exceed 2 pages.