Visual Designer (Spain, Portugal, UK)

Do you have a knack for transforming data into visually stunning experiences?  We're looking for a designer to own and shape the look and feel of our digital products, like websites and mobile apps. If you can use advanced UI design techniques, innovative data visualizations, and effective visual communication strategies to tell stories through data, then we'd love to hear from you!

We can offer a salary range of €30,000 - €49,000 depending on your experience. We are also open to exploring full-time and part-time contract options (with a minimum of 75% time dedication), depending on your needs.

We have operations in Spain, Portugal, and the UK, and currently, people work remotely or at our office in Madrid. You are very welcome to join us if you are eligible to work in any of these three countries. 

Would you like to be part of Vizzuality’s story?

Are you motivated by the desire to make a positive impact on the planet?  Looking to put your skills to work on something truly meaningful?

At Vizzuality, our purpose is to reach a fair and sustainable planet by creating tools that empower people to make positive changes.

We are a world-leading technology, design, and science agency. We design and develop data-driven tools and applications for international organizations focusing on Climate Change, Biodiversity, and Inequality.

Solving such large and complex problems will bring you into contact with new technology and some of the world’s most interesting organizations and academics in machine learning, remote sensing, and planetary data. You’ll be working on projects like these:

https://www.globalforestwatch.org/

https://supplychains.trase.earth/

https://resourcewatch.org/

https://www.half-earthproject.org/maps/

https://www.landgriffon.com

Our Culture

Our aim is to help the world become a better place. Therefore, we need to make sure we care about our people and give them the power to build great things. These are some of the principles that define our culture:

We Trust: Our team structure relies on self-organization. We want to work with colleagues who don't have to look 'up' for approval, nor look 'down' and give instructions. As soon as you step inside, we will equip you with all the tools to enable your success, and then we will trust you to do great things. 

We Delight: We use our deep understanding of people's needs to spark delight. Our choices are based on science, research, and design principles. 

We Care: For ourselves, our colleagues, and the organization. We know what we do is important and we have a strong sense of responsibility for the work we do. 

We Grow: As we are always embarking on new projects and challenges, a continuous learning mindset and a 'Can Do' attitude is a must. We are conscientious, and we focus on learning and achieving our goals. We give power to people so they can make decisions and plot their own paths with help from all around them.

We have fun: We also know that you need to balance seriousness with fun. If you can make people smile, you will be off to a great start!

Want to know more about our culture? Check our Playbook. 

A Day in the Life of a Designer at Vizzuality 

You'll work alongside designers, engineers, scientists, project managers and other peers to make sure our designs are both beautiful and easy to use. We want them to be clear, engaging, and backed by data – basically, something that grabs users' attention and keeps them hooked.

You will also use your experience to develop visual elements and high-fidelity prototypes, effectively conceptualizing and communicating design strategies to clients and partners worldwide. 

Some of your day-to-day responsibilities:

• Interactive Design Development: Craft user-centered interaction models, detailed wireframes, and screen mockups to create intuitive and visually compelling digital experiences.
• Collaborative Design Refinement: Engage in constructive sessions with the project team to gather feedback, refine designs, and tackle complex challenges related to interaction models, data visualization, and seamless integration of visual designs with website functionalities.
• Agile Methodology Adaptation: Work within a framework that adopts an Agile-like approach, adapting to the project's evolving needs and ensuring dynamic, iterative progress in design tasks.
• Brand Consistency: Develop prototypes that ensure consistent integration of logos and brand imagery across various platforms, including social media, to maintain a cohesive brand identity.
• Systematic Design Approach: Establish comprehensive design systems and UI kits to facilitate a consistent design approach throughout the project lifecycle.
• Visual Asset Creation: Design logos, icons, grids, and patterns tailored for digital-interactive interfaces, enhancing user engagement and interaction.
• Asset Management: Efficiently organize and manage production assets to streamline design processes and ensure smooth project execution.
• Marketing and Event Design: Contribute to email marketing campaigns, presentation materials, and interactive event materials, reinforcing the brand's presence and messaging across all touchpoints.

These are some things you will do and achieve in your first year at Vizzuality.

In your first month:

• You will get to know your colleagues and some of our partners and clients. 
• The design team will show you our workflows and the project’s lifecycle.  With the support of your peers, you will get hands-on exposure to a couple of projects and help them with the different challenges and opportunities.
• You will design a few projects along with one of your peers. You will understand feedback, build user interfaces, address data challenges and issues, and propose new solutions to the final design proposal presented to clients.

During the following months:

• With your peer's support, you will gradually become the leading designer in some of our projects. You will take ownership of your work and responsibility from conceptualization through completion, partnering with a multidisciplinary team.
• You will have a solid understanding of the project’s lifecycle and the company’s culture. 
• You will participate in workshops and create visual systems and guidelines to ensure a successful implementation of the products.
• Your involvement will extend beyond day-to-day design tasks; you will actively participate in workshops and be encouraged to engage in the initial conceptualization process. This process includes participating in user research activities, interpreting user feedback into actionable insights, and employing design thinking methodologies to address complex challenges.
• A pivotal aspect of your role will involve translating these insights into specific tasks to enhance the user interface. By incorporating human-centered design principles, you will perform detailed user research, such as conducting interviews, surveys, and usability tests, to understand our users' needs and behaviors deeply. This in-depth understanding will empower you to make informed design decisions, ensuring our solutions are visually appealing, highly intuitive, and user-centric.

By the end of the first year:

• You will actively participate in internal initiatives to help your design team flourish and improve the company's processes. 
• You will create guidelines and documentation and collaborate to develop procedures and methodologies to standardize our work.

Skills and experiences we are looking for in a candidate

(*) Even if you think you don't tick all the boxes below, we'd still love to hear from you. Nobody checks every box, and we are looking for someone excited to join the team and aligned with our purpose!

We are seeking individuals who are talented in visual and UI design and understand the power of storytelling and the clarity that effective data design can bring to the user experience. If you are passionate about creating beautiful, functional, and user-centric designs, we'd love to hear from you.

For mid-level profiles, we’re looking for candidates who bring a broad spectrum of expertise to the table, including:

• Experience in Visual Design: We expect to see a portfolio that showcases your proficiency in visual design, demonstrating your skills in branding, layout, typography, color, iconography, hierarchy, accessibility, etc.
• UI Design Proficiency: A solid understanding of User Interface design principles, with the ability to create clear, user-friendly interfaces that enhance user experience.
• Design System Creation: You are familiar with developing design systems and have experience collaborating with front-end developers and other internal teams to ensure a coherent and consistent implementation across platforms.
• Proficiency in Design Tools: Skilled use of design software such as Figma, Adobe Suite, or similar tools is essential.
• High Organizational Skills: The ability to juggle and prioritize multiple projects simultaneously, effectively managing timelines and expectations to meet project deadlines.
• Storytelling Through Design: Skills in conveying concepts and narratives through design, enabling users to connect with our products more deeply.
• Data and Information Design Knowledge: Experience or a keen interest in data visualization and information design, with the ability to translate complex data into easily understandable and visually appealing formats, helped by our internal team of data scientists within our project teams.

For more senior profiles, in addition to the above-described mid-level skills and experiences, we’re expecting candidates to be able to show high levels of autonomy and to add value in some of the following areas:

• Experience leading design projects and being the main point of contact/responsible for them with clients and external stakeholders. 
• Excellent communication and storytelling skills with the ability to evangelize design decisions and influence your team and clients. 
• Ability to push ideas to the rest of the company that make lasting changes.
• Mentoring and teaching skills

Our compensation and benefits are part of a great career opportunity with the potential for you to grow and work in something with a massive transformational purpose. So, if you care about the real-world impact of your work and are inspired by our mission to transform the world, we can offer you the following:

Compensation:

• Annual salary between €30,000 - €49,000 (your final salary will be based on your experience and profile).
• Annual profit-sharing bonus plan (team bonus up to 10% of salary based on company performance).
• €1,000 Referral Bonus after six months of hiring (for every successful referral).

Growth:

• €1,500 annual training allowance for courses, conferences, volunteering, innovation projects, or meetups of your choice, including travel and lodging.
• Peer mentoring and support in designing your own career path.
• Free English & Spanish Lessons.
• Support for personal projects and initiatives like giving talks, contributing to open source projects, and giving and receiving internal training.
• '4 Weeks Growth Sabbatical' when you reach 10 years at Vizz.

Wellbeing & Paid Time Off.

• 26 days of vacation (plus local bank holidays).
• Additional birthday holiday. :)
• Up to 2 extra vacation days when you make sustainable travel choices.
• Up to 3 extra vacation days after 5 years at Vizzuality, which will be added to your holiday allowance forever.

Care:

• Mental health support via Spill, our third-party provider, to connect you with qualified counselors and curated resources.
• Live in Spain? You'll have the option to enroll in our company-subsidized health and dental insurance plan.

Flexibility & Remote Work

• Remote work if you are based in Spain, Portugal, or the UK.
• Flexible schedules.
• We will provide you with everything you need to do great work (i.e., laptop, tools, and work-from-home equipment).
• 1 or 2 annual company-paid gatherings.

Fluent English is important to us, so if it’s not your first language, please demonstrate your abilities in your CV and Cover Letter. We will not consider applications that are not sent in English.