Research Action Design RAD

Job Announcement 2022

This position has been filled. RAD does not currently have any open positions.

Are you inspired and excited by the idea of being your own boss but ready to jointly run and build a growing business? Want to be part of a people-centered, justice-oriented, movement organization that’s driven by values rather than profit? Love the idea of becoming a co-owner of a worker-owned coop?

Research Action Design (RAD) is hiring a graphic and web designer to join our team, leading the visual design of culturally-responsive tools, technology and research for social transformation. We’re looking for an individual with mid-level or senior-level experience in their area of expertise. We are not looking for entry-level candidates at this time. We are open to considering applicants with strong design skills alongside mid-level or senior-level experience in a non-design-focused job or field (e.g. a front-end developer, illustrator or digital project manager looking to transition to design).

RAD is a small, scrappy team of professionals with a variety of backgrounds and skill sets who collaborate across a variety of projects. We strongly value work-life balance and have a high level of autonomy to self-direct our work. Some of our projects launched over the past year have included:

Strong visual design is central to most of our projects, whether they be print reports, web tools, or facilitated gatherings; but we don’t currently have a designer on our team. As RAD grows, we’re looking to add a new team member who would be able to lead visual design for our projects (including bringing on external design partners where appropriate – you won’t have to be able to do it all), as well as collaborate as part of the RAD team both on cooperative business development and on a variety of projects in other capacities (e.g. project management, co-design or facilitation planning, research, or coding).

Our ideal graphic and web designer is a curious person who is great at their craft and also loves being a generalist and is enthusiastic about working across skill sets, projects, and social justice issues. Our ideal candidate for this position would also have some skills or interest in front-end web development and digital project management as well. If you enjoy applying and developing new creative approaches for developing accessible and culturally-responsive web and print tools this is an ideal opportunity to join a small but mighty, growing worker-coop team.

Application deadline: January 28th, 2022.

Primary Responsibilities

  • Create design concepts and engaging final products:
    • For user flows and other UX design materials (e.g. facilitate development of and/or translation of user stories and specifications into conceptual designs)
    • For print (e.g. layout and production for research reports, curriculum, or other materials);
    • For digital projects on desktop or mobile (e.g. create wireframes or hand-drawn sketches, build page by page visual designs for web tools)
  • Create original visual design elements required for project needs, including:
    • Color and typography schemes (e.g. for slide decks, printed materials, web tools and co-design instruments, etc.)
    • Style guides and templates
  • Lead or support project management of co-design projects, activities may include:
    • Meet with prospective clients and develop project proposals, scopes and work plans
    • Manage projects through the full lifecycle, from conceptual design through finished product
    • Develop and facilitate co-design plans which bring diverse collaborators together to directly participate in the design process for digital tools and other projects
  • Lead or support design and facilitation of usability test sessions, focus group interviews, and other user research methodologies
  • Work with artists and illustrators to develop graphics assets
  • Help problem-solve on design-related issues across RAD projects
  • Work with other worker-owners on operations and co-management of RAD (this position will be a candidate for worker-ownership, and only those interested in co-ownership of a cooperative business should apply):
    • Participate in “RADmin” meetings and tasks (operations, budgeting, finance, etc.)
    • Support strategic communications, marketing and business development for RAD

The ideal candidate will have:

  • At least three years experience participating in or managing digital projects from start to finish, including managing budgets, developing and maintaining work plans, managing subcontractors, client engagement, writing initial proposals, etc.
  • Experience building or designing multilingual and accessible web tools
  • Experience with co-design and design justice approaches
  • Experience facilitating participatory decision-making spaces which are welcoming for diverse participants
  • Connection to or experience with movement organizing
  • Knowledge or experience in one or more of RAD client’s most common issue areas:
    • health justice
    • low-wage worker rights
    • Immigrant rights
    • racial justice
    • spatial and housing justice
    • environmental justice
    • LGBTQ rights and
    • the struggle against criminalization and mass incarceration
  • Spanish language skills or experience working with interpreters/translators
  • Excitement to develop new creative approaches for developing accessible and culturally-responsive web tools
  • Excitement about being a generalist, working across skill sets and project areas and learning new skills for each
  • Passion for RAD’s mission and co-op model.

We value diversity and RAD is an equal opportunity employer. We especially encourage people who identify as historically under-represented in tech and design to apply.

Requirements

  • Proficiency with industry standard software applications (e.g. Adobe XD, Figma, or Sketch for web design; Adobe Creative Suite, Google Docs and Canva for graphic design).
  • Mid-level or senior-level experience in their area of expertise. We are not looking for entry-level candidates at this time.
  • Availability for meetings and co-working between 9AM - 1PM PT Mondays through Thursdays; occasional availability outside of those hours for clients in other timezones.
  • Availability for occasional travel for client meetings and RAD retreats (no more than a few times per year).
  • Ability to self-manage time and workload in a remote-only workspace
  • Ability to work well independently and as a team member.
  • Interest and commitment in becoming a worker-owner of RAD.
  • Fluency in written and spoken English.
  • Requires the ability to sit and work at a desk for several hours at a time.
  • Access to a computer and high-speed internet service during work hours

Pay & Work Hours

This position is full-time, exempt, salaried, with a starting salary range of $60k-70k for candidates with mid to senior-level experience. Salary is not negotiable; we use a pay equity calculator to determine salaries based on local cost of living and prior experience level.

RAD is a worker-coop. After one year, the person may, with worker-owner approval, be considered for worker-ownership.

RAD defines full-time as working 32-35 hours per week (all workers track and report work and PTO hours). We are a fully remote workplace, across multiple time zones, and workers can set their own schedule but are expected to be generally available for virtual meetings between 9AM - 1PM PT Mondays through Thursdays.

Benefits

  • All US Federal holidays and a two-week winter break
  • 15 days PTO per year
  • Full health, vision and dental insurance coverage and the option to purchase coverage for family members or dependents
  • Option to enroll in disability insurance via an after-tax payroll deduction (LTD/STD)
  • Reimbursement for phone, internet and VPN expenses
  • Additional benefits if accepted as a worker-owner, including:
    • Monthly home office allowance
    • Paid eight-week sabbatical every 5 years (for worker-owners)
    • Access to Solo 401(k) retirement account

About RAD

RAD is a worker-owned team of radical creatives who help build the power, leadership and capacity of grassroots social movements in the struggle for justice and liberation. RAD partners with small and large groups across the globe to co-design tools, develop technology, and conduct essential research grounded in the needs and leadership of communities. We collaborate across a broad range of intersecting issues.

We are a heart-centered coop of life-long learners that came together in 2013 to use our expertise to facilitate community-led change. We come from the fields of public health, public policy, social work, cultural geography, cartography, data analysis, media, and software development. Together, we have decades of experience working across a range of social and economic issues to support social movements with an explicit intersectional analysis.

The RAD team lives and works in California, Texas and North Carolina. Caroline Rivas is a defender for justice and equity, accomplished at connecting practice, research, and policy, driving systemic transformation. Chris Schweidler is a practitioner of research by and for grassroots movements for social justice. And Tim Stallmann is a builder of maps, web and data tools which address racial, economic and environmental injustice and strengthen neighborhood self-determination. We are RAD!

How to apply

Interested, qualified persons are invited to apply by using our google form application, or by emailing the following information to hiring at rad.cat.

  • Cover letter, including discussion of your interest in co-ops and worker-ownership
  • Resume
  • Work samples/portfolio

Please include the position title in the subject line of your email. Emails without all of the above information may not be considered.

Questions can also be directed to hiring at rad.cat.

Timeline

Applications accepted until January 28th. We expect to be conducting interviews in February, with a target start date of mid-to-late March.