Superbloom

We are looking for a mid/senior designer with expertise in either UX design research or UX and UI craft and design.

The role

  • Simply Secure is looking to hire a mid/senior designer with expertise in either UX design research or UX and UI craft and design. We are looking for someone who has strength in either or both of these design ‘quadrants’ to work on a variety of projects at Simply Secure. Depending on your strengths, and interest in where you wish to grow as a professional, you would work on one primary project that speaks to your strength, and be able to support on projects in your growth area. e.g. If you are a strong design researcher, a majority of your time would be on design research projects with the option to support and take on the occasional UX/UI project.
  • Definitions of “levels” vary across organizations, so here’s what “mid/senior” means to us. You should be able to help scope projects as well as execute on them. You should be capable of taking the lead in communication with partners, and lead meetings. You should feel ready to manage other designers, either providing project guidance and/or serving as a “people manager.” We are open to many different kinds of design experience, but this should not be your first job in this area.
  • You’ll be a critical part of our team, responsible for collaboratively outlining our research and design projects, conducting community-based research to support real needs, or ensuring our partners and projects get the best UX/UI possible for their technology interventions.
  • The design research and UX/UI process will be iterative, requiring close collaboration with the project team, including: weekly meetings, asynchronous updates, and willingness to be responsive to team direction and ideas.
  • You’ll work with internal and external project teams, leading and managing a number of projects with different partners and engagement models, making sure that we are on top of timelines, communicating effectively, and delivering on the work.
  • This role will start in October/November 2022, and offer a salary in the $60,000-$85,000 range including benefits. For employees, we have a benefit structure that emphasizes equity between countries, but in all countries where we can hire, we offer health insurance, contributions towards retirement, paid vacation and federal holidays, a device stipend, and a monthly office stipend. We can provide specific information about benefits based on location.
  • We care about flexibility and balance to support people to work in a way that they need, and so are open to contract, full-time and part-time models for the role. We are a US 501(c)3 organization that has the ability to hire in the US, Germany, and anywhere supported by remote.com.

About us

Changing who technology serves. Simply Secure is a small US 501(c)3 nonprofit organization, founded in 2014 at the intersection of digital design and human rights.

Simply Secure leverages design as a transformative practice to shift power in the tech ecosystem. We apply a critical lens to technology development, and view design as an intervention opportunity to center people and their needs. We collaborate closely with others in the space to grow the community focused on shaping our collective online future. Our vision is a world where everyone has the knowledge, network, and digital tools needed to enrich their lives.

We’ve contributed design to a variety of tools that enhance security, such as Tails to I2P to NoScript. We’ve held salons and a residency around designing for security. But we’ve done a lot more than usable security. Just in the last year, we’ve launched a decentralization pattern library; a report on trust and transparency in nonprofit funding; a campaign to save internet freedom tech; a community around human rights centered design; a series of videos about trust and responsibility in design; and much, much more.

About you

  • A critical thinker with strengths as a strategist, convener and builder.
  • You have experience with leading projects and project delivery.
  • Experience with leading research and design work for technology, e.g. human-centered design, design thinking, service design, UX design, or participatory research (specifically field research) or experience leading on multiple UX/UI projects in a technology/digital space while working closely with a design research resource.
  • Awareness of and/or interest in one or more of the following areas: tech criticism and activism, open source software, scientific software and/or science generally, human rights advocacy and/or human rights technology, internet freedom.
  • You like working independently, and in collaboration with a fully remote team.
  • You are comfortable with cross-cultural communication, collaboration and resolving conflicts, through work with international teams.
  • You are comfortable advocating for yourself and your work to make sure that you’re getting what you need from the wider team.
  • You are available to work with overlap during prime work hours where we have team members (11-6pm Central Europe / 10-5pm UK / 8-6pm US Eastern / 8-3pm US Pacific).
  • You use tools that facilitate remote collaboration, primarily: Figma/PenPot, Notion, Miro, Slack and Google docs/suite.

Nice to have

  • You are familiar with design or development in open source, and are comfortable working in the open.
  • You are interested in areas of research, e.g. scientific or research technology, communication and collaboration technology, or particular issue areas, e.g. science/research fields or tech policy and internet freedom issues.
  • Have experience managing and enjoy working with a fully remote, distributed team, across many time zones and cultures.
  • Proficiency in a language other than English. Although we operate in English, we work internationally. Currently, we provide coaching in English and German and are interested to be able to connect with more communities in local languages. Currently, members of our team speak one or more of: English, German, Spanish, Vietnamese.

Sound like a good fit?

Please send us:

  • Resumé.
  • 2-3 examples of your work and tell us, briefly, about the timeline and process: How did these projects get created? Who was involved? What did the process look like? How long did it take?
  • 1-2 references. References will be taken in the last phase of application review.
  • The times you are available for approx 45 minutes to 1 hour for interviews within our working hours (9am to 5pm Eastern Standard Time).

This position is open until filled and applications will be evaluated on a rolling basis. We will stop accepting applications on October 31, 2022.

We believe that systemic bad behaviors disproportionately hurt the most marginalized people in society — including people of color, people from working class backgrounds, women and LGBTQ people. We believe that these communities must be centered in the work we do. We strongly encourage applications from people with these identities or who are members of other marginalized communities. We are open to candidates from around the world. Final hiring decisions will be contingent upon our ability to contract and pay in the candidate’s country. Simply Secure does not provide relocation or visa support.

No longer accepting applications.