Designer

Summary

Join Upstatement as a Designer and contribute to the entire project lifecycle, from initial ideation to final production. Create compelling, functional, and brand-appropriate designs, supporting Creative Directors and independently authoring designs aligned with core strategies. Effectively communicate design rationale, navigate complex team and user needs, and deliver impeccable work. Upstatement offers a collaborative, high-trust environment with ethical and mission-driven projects, fostering growth and flexibility. The studio values diverse, inclusive teams and provides a supportive, growth-oriented atmosphere.

Requirements

• 3-5 years of hands-on design at a digital agency
• Visual and interaction designer with a portfolio of work demonstrating experience across digital contexts (e.g. websites, products, etc)
• Great taste
• Know how to simplify
• Can-do attitude
• Comfortable with both deep systems thinking and getting into the gnarliest interaction detail
• Push the envelope of what's possible while understanding the boundaries of what's practical or attainable
• Gives and receives feedback with empathy to ensure work is always aligned to the core idea and meets quality standards
• Sets the pace of velocity and efficiency through every step of the process, course correcting based on feedback and improving how we work together
• Confident communicator and active listener
• Maintain strong relationships with collaborators and client stakeholders, even when challenged
• Ability to succeed even in the face of complex, ambiguous projects
• Comfortable working iteratively
• Can step into this role with minimal training

Responsibilities

• Create compelling designs that are beautiful, functional, and brand right
• Support Creative Directors from initial ideation to final production
• Independently author designs that deliver on core strategy
• Explain the why, win over the team, and fulfill the creative strategy
• Navigate complex business, user, and team needs with empathy
• Ship impeccable work
• Support and sometimes lead an end-to-end design process
• Contribute visual ideas as research
• Express strategic ideas through design
• Communicate the rationale behind your work
• Make it beautiful, and (most important) deliver what users need
• Develop design directions that are informed by research, connected to business outcomes, and driven by you
• Explore complex problem spaces with an open mind
• Feel comfortable with ambiguity
• Generate multiple solutions, rapidly iterate, and make strategic product decisions in partnership with a team
• Sweat the details
• Impeccable execution and deep care given to all aspects of design, large and small: strategy, messaging, brand, colors, typography, icons — everything
• Communicate clearly
• Share daily status with teams
• Deliver concepts to the team and sometimes clients
• Talk through thorny issues as they arise
• Show excellent written, verbal, and interpersonal communication skills that build strong relationships
• Contribute to an inclusive culture where people feel productive, creative, and safe
• Be unafraid to name problems and move toward solutions with optimism, clarity, and calm

Preferred Qualifications

Experience designing around complex interactions or content, such as apps and editorial products

Benefits

• Competitive salary
• Health, Dental, & Vision Insurance
• Flexible Spending & Health Savings Accounts
• Online Mental Health Therapy with Talkspace & First Stop Health
• Short & Long Term Disability Insurance
• One Medical membership
• Health Advocacy Support
• Gynecology and Family-building Care with Kindbody
• Non-elective 401k company contribution
• $1,000 home office setup stipend
• $1,500 annual professional development budget
• 3 weeks vacation to start, plus company-wide closure between Christmas & New Year’s Day (fully paid)
• 12 weeks paid parental leave, plus 12 additional weeks available as unpaid
• Co-working spaces in Boston and Chicago as well as a fully distributed workforce