UX/UI Open Source Designer

Our not-for-profit mission at Quansight Labs is to provide a core development team for the PyData ecosystem and sustain community-driven open-source software. We do this with support from our sibling services organisation, Quansight, by applying for grants and working with companies who pay for our innovative Community Work Orders. Quansight Labs members primarily work directly on open-source projects but may spend up to 50% of their time working on open-source-related consulting projects.

We are building a company of people who care deeply about open-source projects and communities and their long-term sustainability. Our team is geographically distributed, and working in the open is the norm.

Please note that our main focus areas are scientific computing and the Python ecosystem. However, we do not expect candidates to have a STEM background or have previously worked with the Python language or community. 

You can also check out our Quansight Labs Annual Report to gain more insight into the type of work we do and our approach to open-source sustainability: https://labs.quansight.org/annual-reports/quansight-labs-annual-report-2022.pdf 

• Work with our internal development teams and community-driven open-source projects (including core development teams, product users, and the broader open-source community).
• See design processes from end to end. That can mean being involved at any stage of a project development: project scoping,  working on wireframes or high-fidelity prototypes,  reviewing the development process, and proposing creative solutions to user pain points, technical constraints, and product sustainability needs.
• As needed, provide visual design support—such as UI and icon design.
• Collaborate across teams to create wireframes, mockups, visual guidelines, interactive prototypes, and implementable designs.
• Identify and advocate for user testing opportunities within your process.
• You’ll work on interaction design, visual design, prototyping, and user research—all in close collaboration with the development team. 
• Facilitate design discussions and feedback sessions with the community implementations.
• Synthesize business goals, user needs, and product goals into design strategy and deliverables.
• Explore, polish, and document design guidelines and research findings.
• Iterate proactively on design ideas and solutions and collaborate with the development team to help drive decisions.

• Have a portfolio or samples of your digital design work.
• Previous experience designing digital products.
• Comfortable working remotely with a global team distributed across many time zones.
• Comfortable working independently and reaching out for cross-team feedback and support as needed.
• Comfortable working on multiple teams and projects at once.
• Experience working with and extending brand guidelines or design systems.
• Familiarity with UX/UI best practices, responsive design, wireframing, high-fidelity mockups, and interactive prototyping.
• Familiarity with vector design tools (like Figma, Sketch, Adobe XD, or PenPot).
• Ability to write or talk through your design decisions, especially to non-design team members.
• Ability to provide and constructively receive feedback.

• Experience with accessibility as a part of your design considerations and documentation.
• Familiarity with accessibility standards such as WCAG 2.1.
• Experience in ethical and inclusive design practices.
• Experience collaborating in Figma.
• Experience working on open-source projects or in partnership with community contributors or volunteers.
• Experience working on a product with a culturally diverse user community.
• Experience with UX research.

Please keep in mind that we are describing the background we imagine would best fit the role. Even if you don’t meet all the requirements and are confident that you are up for the task, we want to get to know you!

1. 1. Application: Once you have applied, a recruiter will review your application to determine if your work experience and skills align with the necessary competencies of this position. This recruiter will be in touch to schedule some time to connect if they determine that you could be a good fit for Quansight Labs.
   2. HR interview:  This is an opportunity to get to know each other.  We will tell you a little more about who we are and we look forward to hearing about your past experiences and what you are looking for in your next role. We want to know why you are interested in joining us and what questions you have about our team and mission. This will be scheduled as a 30-minute google meet. 
   3. Interview loop: If you and your recruiter still feel you could be well-suited for this position following your call, we will arrange our interview loop with some team members. This will allow you to learn more about the team and the organization and for us to gain a deeper understanding of your skills and experience.  For this particular role, the interview loop is as follows:
      1. Presentation: this will give you a chance to showcase your work. We will ask you to prepare a 20-minute presentation and a 15-minute Q&A; we want to learn about your process, craft, and previous impact and experience. Your audience will be Quansight Labs members, with whom you will have individual 1:1’s later.
      2. 1:1 interviews: we will schedule separate interviews with the hiring manager and two other Quansight Labs team members (these can be potential teammates or cross-functional team members, i.e. designers and engineers).
   4. Following the completion of all interviews, our hiring team will make a final decision, and the recruiter will be in touch to share the outcome of your interviews. If the team wants to move forward, the recruiter will discuss this and the details of our proposed offer with you