Junior Digital Interactive Designer

About the Opportunity
This is a great opportunity for an early career designer with a strong foundation in graphic design and is excited by digital interactive possibilities. Join a creative team that works on projects that help forefront the Academy’s mission—as seen by millions of visitors—and be surrounded by the museum’s 60,000 animals.

Organizational Culture
Join a team dedicated to the Academy’s mission, vision and values! Currently, the Academy has a new strategic plan including three initiatives – Hope for Reefs, Thriving California, and Islands 2030 – that leverage biodiversity science, environmental learning, and collaborative engagement to regenerate fragile ecosystems around the world. Learn more at https://www.calacademy.org/about-us/major-initiatives.

We are committed to ensuring diversity, equity, accessibility, and inclusion are intrinsic to Academy culture and operations, from recruitment and retention to science and advocacy.

We hope you are inspired by what we do and are excited to contribute to our mission. The mission of the California Academy of Sciences is to regenerate the natural world through science, learning, and collaboration. The Academy is looking for candidates who do great work, and we know they may come from a number of different backgrounds and experiences. We encourage you to apply even if you do not believe you meet every one of the qualifications for the position.

This position is based in San Francisco, California. Staff are currently expected to work from the Academy offices at least 2-3 times per week, which may fluctuate based on business needs. Please do not apply if you are not able to work onsite. Candidates are required to have up-to-date COVID-19 vaccination as a condition of employment, absent qualifying exemptions in accordance with applicable laws. Individuals receiving a conditional offer of employment from the California Academy of Sciences will be provided the full text of the vaccination policy. The California Academy of Sciences is committed to providing a safe and healthy workplace, to protect its employees, volunteers and guests.

About the Creative Studio Team
Creative Studio is the in-house design department of the Academy, deeply involved in projects inside the museum and beyond its walls. Composed of multidisciplinary designers, photographers, and a studio manager, this team is responsible for developing engaging and educational environments, and crafting communications that people respond to and delight in.
Position Summary
The Junior Interactive Designer, as part of the Creative Studio department, works on the implementation of Academy digital graphics and interactive projects under the direction of the Creative Director and Senior Digital Interaction Designer. This position will create, iterate, or assist in the design and production of digital projects and assets. This position works within the Creative Studio, and involves significant cross-departmental collaboration.
Key Responsibilities

• Design and production. Create, redesign, revise, or assist in the design and production of Academy graphics and digital assets, including:
• Digital Exhibit projects: UI and iconography for exhibit interactives (mobile and installed screens) collaborating on UX, UI, & presentations
• Digital Signage: UI and design for non-exhibit museum signage such as wayfinding and information signage (mobile and installed screens) collaborating on UX, UI, & presentations
• Web Projects: Work on web modules, page designs, and graphics created for the CAS.org website, ticketing platform, Academy microsites and BigPicture
• Digital Assets: Graphics email, social media, presentations, streaming platforms, and other screen-based formats—e.g. web banners, email headers, online promotions, social media graphics and gifs, information graphics, wordmarks, and icons
• Imagery. Create and revise graphics for implementation in formats such as
• Illustration: Create new work and/or modify existing Academy illustrations and iconography for use in digital and interactive projects.
• Photo preparation: Source and modify images in the Academy’s image libraries and other online resources.
• Other:
• Follow all Academy safety regulations
• Perform other job-related duties as assigned

Qualifications

Experience and/or Education:

• 2 years of experience in a professional creative setting with digital interactive-specific work experience (required)
• Degree/certificate in new media/digital design, visual/graphic design, art direction, or a related field—or equivalent coursework (preferred)

Skills and Abilities:

• Branding, design, and typography: Understand branding and graphic design concepts, follow identity and style guidelines, set type beautifully, and apply a refined modern design aesthetic to all work with special attention digital implementations
• Design & prototyping platforms: Proficiently use Adobe Creative Suite, especially Photoshop, Illustrator, and Figma. Preferred: basic experience with CSS/HTML5, illustration/iconography creation, video editing and animation
• Digital standards: Understand and apply current digital development best practices in digital production techniques & experience working with developers.
• Collaboration: Work as part of a team, take direction, ask questions, be responsive and respectful, and seek help when needed
• Interpersonal: Take initiative, work efficiently, and communicate clearly with coworkers, internal and external partners, and museum guests from different backgrounds, identities, and experiences
• Organization: Be organized and responsible, and work on multiple projects at once in a fast-paced, deadline-driven environment
• Office apps: Work well within Asana, Google, and Microsoft apps. Also comfortable communicating via Slack and email
• Mission-alignment: Have a passion for nature, science and the future of life on our planet

Physical Environment:
To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential job duty satisfactorily. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable qualified individuals with disabilities to perform essential job functions.

• Ability to perform repetitive motions 75% of the time. Work is computer-based.

Schedule: Full Time, 40 hours per week

APPLICATION DEADLINE:
This position will close on August 21, 2023. Review of applications will begin on August 7, 2023.

Compensation and Benefits
Starting salary will vary based on experience and relevant skills/knowledge set. The Academy offers a total compensation package that emphasizes both base salary and comprehensive benefits based on the hours per week worked.

APPLICATION PROCESS:
Please upload your resume, portfolio or link to portforlio, and complete the brief online application.

The California Academy of Sciences will give full consideration for employment to all qualified applicants with criminal histories in a manner consistent with the requirements of the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance (SF Police Code, Article 49).

We are committed to ensuring that all employees and applicants shall receive equal consideration and treatment. All terms and conditions of employment, including but not limited to, recruitment, hiring, placements, transfers, promotions, compensation, benefits, terminations, training, and social and recreational programs, will be on the basis of qualifications of the individual for the positions being filled. The Academy does not discriminate against qualified applicants or employees with respect to any terms or conditions of employment on account of any characteristic protected by state or federal law or local ordinance. Read our full Equal Opportunity Statement here.