Job Description

Junior Web Designer/Developer

Full time, Auckland + Remote, $60k+ pa, Immediate start.

Seeking a graduate or junior Web Designer/Developer with Graphic Design, UI/UX, HTML, CSS, and basic JS skills to join the Brandkit team.

We are a New Zealand headquartered SaaS company, established in 1997, working in the branding, digital media, content management sector. We're a small team of 5 (Founder, Admin, Designer, 2 x Engineers) and dog named Harry.

Our clients include well known brands and organisations across a broad spectrum of industries from around the globe, and we also have a strong presence in the National and Local Government, Economic Development, and Tourism sectors in several markets.

We all work remotely, and practice asynchronous working. We're also Mac people.

We love meeting up, we love visuals. However for an async style of work - you have to be a good writer. You need to write up (and sketch up) your ideas, and explain your idea/concepts.

About the work

Most of the users of our product (Brandkitapp.com) are professional Marketers, Content Managers or Designers.

A lot of creative is stored, managed and distributed via our product - including brand guidelines, logos, identity, photography, graphics, artworks, design files, video, audio, documents, PDF's, Presentations, etc - but most of it is made by someone else.

That is - we handle design/creative/digital assets made by, and for other teams, clients. The exception is our own marketing content, and UI design and development for our clients.

Ideally you've already been in the trenches at an agency or two, worked in a professional photography studio, or in a design department somewhere. You know the grind, you know about the hard work, the Friday deadlines, etc.

There won't be too much of that type of work here, but we want someone who really understands that work because, our customers still have many of those challenges, and we want to automate some of that away.

The work here is varied and involves things like:

traditional graphic design using tools like a pencil, and tools like Adobe CC, Photoshop, Illustrator and InDesign, etc.
creating UI designs from scratch with a consideration for UX.
discussing design requirements with clients, and coming up with a plan to deliver to client requirements.
coding up web UI's in HTML, CSS, and JS.
figuring stuff out - like how to save time on wrote digital design processes, like resizing images, or building brand guidelines.
working with our back-end developers to develop new product features and workflows.
reviewing and working on UX and Accessibility.
testing features from a designer perspective.
communicating with customers to help them succeed. For example, this might be advice on how to prepare content for publishing, or walking a customer through a workflow (maybe one that you designed).
demonstrating product, or feature walkthroughs via Video Call, to a customer or team mates.
looking to the future, helping figure out how AI and Machine Learning will impact design processes, workflows, media, creative and how we make product changes to adapt to future challenges.

This is what a typical week might look:

Monday: Meeting with a client to review design spec and requirements. Write up project brief in Basecamp (our project management tool). Follow up with client on some action points that need client input. Answer an email from client who has a question about a design issue. Work on a client portal.
Tuesday: Meet with the team (video call) to review progress and understand what everyone's working on this week. Code up a Brand Portal UI for a client.
Wednesday: Create new graphics/imagery for new product feature launch. Receive instructions from client for new Portal design, and start deploying design changes in HTML and CSS to the client's Brandkit Portal.
Thursday: Receive instructions for a quick change from an existing client to add some new icons and graphics. Review UX and Accessibility for a new product feature, and make some recommendations to the team about what should be changed. Work on a client portal.
Friday: Check the web analytics to see if the new video walkthrough page is getting any traffic. Move the nav item to somewhere easier to find and make a note to check again next week. Create a new image to share in Social Media to promote the new product feature. Work on a client portal. Write a blog post aimed at designers working in a design team for a corporate about using modern tools to get their work done.

Our style/culture - The Brandkit Way

Write it up/Sketch it up.
A picture is worth 1000 words. A brand is worth 1000 pictures.
No BS.
We constantly strive for simplicity and minimalism, It's hard - but worth it.
Keep it simple.
Be nice, be honest, do good work, but have some fun.
Life is short, don't stress the ~~small~~ unimportant stuff.
Beauty is in the details - stress about the details.
Fewer meetings, more focus.
Under promise and over deliver (delight customers).
Ethical and sustainable.
Full-time means 32 hours/week.

Who we're looking for:

The ideal candidate will be either a web developer/design graduate with one or two commercial web projects under their belt, or have experience in a graphic design firm, ad agency or photographic studio.

Must have basic web dev skills in HTML and CSS - be able to build a web page from scratch.
Should have basic Javascript skills.
Should be proficient in Adobe Creative Cloud/Suite.
Should have an understanding of fundamental design principles.
Ideally should have graduated from a design school, or have experience in graphic design and/or UI/UX.
You've ideally have worked at an agency, design form, photography studio or for a design team inside a mid to large size brand.
You can write well, and explain your thinking to the team and clients in english. Good literacy and writing skills are essential.
You can think outside the box, solve problems and create new things.
You're happy working remotely or in a shared work environment, and can self-manage your time and responsibilities.
You're not a rock star (you can leave your ego at the door) - but you know your stuff. We're a small team and sometimes it's just you and the client. You must have enough knowledge, experience, intellect and the right attitude to help customers get what they need, to be successful, and be proud of your work.
You accept you don't know what you don't know, but are willing to learn, do the research and work it out.
You can collaborate well with an engineer/back-end developer sometimes in real-time, but mostly async.

Job Responsibilities:

Create materials for various digital and print media, including print, websites, social media, email marketing, and more.
Work closely with our engineers/developers on product.
Develop visual content that supports our brand and marketing initiatives.
Conduct research to ensure our designs remain innovative and fresh.
Help customers be successful.

Requirements:

A graduate of an recognised design school or tertiary institution. We will make an exception for self-taught folks provided you can show us that your work is to a competent level and that you understand fundamental design principals.
Proficiency in Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator, and InDesign.
Proficiency in HTML, CSS, and JS (mostly HTML and CSS required).
Know you're way around a photograph.
Ideally experience and/or a feel/talent for UI/UX.
Strong grounding in design concepts/principals.
Excellent writing, communication and collaboration skills.
Ideally experience working in an agency, or mid to large size brand, design department, content or social media marketing, or marketing team.
Good English language skills, both written and spoken.

What we are offering

Salary - we're offering a competitive salary - starting at $60k per annum.

Flexibility - you can work remotely but will need to spend 1-2 days a week in office in downtown Auckland, or if you prefer an office environment all the time, we can arrange a permanent co-working desk at GridAKL.

Grow - we're offering to help you learn, gain confidence, improve your web design skills, code writing ability, and participate in new technologies like AI and ML.

This is a great opportunity for a self-starter who thrives in a collaborative, remote work environment, or a graduate that is starting out on a web development career.

Check us out at https://www.brandkitapp.com and https://www.brandkitapp.com/jobs

If you meet the requirements and are excited about the opportunity to join our team, please submit your resume, portfolio, and a cover letter outlining your experience and why you would be a great fit for this position to: designjob@brandkitapp.com

Please note: We put a lot of emphasis on your covering letter, often more than your CV. Why? We work remotely, so good writing and communication skills are vital to success. So please make the effort of writing a good covering letter. A CV or Resume sent without a covering letter will most likely go straight to trash.

We look forward to hearing from you!