This advertised post reports to the Senior Creative Director who manages the World Service UX&D team, comprising of 10 designers that include: editorial designers, interaction designers, visual designers and senior designers.
The team is part of the News, Sports and Real Time Experiences section of the wider UX&D community of the BBC of approximately 160 UX&D staff working in the following areas:
- News, Sport & Real Time Experiences
- Branded Experiences
- Multiplatform Experiences
- Pan-BBC Experiences
- Service Design
- Creative Partnership
- Interface Prototyping
- Usability & Accessibility
- Resource Management
The team operates embedded in World Service, working closely with CSDs, software engineers and editorial staff from language services. The team also contributes to the wider UX&D department in all areas, especially with a focus on localisation.
ABOUT THE JOB
As the Web Designer in the team, you will be working alongside other Web Designers in the team, with journalists, producers and developers to provide a user centred design perspective for the World Service portfolio of Future Media activities.
Key responsibilities of your job will be to:
• To produce infographics, illustrations, charts, maps, guides, animations to support the multimedia operations of BBC World Service websites – all to tight deadlines
• To design websites in BBC World Service’s portfolio of language news sites (bbc.co.uk/worldservice/languages), working closely with journalists from the language services
• To work closely with journalists, producers and editors to explore what is graphically possible and appropriate within the medium of the web and other platforms to best inform the user.
• To observe and advise on the established brand identity and design values of the site, and work to established user experience guidelines.
• To work on special features and in-depth sections. This includes devising identities, info-graphics and interactive features for these sections.
• To work as part of a team of designers, technical and editorial staff, contributing to the overall effectiveness of the team.
• To contribute to the planning and management of projects and to participate in group-reviews of work undertaken by the team.
ABOUT YOUR KNOWLEDGE, EXPERIENCE AND SKILLS
Essential
• Formal graphic design or design qualifications and proven experience of web design.
• Excellent knowledge of Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop and InDesign
• Excellent knowledge of the issues involved in designing for multi-platform products and services
• Experience of working in a technically-oriented environment
• Proven experience of interactive information design including usability and accessibility issues
• A keen eye for detail, and an interest in typography
• Confidence in team situations and skills in working with both internal and external clients.
• Ability to perform well and deliver to high standards under pressure and to very tight deadlines.
• Active interest in wider industry developments and the implications for the user experience
Desirable
• Experience of designing for news organisations especially designing infographics, etc.
• Experience of working in a multilingual design environment
• Working knowledge of Flash, basic Actionscript. A good understanding of HTML, CSS and basic JS
• Proven interest in international news and current affairs. A good general knowledge of geography
Competencies
The following competencies (behaviours and characteristics) have been identified as key to success in the job. Successful candidates are expected to demonstrate these competencies.
• Editorial Judgement - demonstrates balanced and objective judgement based on a thorough understanding of BBC editorial guidelines, target audience, programme and department objectives. Makes the right editorial decisions, taking account of conflicting views where necessary.
• Creative Thinking - able to transform creative ideas into practical reality. Can look at existing situations and problems in novel ways and come up with creative solutions.
• Planning and organisation - able to think ahead in order to establish an efficient and appropriate course of action for self and others. Prioritises and plans activities taking into account all the relevant issues and factors such as deadlines, staffing and resources.
• Communication - able to get one’s message understood clearly by adopting a range of styles, tools and techniques appropriate to the audience and the nature of the information.
• Influencing and persuading - able to present sound and well reasoned arguments to convince others. Can draw from a range of strategies to persuade people in a way that results in agreement or behaviour change.
• Managing relationships and team working - able to build and maintain effective working relationships with a range of people. Works co-operatively with others to be part of a team, as opposed to working separately or competitively.
• Resilience - manages personal effectiveness by managing emotions in the face of pressure, set backs or when dealing with provocative situations. Demonstrates an approach to work that is characterised by commitment, motivation and energy.
• Flexibility - adapts and works effectively with a variety of situations, individuals or groups. Able to understand and appreciate different and opposing perspectives on an issue, to adapt an approach as the requirements of a situation change, and to change or easily accept changes in one’s own organisation or job requirements.
Additional Information
As BBC World Service New Media is a 24 hour operation, designers may be expected to work a shift pattern in the future.
Closing Date for applications : 13th October
