Design Lead

Madeo is an award-winning brand and web agency focused on social impact. We are an inclusive and diverse team of designers, strategists, writers, project managers, and web developers. We value mission-driven work that relies on empathy, analytical thinking, and collaboration.

Our clients tackle today’s challenging issues. They invite us to partner on their brands, websites, digital products, and interactive campaigns—projects that inspire people to take meaningful action.

The Role

As a Design Lead at Madeo, you are a senior designer invited to play a leading role in shaping user experiences and visual design for high-calibre websites for remarkable mission-driven organisations. You will design interactive report microsites, editorial sites, and large organisational websites, and you'll be invited to improve brand design systems for the web.

Candidates for this role would bring experience across multiple client projects in an agency or team setting, along with a practised ability to make and defend sound design and UX decisions. This role entails close collaboration with UX strategists, content strategists, other designers, web developers, and client teams. We are looking for a talented and confident designer who is equally interested in learning from survey results and wireframing as they are in polishing high-fidelity interactive UI designs.

We are looking for a designer focused on web design, with a deep appreciation for visual and brand design. We see websites as an expanded expression of brand and would welcome those interested in the intersection of web and brand design.

Minimum Qualifications

• Demonstrated experience leading original web design for multiple clients.
• Experience actively participating in UX decision-making on website projects, including evaluating options, identifying tradeoffs, and contributing informed recommendations alongside strategists.
• Confidence working directly with clients, presenting work, fielding feedback, and speaking on behalf of design decisions.
• Genuine interest in social impact and working with a wide range of progressive nonprofit organisations.
• Ability to work (10am-6pm) in EST hours is required.
• Living and working within commuting distance of NYC is preferred for occasional get-togethers, but not a must.

Additional Relevant Experience

In addition to the minimum qualifications, demonstrated experience and interest in the following would be a plus:

• Interaction design and motion within web projects
• Information architecture and content strategy collaboration
• Graphic and brand identity design alongside web projects

Core Range of Responsibilities

• At any given time, you would typically work on a larger client project, a smaller one, and a few ongoing engagements that invite smaller improvements each month. On some projects, you will have a peer designer working alongside you to advance collaboration.
• You would collaborate with one or two strategists, a creative director, motion and graphic designers, web developers, and members of the client team.
• Projects typically start with a research and discovery phase. For website redesigns, this includes understanding the existing site, user needs and behaviours, insights from stakeholder interviews, and independent research into peer sites to identify opportunities. You would help audit the existing site and share recommendations across UX, UI, visual design, and content.
• Based on discovery insights, we move into collaborative design direction and wireframing in partnership with the content and UX strategist. Your ability to actively evaluate UX options and make grounded recommendations is central to this phase.
• As designs become more defined, you would establish the overall creative and UX/UI direction in collaboration with the broader team and the creative director.
• You would produce a UI Kit and the overall design system for the website, define interactions and transitions, and collaborate directly with front-end developers on execution.

Benefits

• Starting salary $85,000 to $120,000; this range accounts for different levels of experience and living locations
• Medical, vision, and dental insurance benefits offered
• 401k matching of up to 5% of your salary towards your retirement
• Discretionary annual bonuses, both regular and to your 401k
• Flexible vacation days in addition to national holidays and team-wide vacations
• 100% remote work from home supported with occasional retreats and events
• If you’re in NYC: in-person design day workshops, team dinners, design talks
• 1 to 2 team-wide retreats per year
• A work culture that prioritises collaboration, learning, and growth
• Charitable donation matching

Other Design Roles at Madeo

If this role resonates with you but you are looking for a part-time or contract arrangement rather than a full-time role, we’d still love to hear from you. Madeo is currently hiring Senior Designers on a part-time contract basis. You can find more information on our careers page.

How to Apply

Click the button below to complete the application and be considered for the role. You can also follow us for updates and more opportunities on Instagram: @madeo_studio.