User Experience Specialist Location London Department Supporter and Community Partnerships Reports to (Job Title) Digital Supporter Engagement Lead (tbc) Salary Band D Matrix manager (if applicable) Role definition Role purpose Head of Digital Transformation Competency level 2 The User Experience (UX Specialist) is responsible for architecting and developing Christian Aid s new digital end-user's interaction with our supporters, donors and volunteers through new and innovative digital services and products. The UX Specialist will manage the entire process of understanding the user digital journeys, integrating the digital product, taking into account aspects of branding, design, usability, and interaction function. The UX Specialist will report directly to the Digital Supporter Engagement Lead and matrix into the Head of Digital Transformation, so they can understand the existing environment, stabilise the existing digital roadmap, transition needs and constraints, and future direction. Working closely with the rest of the website development team, the Digital Supporter Engagement lead and other key functions and departments across the organisation, this newly created role will be responsible for reviewing existing digital user journeys and creating and developing user-focused experiences across Christian Aid s digital platforms, ensuring that best practice and an evidence-based approach is used and that work is completed to high standards of excellence and cost effectiveness. This position will also require a need to drive a deep understanding of the role of UX across Christian Aid at a senior level. The role leads on UX development for a variety of projects which would typically include building fully responsive websites and mobile apps that degrade gracefully and adhere to web and accessibility standards. Role context The Digital Development Team supports Christian Aid work. The post holder will work alongside developers as well as content editors, designers and other departments as part of a multi-disciplinary agile team to deliver a range of digital products. The UX Specialist will play a key role in shaping and delivering Christian Aid s digital products, ensuring that they are user friendly and optimised to achieve their purpose. They will work as part of cross-divisional work groups which are assembled for the delivery of allocated projects and digital platforms, which may range from a single item, such as a new sign up form, to a 1
complex suite of materials or new digital tools or platforms for key moments such as Christmas or Christian Aid Week. Absence cover The post holder may be asked to cover duties normally carried out by other developers during periods of high demand. Duty rota and out of hours working As part of an on-call duty rota, the post holder is expected to be on call to enable a rapid response from the organisation in the event of a humanitarian emergency. When on duty the post holder may incur some unsociable and weekend work hours but such occurrences are rare and every effort will be made to minimise calls outside of office hours. Key outcomes Christian Aid s digital products are engaging, user-centred, evidence based and responsive. UX and development best practices are used across Christian Aid s digital portfolio. Project briefs are scoped and interrogated so that projects are managed effectively, within budget and on schedule. Continual professional development is undertaken, ensuring strong personal awareness of UX trends and software packages. New trends are introduced into projects, so that digital projects are cutting edge and cost-effective. Teams are advised on all aspects of a project from concept through to production, working throughout to ensure that projects are accurate, on brand, timely and cost effective. Working alongside other team members, integration of UX coherence on all projects is ensured. Cross-organisational project management is undertaken for development projects involving close engagement with other specialists in the Fundraising, Communications and Campaigns DivisionProjects are accurate, reflect high production standards and are capable of meeting fundraising, advocacy and marketing needs. Role agility Expected national travel per annum Expected international travel per annum No travel No travel On call/unsocial hours Yes Surge capacity for emergency responses Choose an item. In order to respond to ever changing demands within the environment, Christian Aid operates within an agile framework (both in workforce and operational) that requires from all employees, a high level of responsiveness and adaptiveness to processes and structures making flexibility and a project based working approach the norm. To sustain this system, managers may/will agree further details of specific tasks and duties as part of the performance agreement. Any reasonable duty may be assigned that is consistent with the nature of the job and its level of responsibility, and employees may be required to change the focus of their role from time to time. 2
Role requirements Relationships External May work with external suppliers Internal Works closely with the development team, content editors, the design team, the Digital Supporter Engagement Lead, and other fundraising and communications teams. Works with the Head of Digital Transformation to ensure alignment with the wider digital transformation programme initiatives. The post-holder will need to be able to hold influence with internal stakeholders and digital sponsors and be able to convince these stakeholders of the value of a user-focused approach to all decision making across digital designs and platforms. Decision making Budgetary/savings responsibility Makes frequent decisions and able to negotiate on projects and digital products that impact on realisation of objectives and executes individual projects that impact the public profile and digital direction of Christian Aid. Operates to strict deadlines and project standards but has relative autonomy in the day to day prioritisation of tasks. Work to the direction of the Digital Supporter Engagement Lead, the post holder exercises considerable autonomy in the chosen development routes. Ensure alignment with the wider digital transformation programme initiatives, through joint governace, integrated plans and regular meetings with Head of Digital Transformation, Digital Supporter Engagement Lead and UX Specialist. Decides when to escalate potential schedule conflicts, cost overruns and missed deadlines to the management team and self-manages minor exceptions to cost and schedule. Analytical skills The role is complex, working across a broad range of channels and different Christian Aid initiatives. The post holder is required to robustly interrogate briefs and requests to propose original creative and design routes to meet business and technical requirements. The post requires a high level of influencing skills with all teams throughout the organisation. The ability to make sound judgments in response to a wide range of inputs and organisational priorities is crucial as is a thorough understanding of the likely cost of production. Developing self and others 3
Number of Direct reports Overall people management responsibility N/A N/A This is a specialist role requiring the post holder to work closely with and influence clients and colleagues alike. The post holder advises others on the best UX, development and product routes and manages allocated projects. They should be self-managing and capable of quickly assimilating significant amounts of information (quickly getting up to speed with a project brief), and open to working within an agile framework alongside other digital specialists and colleagues from other areas of the organisation. Role related checks Child protection clearance Not required Counter terrorism screening Not required Person specification Applied skills/knowledge and expertise Essential Higher education or equivalent experience obtained at UX adviser level. Extensive experience creating user-centred experiences Proven experience in leading and driving a UX change programme, capable of leading teams, managing transition plans and delivering results Extensive experience in creating, advising on and delivering user focused digital projects with the user/customer at the heart of the decision-making process Ability to communicate concept ideas through sketches, wireframes and prototypes. Deep understanding of visual hierarchy, layout, typography, and colour. Highly Desirable Experience of working in an NGO environment. Highly skilled in Sketch or Adobe XD, Photoshop, Illustrator or equivalent tools. An adaptable design style to meet differing stakeholder needs, an excellent eye for detail and the ability to spot design, production or house-style errors. Familiarity with Drupal 8 front-end theme development: views, paragraphs etc. Familiarity with Twig. Experience of creating fully responsive web pages that degrade gracefully. Confident in the application of usability, accessibility and security standards. Knowledge of cross browser limitations and work-arounds. Strong working knowledge of optimisation techniques (both in file weight and perceived/actual rendering speed) and performance measurement. Strong project management skills, coupled with strong, up to date knowledge of web design techniques and requirements. Ability to interpret complex communications briefs from others. Enthusiasm for an iterative design process, driven by group input and critique. 4
Excellent communication and collaboration skills and ability to work in an Agile team environment. High levels of confidence, able to cope with criticism and an ability to work calmly under pressure and to deadline while remaining respectful to the work, deadlines and targets of others. High levels of interpersonal and influencing skills - confident and capable in pitching and speaking with other teams. Confidence in using visual language that supports the values / beliefs underpinning Christian Aid s work. Desirable Knowledge or exposure to any of the following is a bonus: PHP, drush, Atlassian JIRA, third party APIs using REST etc. Awareness of faith issues in development. Knowledge of international affairs, UK faiths and denominations, gender and race issues. Understanding of, or interest in, development issues. Experience with hand-coded HTML5 and CSS3. CSS pre-processor experience, such as Sass, Less or similar. Knowledge of Javascript and JS libraries/frameworks such as JQuery. Knowledge of using Github or Bitbucket. Digital/IT competencies required Word, Excel, PowerPoint Advanced Web content design & development Advanced Internet based collaboration tools and video calling Data Visualisation Advanced Social Media Advanced Advanced DATE CREATED 26/07/2018 5