Overview

Job Title: Consultant Illustrator

Sector: Education

Employment Category: Fixed Term

Employment Type: Full-Time

Open to Expatriates: No

Location: Kasulu, Tanzania

Job Description

The International Rescue Committee (IRC) helps people whose lives and livelihoods are shattered by conflict and disaster to survive, recover, and gain control of their future. Founded in 1933 at the request of Albert Einstein, the IRC works with people forced to flee from war, conflict and disaster and the host communities that support them, as well as with those who remain within their homes and communities. At-work today in over 40 countries and 22 U.S. cities, we restore safety, dignity and hope to millions who are uprooted and struggling to endure. IRC reaches over a million children annually with education and child protection programs in 25 countries around the world.

PlayMatters reimagines childhood for refugees and host communities in Tanzania. It will bring play-based learning to 800,000 children across Ethiopia, Uganda, and Tanzania. It will redefine education and cultivate a generation of lifelong builders. PlayMatters is inspired by LEGO Foundation’s call to challenge the status quo, to offer children the quality education they dream of. Children are not gaining the skills they need, teachers are under-supported, and parents are overwhelmed. The systems built to serve them are failing them. PlayMatters proudly offers something different. It is delivered by a coalition with a track record of thinking and delivering differently. We bring three distinct characteristics:

• OUTCOMES. Everything we do is fueled by the social, emotional, cognitive, physical, creative and resilience outcomes we seek. We know learning happens when children are at the center and teachers, parents and the system surrounding them embrace children’s agency and have not only skills and resources, but the motivation to drive change.
• RESEARCH AND LEARNING. Effective delivery requires both rigor and a big heart. With LEGO Foundation, PlayMatters will generate scientific evidence that can transform our understanding of play and learning for refugees in East Africa and around the world.
• THOUGHT LEADERSHIP. The LEGO Foundation Humanitarian Initiative offers an opportunity to deliver and comes with the responsibility to lead. Our consortium’s members have a record mobilizing others.

Job Overview/Summary: 

The Illustrator will be contracted to work as a consultant with the International Rescue Committee, Tanzania Country Program and work very closely with the PlayMatters Project Management and content development teams in Kasulu, Kigoma.  The illustrator will use skills in drawing, color, composition, and storytelling to create engaging images that enliven for PlayMatters content for educators, community members, caregivers, and systems actors. The illustrator will review text, sketch, revise, iterate, and finish illustrations for PlayMatters products, adjusting as requested by the PlayMatters team.

Major Responsibilities: 

• Conceptualize and create colorful/engaging illustrations to support key ideas and concepts presented in textual educational materials for teachers, community members, caregivers, systems actors, and potentially children (illustrations may include elements for guides, posters, booklets, manuals, etc.)
• Participate in iterative design process, producing variations of illustrated content to ensure that illustrations convey the appropriate concepts and information for users
• Create illustrations that are of the highest quality and meet technical requirements
• Manage complex deliverables across three countries and multiple content development
• Generate ideas and concepts that are clear, communicative, and engaging
• Work collaboratively with all members of our content development committees to ensure technically accurate, appropriate, consistent, and responsive illustrations are creative
• Collaborate and communicate creative ideas with a cross-functional team that includes technical experts, graphic designers, behavioral scientists, and users to create compelling illustrations
• Stay on top of the latest standards, processes, and trends in the illustration field
• Create designs that are appropriate for both physical and digital versions of the content, and can translate into multiple formats
• Work in a fast-paced, diverse, and collaborative environment
• Adhere to tight deadlines and produce iterations of work with a short turn-around time

Key Working Relationships:

Position Reports to:  Curriculum & Content Development Manager

Position supervises: N/A

Indirect Reporting:  PlayMatters Project Coordinator

Qualifications

• B.A./M.A. degree in Creative Arts, Graphic Design, or related fields with a minimum of 3 years work experience for B.A holders and 3 years’ experience for M.A holders.
• Previous experience on similar position in nongovernmental organizations is a plus.
• Have and use own drawing tablets and digital illustration software (such as Adobe Illustrator, Adobe Photoshop, CorelDRAW, or other)
• Excellent verbal and non-verbal communication skills, including the ability to clearly explain creative decisions in spoken and written format effectively in a multi-cultural environment with international and national colleagues and partners
• Strong eye for detail, a consistent style, and a willingness to share work with others for feedback
• Superb ideation and conceptual skills to create original characters and artwork
• Excellent sketching skills to quickly communicate ideas.
• Creative problem-solving skills
• Strong organizational skills
• An ability to receive, interpret, and implement constructive feedback from diverse project stakeholders and iterate on illustrated designs
• Work well under pressure, dealing with competing priorities, in a fast-paced team-oriented environment
• Detail-oriented and good multi-tasking abilities to meet multiple deadlines
• Strong team player
• Ability to navigate and creatively engage with diverse artistic traditions of East Africa
• Flexible and willing to integrate diverse feedback from a variety of technical partners
• Participation and flexibility throughout in an iterative design process with many diverse stakeholders across a large consortium and multiple content development teams
• A compelling portfolio that showcases aesthetic awareness, high - caliber drawing skills, and command of multiple illustration styles
• Fluency in English is required
• Strong understanding of humanitarian crises and contexts in eastern Africa is a plus