This position is now closed. Thank you for your interest in KoboToolbox!

Digital Design Internship

KoBoToolbox, developed by the Harvard Humanitarian Initiative, is a state-of-the-art open source suite of tools for primary data collection and analysis used by dozens of organizations humanitarian emergencies and other challenging environments. HHI’s mission is to relieve human suffering in war and disaster by advancing the science and practice of humanitarian response worldwide.

As a result of our recent efforts to improve the interface and overall experience of KoBoToolbox, we are opening an exciting internship position to support our design team. We are seeking a talented and motivated digital design intern to work with our product design lead and user support team to improve the accessibility, as well as look and feel, of our sites and platform.

This position requires a good eye for design, education in a related field, and willingness to learn. A successful candidate should be motivated to work in the non-profit and software development fields, and thrive in a collaborative and team-oriented environment.

Responsibilities

The position will be part of the KoBoToolbox design team, and the product design lead will directly supervise the work of the intern. While this role will be focused predominantly on design tasks (in its broader sense - from user research to content strategy, interface design or even graphic design), daily responsibilities may vary depending on the individual’s background, skill set and interests. We are a small, horizontal and flexible team, and want to encourage those working with us to explore and pursue work they are really passionate about.

Some of the main duties may include but are not limited to lending support to the product design lead and/or actively participating in projects related to the design of our platforms and services. Here are some examples of projects and work the intern may be involved in (always under the supervision of the product design lead)

  • Improving and further expanding our design system (interface components, layouts, icons, typography, etc.) for the platform and services, using inclusive design standards and accessibility best practices, in collaboration with the front-end team.
  • Assist in ongoing user research projects, helping document, analyze and draw insights from the data collected, and proposing ideas and solutions to the problems uncovered.
  • Help develop wireframes, mockups and prototypes illustrating ideas and solutions for different projects and/or issues uncovered in previous research.
  • Support the redesign and improvement of our help site and training materials, from content strategy to interface design, in collaboration with the support team.
  • Support the creation of new training materials, such as tutorials, presentations, educational videos and other instructional tools in collaboration with the support team.
  • Develop our branding and social media presence through the creation of visual material and design assets (i.e. illustrations, promotional materials, banners, brochures, etc.) in collaboration with the communications team.

Requirements

Applicants must be enrolled in, or have completed in the last year, at least a college or undergraduate school programme. Preference will be given to candidates enrolled in a graduate level program.

Interested candidates must be pursuing (or have pursued) their degree in a design related field, preferably user experience and interface design (UX/UI), instructional design, information technology, web design, graphic design, communication, marketing and/or multimedia arts.

This position is entirely remote, requiring a stable and fast Internet connection to use cloud-based customer support platform, regular voice/video chats with other team members, and ongoing text communication with the KoBo team.

Interested candidates should:

  • Be computer literate in standard software applications and cloud services such as MS suite and Google suite, particularly MS Excel and Google spreadsheets.
  • Have at least a basic understanding of the fundamentals of digital design and web design (responsive design, HTML and CSS attributes, file formats, resolution, pixel vs vector, etc.).
  • Have at least an intermediate level of proficiency in the use of UX/UI prototyping tools such as Figma or similar, and vector design tools such as Adobe Illustrator or similar (i.e. Inkscape).
  • Be willing and interested in learning new software and digital tools as needed (i.e Github).
  • Have a good enough command of the English language (both oral and written).
  • Have the ability to successfully interact with individuals of different cultural backgrounds and beliefs, which include willingness to understand and be tolerant of differing opinions and views.
  • Have the ability to work remotely in a team setting, be self-motivated and committed to daily responsibilities.

In addition, the following skills are not required, but will be considered an advantage:

  • Survey design, data collection and analysis.
  • Web development and use of Github.
  • Animation, video creation, video editing and particularly educational video design.
  • Training and instructional design experience.
  • Fluency in another language(s) in addition to English and interest and/or experience in translation.

Details of the position

Location

This is an entirely remote position. It is not required to be based in any specific country or area, but the timezone of the candidate must be workable with the Eastern Standard Time (EST).

Tools

The intern must also have access to their own computer, be willing and available to join video calls as needed, and have the necessary software installed in their computer (vector software, video calls software, etc.). KoBoToolbox will provide access to online collaboration tools such as Figma, but vector design software such as Adobe Illustrator (or its free open source equivalent, Inkscape) should be installed ahead of time by the intern.

Hours

Candidates for this role can - and in fact are encouraged - to be studying simultaneously, but will be expected to dedicate between 15 and 25 hours per week on a regular basis.

The minimum duration of the internship is 260 hours distributed in 4 months. Interns can continue to work with us for up to a year from their starting date, for a maximum total of 800 hours. It is up to the intern or their program of studies to determine the exact duration within those limits.

Compensation

This is a paid internship. Fees are commensurate with experience and/or quality of previous work.

How to Apply

Please fill out this form to submit your application. You will be able to include a link to your portfolio and attach your resume within the form. Please note that applicants without a portfolio will be disqualified.