JOB TITLE: Illustration Officer
Location: Kibondo, Tanzania
The Illustration Officer will work with the PlayMatters Project Committees and content development teams in six months duration. The Illustration Officer will use skills in drawing, colour, composition, and storytelling to create engaging images that enliven for PlayMatters content for educators, community members, caregivers, and systems actors. He/She will review text, sketch, revise, iterate, and finish illustrations for PlayMatters products, adjusting as requested by the PlayMatters content team. He/She will create compelling fun-learning visual aids from text instructions and it will be an iterative process which will require refinements at different stages, before the final products are out.
ACCOUNTABILITIES
● Conceptualize and create colourful/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 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, behavioural 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
● Ensures that Plan International’s global policies for Child Protection (CPP) and Gender Equality and Inclusion (GEI) are fully embedded in accordance with the principles and requirements of the policy including relevant Implementation Standards and Guidelines as applicable to their area of responsibility. This includes, but is not limited to, ensuring staff and associates are aware of and understand their responsibilities under these policies and Plan International’s Code of Conduct (CoC), their relevance to their area of work, and that concerns are reported and managed in accordance with the appropriate procedures.
KEY RELATIONSHIPS
● External - Close collaboration and strong working relationship with project consortium partners (War Child, International Rescue Committee, Behavioral Insights Team and Innovations for Poverty Action.) Where needed the Illustration Officer will also work with Regional PlayMatters Illustration consultant on technical matters.
● Internally - The Illustration officer will report to the PlayMatters Project Manager whilst working closely with the EiE Specialist, EiE Coordinator as well as the EiE officers who will be working in content development and supporting implementation at camp level and in the host community. S/ HE will work closely with the MEAL and Communications and advocacy team, and Child Protection team and ensure that protection is integrated in all Education activities and content that will be developed.
TECHNICAL EXPERTISE, SKILLS AND KNOWLEDGE
Essential
● 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
● At least minimum of two (2) years’ experience on the job of the same nature
● 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.
● 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 and Swahili is required, additional of Kirundi language will be added advantage
● Understanding of humanitarian crises and contexts in eastern Africa is a plus
Desirable
● Excellent interpersonal skills, including the ability to work in a matrix environment
● Good written and oral communication skills, including working team environment
● Strong analytical and problem-solving skills
● Having organizational skills and the ability to multitask while working on projects with varying activities, objectives, and deliverables
● Good negotiation and influencing skills Sound judgment and decision-making in complex situations
● Willingness and capacity to be flexible and accommodating in difficult working conditions
PHYSICAL ENVIRONMENT
The job holder requires 20 % field work in the camps and host community and 80 % office-based environments.
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