Graphic Designer
- Job title: Graphic Designer
- Job Type: Full time
- Salary: £28,000
- Department: Communications
- Reporting to: Assistant Head, Communications
- Location: Field House
- Start: June 2023
- Closing Date: 1 May 2023 at 12:00 pm
Would you like to put your design and marketing expertise to good use, working for an educational charity?
We are looking to appoint a proactive, personable and creative graphic designer to work across our three schools and our charitable and commercial activities. The key aim of the role is to design exciting visual content which promotes Highgate school to prospective families. The role is varied and encompasses many aspects of communications and marketing including magazine design, photography, content organisation and brand guardianship.
If you’d like to be part of a creative in-house Communications team, enjoy managing multiple projects and like to get stuck in, then we’d love to hear from you.
What’s more, as a learning-focused, award-winning, and innovative employer, you’ll be working in a welcoming and purposeful environment.
The Department
The role of the Communications team is to shape Highgate’s outward and internal media and to influence the way in which Highgate is seen, heard and perceived. We aim to demonstrate Highgate’s aims and ethos in action and present an authentic, Highgate-specific narrative.
The Communications team at Highgate consists of seven members with different specialisms covering design, digital content, photography, PR and communications. We operate collaboratively, strategically and creatively to develop and deliver communications to internal and external audiences including prospective pupils and parents, staff, parents, alumni, potential employees, Partnership Schools, the media and the wider community.
The team has both a creative, story- and content-generating role focusing on supporting our admissions as well as a reactive responsibility working with internal clients. We are continually striving to develop our marketing and communications; recent projects have included the development of a new intranet for staff, marketing our new Junior School bursaries and the implementation of a CRM platform.
In the messages and stories we tell about the School, we try to balance tradition and modernity, our academic strengths with our holistic approach to education. We have a great story to tell and now is an exciting time to join the team!
MAIN RESPONSIBILITIES
Brand guardian
- Generate, maintain and ensure consistency and quality of delivery of Highgate’s brand guidelines including use of logos, crests, letterhead, brand colour palette and style.
- Provide brand leadership and training to staff to ensure that branding guidelines are met consistently across the School community.
Design
The client for design work may be the Communications team or work may be requested by another part of the school, for example the Admissions team or Mallinson Sports.
- Work proactively to provide design and creative support to other parts of the school. Be a point of contact to staff seeking guidance on creative and design work and production.
- Undertake the design of all marketing materials and publications, the written content of which is supplied by the Communications team or the internal clients.
- Ensure that all artwork is delivered according to our branding guidelines.
- Adapt design work based on feedback from internal stakeholders.
- Construct artwork master templates for use throughout the organisation.
You will work on a variety of different projects covering typography, retouching designs, booklet layouts, artwork and illustration. Below is a list of example projects which the Designer may undertake.
- Digital and print press adverts for the School
- Brochures, newsletters
- Admissions-related marketing – invitations, banners, booklets
- Event posters & programmes
- Illustrations for the School Website
- Sixth Form Yearbook
- Recruitment Packs
- Infographics or animation for the school website
- Wayfinding signage
Content Management
- Work with the Photographer and Film-maker to ensure an efficient workflow for visual content and labelling
- Maintain our photographic libraries of images ensuring that we build a broad, well-organised library of useful assets.
- Establish procedures for the retention of old content following the guidance of the School Archivist.
- Maintain and distribute the list of pupils whose parents do not consent to their images being used in external communications and keep an accurate record of those permissions and related images.
- Manage the School Youtube channel and Vimeo
- At all times, follow guidelines on GDPR, copyright, privacy and web accessibility.
Photography
- Work with the Photographer on photoshoots when required.
- When the photographer is unavailable, photograph key school events.
- Criteria
- How will these be tested or verified?
- Qualifications / Professional Bodies
Essential
- Undergraduate degree or equivalent industry experience in graphic Design or Photography
Desirable
- Post graduate qualifications and or training
- Experience
Essential
- Minimum 5 year’s experience working as Graphic Designer
- Significant experience in working on creative projects, both print and online
- Experience of project management and working to budget
- Experience of design software packages
- An up to date portfolio will be essential for interview
Desirable
- Experience of working in an educational institution
- Skills / knowledge
Essential
- A talented and versatile designer
- Excellent photography and filmmaking skills and proficiency in operating professional-grade photography and film equipment
- Demonstrable understanding of the Adobe Creative Master Suite, specifically Photoshop, InDesign, Premiere Pro, After Effects and
- An excellent understanding of video and image formatting, editing and optimisation across print/digital media
- Excellent knowledge of Graphic Design history and styles
- Excellent drawing and illustration skills
- Excellent time-management, planning and organisational skills
Desirable
- Awareness and understanding of Safeguarding and welfare of children
- Personal Attributes
Essential
- A creative thinker
- Exceptional attention to detail
- High level written communications skills
- Diplomacy, tact and a good sense of humour
- A positive, flexible and responsive approach to work
- A willingness to sometimes work outside normal office hours
Benefits
Location | Highgate Village, adjacent to Hampstead Heath, with quaint shops and easy connections across London.
Pension | AVIVA workplace pension scheme offered with a generous 21% employer contribution.
Fee remission | Available on application for qualifying employees.
Leisure facilities | Free access, at stipulated times, to our sports facilities, including a fitness suite and swimming pool (recently refurbished).
Holidays | Generous holiday allowance of 33 days (including bank holidays) for full-time staff. Most holidays will be taken during school holiday periods.
Lunch | A complimentary lunch.
Help with sustainable travel | Access to the Cycle to Work Scheme and a Season Ticket Loan scheme for public transport.
Family-friendly policies | Highgate appreciates that employees sometimes have family commitments so we try to be as supportive as possible, for example with enhanced maternity pay (8 weeks’ full pay, then 10 weeks’ half pay) and paid dependant leave.
Working at Highgate
A culture of community, kindness and belonging
Highgate is a caring, open-minded community, where we promote kindness, empathy and friendship. Everyone who works and studies with us deserves to feel they are part of a welcoming environment that enables them to be themselves and to thrive as individuals.
Our community extends beyond the school, through partnerships, charity work and our commitment to equality, inclusion and sustainability. All members of our school community are encouraged to look outwards and play an active role.
In a recent ISI inspection (Dec 2021), it was noted that “Pupils show exceptional respect for, and appreciate diversity within the school and wider community, and their own and other cultures, demonstrating sensitivity and tolerance to those from different backgrounds and traditions.”
Staff wellbeing
Highgate is committed to staff wellbeing, which we promote by encouraging a strong work-life balance; trying our best to support flexible working requests; providing a nutritious complimentary lunch in the dining hall; and offering access to sporting facilities including our recently renovated swimming pool.
The Staff Wellbeing Committee, with representatives across the School, meets regularly to drive forward initiatives, and a selection of staff have been trained as Mental-Health First Aiders.
We encourage an open culture throughout our school, with regular staff surveys, action committees and opportunities to feedback. We strive for continual learning and improvement, and staff training and development is paramount. There are opportunities to participate in the wider life of our school, such as taking part in trips or societies and getting involved in partnership projects.
More details about working at Highgate can be found here:
Charitable work and sustainability
As an independent school, we want to use our position as a charity effectively: to make high-quality education accessible to as many children as possible – through our bursary programme at Highgate and through our work with local state schools. We have partnerships with over 60 state schools across 7 London boroughs, and we are the principal educational sponsor for London Academy of Excellence, Tottenham – an academically-selective state sixth form in a community where such opportunities are lacking.
Alongside this, our staff and pupils undertake charitable activities throughout the year. These range from staff giving up their time to neighbourhood schools and charitable organisations, focused fundraising campaigns, to pupils undertaking community work in the local area or further afield.
As a school, we have a central role to play in educating our pupils, staff and parents about the importance of environmental sustainability. We are taking positive action to adapt our operational performance to tackle the negative effects of climate change. We encourage all our staff to reflect upon their personal and professional practices, to support our environmental agenda and to make positive changes wherever possible.
Application procedure
- Closing Date: 1st May 2023
- Timing of interviews: Portfolio review – request to send via email, reviewed by comms team.
Contact: Claremarie Goldsworthy, Assistant Head (Communications) is happy to answer any questions about this post.
Early Application: Applications will be considered ‘as and when’ received and we may close the vacancy if we appoint before the closing date.
Apply hereInclusion
We know that more diverse teams are stronger teams, and that the more inclusive we are, the more our staff and pupils will feel a sense of belonging and will thrive. To enable us to make reasonable adjustments, please let us know of any disabilities (including neuro-divergence) when you submit your application.
Safeguarding
As this role will have regular unsupervised contact with children you must, if appointed, comply with Highgate’s Safeguarding Policy and Staff Code of Conduct. If in the course of carrying out the duties of the post the post holder becomes aware of any actual or potential risks to the safety and welfare of our pupils, these concerns must be reported immediately in accordance with the Safeguarding Policy. If whilst in the post, Highgate becomes aware of any safeguarding concerns to staff, pupils or the community; these will need to be followed up in line with the safeguarding policy and code of conduct which is underpinned by KCSE and other legislation. These concerns may need to be shared with other agencies. A copy of these policies will accompany all offers of employment. Training will also be provided to all staff to support Safeguarding practice.
Please read before you apply
Highgate is committed to the safeguarding and welfare of children and applicants must be willing to undergo child protection screening appropriate to this post, including checks with past employers, the Disclosure and Barring Service and overseas police check if necessary. Candidates from overseas must provide information about their past conduct, for example, by providing documents issued by overseas teaching authorities.
Please note that this role is ‘exempt’ from the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 and therefore, you are required to declare any convictions, cautions, reprimands and final warnings that are not ‘protected’ (i.e. filtered out) as defined by the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (as amended in 2013). Shortlisted candidates will be asked to provide details of all unspent convictions and those that would not be filtered, prior to the date of the interview.
In accordance with the latest guidance from KCSIE, we shall be conducting online searches on any candidates who are shortlisted.