User Experience Designer

Open Energy Transition; Remote; ZAR 286 000 - 383 000; Full time

Job summary

A global non-profit organization is seeking a User Experience (UX) Designer to join their fully-remote team. The ideal candidate will have over 3 years of experience in UX/UI design, focusing on web and graphic design to create compelling presentations and marketing materials. This role offers a flexible work environment, competitive salary, and the chance to contribute to impactful design work for a mission-driven organization. Fluency in English and a strong portfolio are essential.

Benefits

Flexible remote work environment

Competitive salary with growth potential

Supportive onboarding and training

Qualifications

• Minimum 3 years of professional experience in UX, UI, or similar design role.
• Proven experience in web design and responsive layouts.
• Fluency in English; knowledge of other languages is advantageous.
• Portfolio showcasing design work is required.

Responsibilities

• Create and iterate on web page layouts, style guides, and graphics.
• Produce visuals for reports, marketing campaigns, and social media.
• Uphold and evolve the brand's visual identity across platforms.
• Support slide design for key presentations and internal communications.

Skills

Web design and responsive layouts

Corporate branding and identity

Graphic design for print and digital

Presentation and publication design

Experience with Figma and Adobe Creative Cloud

Job description

User Experience (UX) Designer (Southern Africa | Remote | English)

Location: Fully Remote; Southern Africa

Employment Type: Full-Time; Independent Contractor

Languages Required: English (proficient), other languages an advantage

Experience Required: 3+ years

Salary Range: EUR 15,000 – 20,000 gross per annum (depending on experience)

Reports to: Quintin Coetzee, Head of People

Works Closely With: Head of Engineering, Developers, Marketing Lead, Head of People

Start Date Goal: 1 October 2025 or sooner (please let us know if you have a notice period)

About Us

We're a remote-first, mission-driven, registered non-profit, comprising around 50 highly-skilled and motivated professionals from all around the world! Our culture is built on trust, autonomy, and collaborative professionalism.

Open Energy Transition (OET) is a German non-profit organization, advancing the global energy transition by developing innovative open-source tools and data solutions for energy and grid planning. Our vision is to make open approaches the global standard by 2030, enabling energy planning that is more accessible, transparent, and effective.

We're now looking for a talented UX Designer to join our growing team. This is an opportunity to contribute to high-impact design work across web, branding, and publications in a mission-driven, autonomous, trusting, dynamic, fully-remote company.

To learn more about OET and our team, you can visit our website, and browse around our Handbook.

About the Role

As our UX Designer, you'll handle a wide range of design responsibilities — from web design and graphics to presentations, social media visuals, reports, and more. Your work will help ensure that everything we publish is visually compelling, clear, and on brand.

We're all about transparency, and want to give you the best possible opportunity to prepare for any potential interviews. To learn a bit more about the people you'll be working most closely with, click here:

• Our Head of Software Engineering, Sid Krishna
• Our Head of People, Quintin Coetzee
• Our Marketing Lead, Charlotte Heikendorf

Please note that this is a permanent, work-from-home position as an Independent Contractor. No work travel is required. As such, candidates must have their own computer and internet connection. The individual hired for this role will handle their benefits and relevant (provisional) taxes, as no source deductions by OET will apply. Please ensure you are comfortable with this arrangement before applying.

Key Responsibilities

• Web & UI Design: Create and iterate on web page layouts, style guides, and graphics for our digital platforms. Design new websites for future projects. Work closely with our Software Engineers.
• Graphic Design: Produce compelling visuals for reports, marketing campaigns, social media, planning docs, and more.
• Branding: Uphold and evolve our visual identity across platforms and outputs, both internal and external.
• Presentation Design: Support slide design for key presentations (to external stakeholders) and internal communications. These may include proposals to take on new projects, funding (grant) applications, etc.
• Creative Asset Development: Build and improve templates and branded assets for internal and external use.
• Copy Review: Collaborate with marketing and editorial teams to ensure designs align with written content and key messages, which may be campaign- or client-specific.

Our Design Language (Please review before applying)

For examples of existing design work completed by and for OET, please refer to the below links. Your work would extend, and improve upon, our existing documents, website, graphics, and so on. Please only apply for this role if you believe your work experience and skills would complement our existing publications, website, design language, etc.

• https://zenodo.org/records/15006926
• https://openenergytransition.org/
• https://powernetzero.org/
• https://openenergybenchmark.org/
• https://open-esm-analysis.streamlit.app/
• https://www.linkedin.com/company/open-energy-transition

You'll Be a Great Fit If You Have...

• Minimum 3 years of professional experience in a UX, UI, or similar Design role
• Proven experience with, among other things:
  • Web design and responsive layouts
  • Corporate branding and identity
  • Graphic design for print and digital
  • Presentation and publication design
• Experience working with Figma, and the Adobe Creative Cloud (we will consider equivalent design software, so long as it meets the role's output requirements)
• Fluency in English (written and verbal). Other languages are a bonus
• A portfolio (PDF/link, under 50 MB please), showcasing your work is required
• A university degree is not required—your experience, communication skills, and work ethic matter most. However, if you happen to have a degree in design or a similar field, that may be considered a bonus.

What We Offer

• A flexible, fully-remote work environment where you're trusted to work very autonomously. Zero micro-management, as that goes against our culture.
• The opportunity to support hardworking, passionate, busy leaders who value and respect your contributions, and are working to create positive societal change in the energy sector.
• A culture that values transparency, empathy, trust, humility, diversity, collaboration, and recognition.
• We have an open-door policy, and value reciprocal feedback. You'll always know where you stand, and always have the ability to have your voice heard, simply by reaching out.
• A pretty flat hierarchical structure, where titles are not emphasized, and all contributions are valued.
• Competitive salary with growth potential. Any relevant benefits depend on your region of residence.
• Supportive onboarding and training, tailored to your strengths, interests, and career ambitions.
• The ability to be part of our formation! We're still growing, changing, and improving. Anyone who is part of our team now is able to meaningfully contribute towards our culture, and processes. We're open to all suggestions, and take them seriously!

What Our Hiring Process Entails

We take hiring seriously, and want to bring on candidates who will contribute positively towards our culture just as much as they will succeed in their roles.

Also, we don't only want to have good outcomes from you. We also want you to feel happy and fulfilled in your position. That means we have a structured process to determine best fit. Our hiring process is as follows:

• Candidates apply via Greenhouse, and include as much information as possible and comfortable.
• Various team members of OET will shortlist candidates in our ATS.
• Certain shortlisted candidates will be contacted to arrange a screening call.
• Screening calls are conducted, and feature a max. 30 minute chat with our People Team.
• Certain candidates will go through to a first-round interview, of max. 1 hour, with our People Team. This interview will screen for a combination of competency and culture fit.
• Finalists will go through to a second-round interview, of max. 1 hour, with the OETers with whom they'll work most closely.
• Bonus round - there may be a short written assignment, depending on the role.
• The chosen candidate will be provided with an offer letter, and opportunity to ask any questions.
• Onboarding with our People Team begins.
• Your start date arrives!

How to Apply

If you're excited to improve upon the design work of an impactful, growing, global non-profit organization, feel free to apply! We'd love to consider you for this role.

Please submit an application via Greenhouse (our ATS), and include the following:

• Your CV (in English), including information about prior work and education, and current skills
• A link to your portfolio, showing examples of relevant design work. This is mandatory
• A short cover letter explaining why this role is a great fit for you (please add a bit of personality if you wish)
• A link to your LinkedIn profile, and any other social profiles you wish to include
• Any relevant written references or testimonials (optional, but appreciated, and may give your application a boost)
• Your gross salary expectations, annually, in Euros (EUR)
• Your notice period/available start date
• Any special needs requirements that may apply

If you have any questions about OET or the role, we'd be happy to answer them should we invite you to take part in a screening call or interview.

Please note that due to the volume of applications we receive, we are not able to respond to individual emails or LinkedIn requests. Kindly submit your application via Greenhouse, and we will shortlist and reach out to candidates. If you have not received a response within 3 weeks of submitting your application, please consider it unsuccessful at this point in time. We may, however, still reach out in future. Our team maintains Talent Pools, containing candidates shortlisted for contact for future roles that may arise.

We look forward to meeting the next person who will become an invaluable part of our team! Thank you for your time, and for considering joining OET. If this role is not for you, feel free to check back later for any future positions that may have been posted.