Digital Designer

Wholegrain has a vision of building more humane digital experiences that are designed for the people who need them and kinder to the planet. That means accelerating the shift to a greener internet by creating human-led, low carbon websites and providing sustainable digital transformation for brands with purpose.

Although Wholegrain is based in London, and we enjoy monthly team time together there, our people are spread outside of the capital. Collectively, we work to create an inclusive and supportive environment which actively encourages ideation and innovation as well as leaving space for the team to challenge and be challenged, regardless of their background, identity or job title.

• We have been certified B Corp since 2017
• We offer 1% of our profit back to humanity
• We are leaders in greening the web.
• We are a certified vegan inclusive employer.
• We use our business as a force for good.

Wholegrain is on a mission to accelerate the shift to a greener internet that’s designed for people and kinder to the planet by creating human-led, low carbon websites for brands with purpose.

As a Digital Designer, your role is to inject some creativity into our outputs across our client facing work, internal projects and marketing materials. No two days will be the same as you will be supporting our Head of Experience Design to deliver client facing websites, leading the way on creating meaningful designs that set Wholegrain apart from our competitors whilst delivering work that our clients are inspired by. You’ll also get to work with some of our consultancy clients and really understand our retained clients’ brands to the point where you can ideate and present your thoughts to move them forward in unexpected ways.

You’ll work as part of an agency that only partners with those making a positive difference in the world, using your design expertise to bring some fresh ideas to the team.

To be successful in this role, you will need to understand the fundamentals of designing websites using Adobe and Figma but most importantly, you’ll be energised by the variation that this role brings and be ready to start leading the way on your own design projects.

Create audience-centred digital experiences
You will frequently ask how we ensure concept designs align with project goals and brand identity, whilst creating intuitive and accessible designs for all audiences. We will be looking to you to tell us how we can focus on pushing the boundaries of design while staying true to our sustainability mission.

Collaboration to solve goals
You will work with clients and internal teams to understand project goals and effectively translate them into design decisions. You’ll be empowered to consider what questions you need to ask to ensure we’re solving the right problems and have everything you need to be set up for success in your part of the process.

Communication and ideation
You will be accountable for communicating what activities you will need to complete to ensure the team is fully understanding and can support you with the time and budget you need. You’ll take into account goals, our build frameworks and work with the team to see what’s achievable and where you can push the boundaries.

Defining intuitive web experience
Wholegrain combines Discovery, UX and Design because we understand that good audience insight informs great UX and effective UI. As part of the Experience Design team, you won’t be expected to make detailed UX decisions but you will be part of the process so that you can deliver your accountability of making sure all of the dots connect into the UI.

Facilitate workshops and working sessions
You will be able to engage stakeholders to gather meaningful insights, bringing exercises and activities to the table that we can use to ensure collaborative decision-making with clients and the team alike.

Present designs and prototypes
Considering what the requirements for a successful design presentation are, you will be able to clearly articulate your design choices before gathering and implementing constructive feedback in a way that brings the client team and development team on that journey with you for a smooth transition into sign off and development.

Work closely as a project team
Ensuring what we design can be built is vital, but so is showing the best possible product to the client if it’s rooted in insight and best practice. You will be passing your work into the development team and so working closely with the project team as a whole, you will collaborate to give and take for the best end result.

Accessibility and sustainability
Being a champion of the minimum requirements for WCAG and implementing them in a way that balances aesthetics, usability, and performance to create low-carbon websites is the minimum. We want your ideas and inputs on how we can move past this and build experiences that work for everyone without costing the earth.

Wholegrain tools & platforms
Wholegrain is known for our Website Carbon calculator – but we have big plans for the future and you will play a part in designing them. Calculators, platforms, accessibility tools are all on the roadmap.

• Brand guardianship
  You will be a brand guardian, ensuring that Wholegrain’s external face matches the values and mission we live out in our work day to day. That means more than making sure the visuals are consistent, it extends to keeping our tone and content is aligned too.
• Staying up to date
  As part of Wholegrain, we should all be keeping up to date with the trends in our areas of specialism, accessibility standards, and digital sustainability best practices. That’s how we continuously improve our approach to creating a more Humane Web.
• Improve efficiency and consistency
  If the process isn’t working, it will be you that feels the strain and so we are always open to your thoughts and ideas on how we can move the process forward. Equally, as a business we want to use less time on the standard and more time on the special touches and so how we can use tech and tools to do this is something you will always be thinking about.
• Support the New Business Manager and marketing function
  We don’t shout about our work, our insights and the reason behind why Wholegrain is building a more Humane Web – we are wanting to change this. Ranging from social posts and impact reports through to new business pitch decks and creative ideas, you will have the chance to input into our outputs across the board.
• Creativity and point of view
  You will be the champion of creativity and always think through the details – interactions, hover states and movement will be considered and creative when appropriate and thoughtfully excluded when it’s right to do so.

Line of reporting
You will sit within the Experience Design team and be managed by the Head of Experience Design. You will have a further line of reporting directly into the MD.

Internal team
The day to day focus of the role will see you working with all teams within the business as you support delivery or workflows for clients and internal workflows for the business.

Client interaction
Whilst you won’t be pitching to clients day to day, you will be presenting to them when you are in project workflows and when working on client facing outputs.

Solo work
There is an element of solo work, especially when you are in full design flow.

The follow leave allowances are all full time equivalent:

• 22 days holiday
• 8 bank holidays
• A 5 day shut down period over the end of the year

With these benefits as standard:

• Your birthday off or the Friday before if it lands on a weekend
• An ‘Impact day’ to cover life admin like a house move for example
• The opportunity to flex your working hours around your life and commitments by using our Flexible Working Policy
• Monthly in-person team time at our Sustainable Ventures office in Waterloo, with travel expenses covered
• An employee led wellness package that works for you
• An annual team retreat to recharge and reconnect as a group after a successful year
• Opportunities for learning and development by attending conferences and training courses
• Obviously the usual applies like the equipment that you need to complete your work day to day

Team: Experience Design, reporting to the Head of Experience Design
Term: Full time 40hrs per week (9-5) with flexible or alternative patterns considered
Salary: £40-£43k
Start date: As soon as possible
Location: Remote with access to our shared office space in London

Wholegrain is working hard to be an inclusive employer. We have an anonymous recruitment process in place so we can remove as much of our unconscious bias as possible when finding our next team member. Our aim is to make sure that the core skills and person behind them are aligned to our values, regardless of your ethnicity, gender identity, race, age, sexual orientation, educational background social class or religion.

As part of your initial application, you will be asked to give us your name and contact details but these won’t be seen by the team completing the process. Here’s and overview of how it works:

• Stage 01 – Screening
  No need for a CV, all we ask is you answer some screening questions. We are much more focussed on your values and core skills at this point. Your name and personal details will be hidden before the screening takes place.
• Stage 02 – Skills task
  A short task that takes no more than 2 hours is issued. We are not looking for the task to be perfect, its more about understanding how you work so we can support you better if you do join our team.
• Stage 03 – Conversation
  The final stage is to talk to each other. We make sure each person who takes part in this stage is asked the same questions and therefore given the same opportunity.

Simply click below and complete the quick screening form.

To note before you do, please don’t use AI to support you with your answers. Whilst it is tempting to use AI to create the ‘perfect response’, finding the right role for you and the right candidate for us requires a human touch.

Although we appreciate every candidate’s unique background and knowledge, for this role we are looking for talents who have experience in agency life and are UK based.

Your application to join our team will be considered regardless of your ethnicity, gender identity, race, age, sexual orientation, educational background social class or religion.

Recruitment agencies – please don’t contact us.

Apply for the role