Senior Designer

Job Type Full-time, 5 day week role 
Location Sydney / remote + WFH
Salary band Senior
Salary range $80,000-90,000 + Super 

Because it’s time you used those creative skills for good.

The branches of our agency are all rooted in the same purpose: to do work that changes the world for the better. We’re at a moment in time where bold solutions and big ideas are needed. At Marlin, we use our talents every day to provide them.

If you’ve had enough of making the rich richer and the world worse off, come and join our purpose-driven, award-winning agency!

  • Spend your working days using your skills for good; 
  • Be part of a fun, compassionate and high-performing team;
  • Work with charities that are changing the world through groundbreaking medical research, mental health initiatives, animal welfare, overseas development and more;
  • Conceptualise and create beautiful, effective communications for a breadth of projects from campaigns and appeals to fundraising product development;
  • Feel proud to work for a B-Corp, committed to making the world a better place.

Our clients include some of Australia and New Zealand’s leading charities including Médecins Sans Frontières, RSPCA, Fred Hollows, Amnesty International and Bush Heritage Australia.

Organisational context for the position:

Charities are a wonderful vehicle for creating change because they empower ordinary people to become advocates and supporters of causes. We created Marlin to help charities get people to join them, and create movements to effect the change we want to see in the world.

As a group of committed people with shared values, Marlin works on these two knotty problems, all day and every day: How do we get people to join charities as advocates and supporters? And how do we keep them?

The role:

Design has the power to help important messages be seen, and to win hearts and minds. 

Marlin is looking for a talented Senior Designer who can develop ideas, work to a creative brief, take a project from start to finish, and who can produce attractive, persuasive visual communications within tight deadlines.

The role covers 3 key areas, including conceptual and creative development, drafting and design, and contributing to productivity and profitability. The role also involves a small amount of front end web design.

Ideally, we’re looking for a designer with a print background, who can independently create engaging layouts and has strong typographic skills and typesetting experience. Their primary responsibility will be to take a concept and develop exceptional design executions, ready to pass over to our Finished Artist.

This position comes with plenty of future opportunities driven by your strong desire to learn and develop your skills, and as Marlin continues its period of growth.  

Your responsibilities will include:

  • Developing engaging visual communications across print and digital applications (including campaign development, direct mail, posters, reports, newsletters, advertising, websites, social media and more);
  • Contributing to the creative development of how design and conceptual ideas can be used to tell a story on behalf of a brand;
  • Creating attractive, persuasive and impactful layouts and designs;
  • Creating effective, beautiful typography, in well set-up documents;  
  • Creating show-stopping drafts with a strong attention to detail;
  • Working collaboratively in a team environment of Art Directors, Writers, Account Service and Digital Marketing specialists;
  • Working independently, and with an Art Director.

You will:

  • Be passionate about social change and you want to use your skills to create a better world;
  • Be eager to learn and evolve. You are constantly pursuing excellence for yourself and your work and are always striving for your best;
  • Think and act as we, not me. You love to collaborate and build trusting relationships where everyone can be their best; 
  • Be comfortable working independently and getting on with tasks, but able to speak up when things aren’t working or aren’t clear;
  • Be a confident communicator, able to take on board constructive feedback and articulate ideas; 
  • Know how to create outstanding design, with strong, balanced layouts, clear hierarchies, and refined, well crafted typographic detail;
  • Have excellent attention to detail, ensuring nothing is missed and work is output to the highest standards;
  • Have strong time management skills, experience working on multiple projects with competing priorities, and are able to manage your time effectively to meet deadlines.

Your work experience and skills:

  • 6+ years professional design/agency experience;
  • High proficiency in Adobe Creative Suite on a Mac platform (Indesign, Photoshop and Illustrator); 
  • Bachelor’s degree or formal qualifications in design desirable.

About Marlin

Marlin is constantly working towards making our agency the best place to work, for everyone. We believe that bringing together diversity of thoughts, perspectives and expression is key to creating real and impactful change for social good that the world desperately needs. We encourage everyone who wants to make a difference, to join us on this journey. We value all different types of experiences. If you don’t think you quite meet all of the qualifications, we’d still love to hear from you.

Our team

Marlin is a team of over 40 people brought together by a common set of beliefs and values. Our team of strategists, creatives, project managers, developers and digital experts have all made a conscious decision to specialise in the not-for-profit space.

Our combined experience spans mainstream agencies and in-house at charities. This means we know what it takes to create a global brand, build a high-performing website and manage a fundraising campaign from the inside.

We create brand identities, multi-channel marketing campaigns, direct marketing-based appeals, social media campaigns, peer-to-peer fundraising events, donor care newsletters, and digital communications platforms for the for-purpose sector. 

Our culture

We’re a values-driven organisation creating values-led work. Our culture is underpinned by our values and we live them out through our everyday actions and behaviours.

Continuous Improvement Every day is a new opportunity to learn, grow, extend, expand, reveal. When we nurture our ‘constant improvement’ we find solutions, overcome obstacles, and expand into new territories.
Compassion/Empathy Every piece of work we create is inspired by our compassion for people and planet. Every connection we make is enriched by empathy. This inspires the way in which we communicate as Marliners – with our team, with our clients, with the sector. No matter our differences, compassion and empathy are the bridges that bring us together.
Happiness Happiness is an energy. When we nurture our best selves, our most joyful selves, our ideas will flow, our communication will improve, and the relationships that matter to us, will thrive.
Truth Charities rely on integrity, it is essential that as a communications specialist in our field, that integrity and honesty pervade all of our ideas, our communications and the way we work.
Determination There isn’t much water in a desert, but if you keep looking you will find it. (and if you don’t, keep looking, you will find it.)
Purpose When we recognise the bigger purpose of our work – to make the world a better, fairer, more equal place for people, then we can bring that depth of regard and purpose to every aspect of our work.
Respect Treat everyone with the same level of care and respect. We want to be a place that displays its values proudly in every interaction, that is how we affect broader change in our sector and in our society. It all starts with respect.

Our commitment to sustainability 

We’re proud to be a B-Corp which means we have been independently assessed as a business force for good. It is a simple illustration of our values in action.

To achieve this we are required to prove and maintain policies and practises that take care of our team and commit to fair and environmentally-friendly decision making.

We’re also 100% certified carbon neutral reflecting our deep wish to think and plan for the very long term.

Benefits…apart from changing the world of course!

  • Additional annual leave day to celebrate your birthday
  • Social events organised throughout the year
  • Annual team development day
  • Access to internal and external Learning and Development opportunities
  • Access to free counselling assistance through EAP
  • Flexible working arrangements
  • Creative office space in the heart of Redfern

How to apply

We would love to receive your application.

  • Applicants who have not submitted a cover letter and CV will not be considered
  • Applicants MUST submit a PDF portfolio showcasing relevant projects to be considered (10MB max)
  • Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted
  • Applications close Monday 4 April

To apply please email [email protected], using the subject line: Senior Designer