Manager – Visual Design at MTN

The Visual Design Manager supports the Senior Manager of Design & Innovation to help realise our creative vision & strategies through the delivery of compelling innovative concepts & visual design approaches to products, services & marketing collateral across our online mediums. 

Key Job Responsibilities

Operational Implementation

Design facing:

• Drive brainstorms & aid in the development of user-focused offerings.
• Drive the development & cohesion of branding & identity solutions.
• Direct your team to deliver compelling screen-based design solutions that bring the concept to life.
• Provide critique & design direction for motion executions & demos created in After Effects, Premiere, 3D or similar software.
• Prepare & deliver crafted presentations for creative showcases, conferences, events & workshops.

Stakeholder & Project facing:

• Lead & contribute to Post Project Reviews.
• Willing to be flexible & open to trying innovative approaches or solutions to projects or creative delivery.
• Play an active role in stakeholder meetings.
• Continually strive to exceed stakeholder expectations.
• Manage your teams’ work-stream directly with stakeholders.
• Proactively identify business opportunities.

Team facing:

• Effectively lead & manage your Visual Design team, instill an ethos & motivate them in the pursuit of excellence.
• Build & maintain relationships across disciplines.
• Actively share knowledge & experience.
• Offer project support & assistance to team members.
• Offer guidance, support & direction to fellow Visual Designers.
• Assist in raising the profile of the team, working closely with the Design Leads & Marketing department.

Outputs can include:

• Design mood-boards & style tiles
• Concept posters
• Illustrated storyboards & contextual scenarios
• UI Designs for design prototypes (off architectures & wireframes)
• UI screen designs & assets for implementation
• Design annotations, documentation & specifications
• Brand Identity Design Guidelines
• Motion graphics (an advantage)
• Infographics

Governance 
Operational meetings

• Lead in the preparation & contribution to the Review & Retrospective Forum meetings & participate in the demonstration of delivered work & service design progress made (bi-weekly / weekly).
• Lead in the preparation & contribution of key insights for the Design & Innovation team in the weekly Round Up Forum to facilitate decision making.
• Provide input in Stand-Up meetings to orientate the team for the upcoming day’s work.
• Participate in any other cross-functional operational meetings.

Escalations

• Resolve escalations that have significant impact on design delivery.
• Escalate complex issues that will result in significant time, scope, employee/customer or cost impacts, if not resolved.
• Contribute towards generating solutions to issues that require formal resolution.

Project Management

• Lead research-based design practices & design activities at the project level.
• Commission design improvement projects that relate to the customer journey.

Performance

• Manage ongoing timeous delivery of compelling, highly crafted design & communication solutions.

Report Generation

• Develop & submit project updates for the Senior Manager (SM) addressing participatory & iterative service design approaches to facilitate decision making.
• Communicate research findings, conceptual ideas, detailed designs & design rationales & present the report to the SM to enable operational planning.
• Report to the SM on progress made against measurement metrics & within the sub-function, aligned to MTN’s BRIGHT Strategy targets.
• Provide detailed progress reports both at sub-functional & functional level.
• Compile detailed reports for special projects as & when necessary.

Budget Management 

• Monitor costs & determine initiatives to optimise resources by maximising cost / benefit ratios.

Education / Business Degree

•   3+ Years tertiary degree in a design-related discipline.
•   Fluent in English. 
•   5+ Years experience in a design environment (Studio or Agency).
•   Experience in driving & applying user-centred design processes to deliver elegant design & user interface solutions for online media.
•   Proven track record of having successfully managed teams to deliver on visual design projects.
•   Solid foundation in & ability to collaborate with peers in the User Experience Design & Service Design disciplines.
•   Must be able to demonstrate strong conceptual abilities.
•   Portfolio should contain a compelling array of executions across responsive website design, prototype development, applications, story boarding, identity development, infographics, motion graphics.
•   Industry recognition in terms of Awards for relevant work would be a bonus.
•   Expert in Adobe CC Suite (Photoshop, Illustrator, XD, After Effects).
•   Efficient in Interaction Design software like Invision & Sketch (or similar).
•   Any other relevant certification / accreditation / membership with professional body(ies) that become necessary, as the role evolves 
•   Must be able to demonstrate a deep understanding of user-centric design, conceptualisation, application, principles & best practices when it comes to:
•   Design & design layout
•   Communication hierarchies
•   Interaction design
•   Typography
•   Visual treatment
•   Iconography
•   Copywriting
•   Animation, Motion Graphics & 3D a bonus.
•   Ability to drive iterative design processes & methodologies through their team.
•   Strong willingness to broaden own skillset into adjacent user-centred design specialisations, as well as to disseminate knowledge in order to upskill their team. 
•   Understanding of niche areas within the design landscape (i.e. Design Research, Visual & Content Design, UX, Service design).
•   Worked across diverse cultures & geographies is advantageous.

Knowledge, experience & technical skills:
•   Demonstrable skills in illustration, typography, photography, diagrams & iconography.
•   A good understanding of 3D (like Cinema 4D) & motion graphics software (After Effects & Premiere) would be an advantage.
•   Ability to work independently, identify & solve problems effectively & efficiently.
•   Able to demonstrate good written & verbal English skills.
•   Willingness to perform other design-related duties as & when required.
•   Keen to learn, with a willingness to broaden skill set across all design competencies.
•   Able to multi-task, prioritise & perform well under pressure.
•   Proactive, self-sufficient & professional, with strong organisational, time management & communication skills.
•   Engage with & work within changing multi-disciplinary teams.
•   Ability to develop & maintain open, honest & trusting relationships.
•   Excellent attention to detail with the ability to consistently deliver quality work.
•   Able to function, adapt & succeed in a constantly changing environment.
•   Able to demonstrate initiative.