Design Officer (Reading)

Employer: Make-A-Wish

Location: Hybrid. Candidates need to be comfortable travelling to Make-A-Wish office twice per month at their own expense.

Working hours: This is a part time, permanent role. The role will be 22 hours per week (3 days per week, however, alternative working patterns may be considered).

Salary: £ 20,273.89 per annum

Closing date: 07/09/2025

• Job description

  Design Dreams into Reality 

  Make-A-Wish UK is seeking a talented and passionate Design Officer to lead the creation and application of branded content across the organisation. This is a unique opportunity to use your design skills to help grant life-changing wishes to children with critical illnesses.
  

  Location & Contract: This is a part time, permanent role. The role will be 22 hours per week (3 days per week, however, alternative working patterns may be considered). The role is hybrid working, with travel required to our Reading hub at least twice per month.
  
  Closing Date: Sunday 7th September
  
  We may close this role sooner than the closing date advertised if we receive a significant number of applications.
  

  Core Purpose

  
  As the Design Officer you will lead the development and application of all branded content for Make-A-Wish UK, ensuring alignment with the organisation’s overarching strategy, annual objectives, and priorities with an emphasis on fundraising initiatives. 
  
  This role is primarily focused on designing compelling visual content that supports acquisition and retention activity across the organisation. The Design Officer will also be responsible for wish family-facing materials, providing accessible and engaging ways to enhance the overall wish experience. The position involves close collaboration with internal teams to proactively anticipate design requirements, manage projects efficiently to ensure timely delivery, and uphold consistency in visual brand guidelines and messaging across all communication channels and platforms.  
  

  Key Responsibilities

  • Produce all key graphic design outputs across the organisation, managing multiple projects simultaneously and ensuring timely delivery of assets. 

  • Support and/or co-design third party/wider stakeholder brand application, providing sign-off for partner materials that feature Make-A-Wish. 

  • Ensure brand and messaging standards are maintained for all designed content, working with colleagues across the Communications team to ensure we have a consistent visual identity and branding across all we do. 

  • Ensure all core resources (including document and presentation templates, key posters and flyers etc) are kept up-to-date and accessible via our asset management system. 

  • Oversee the creative development of key projects and campaigns – designing compelling assets (from paid social ads to direct mail campaigns) that support fundraising - inspiring and engaging our audiences. 

  • Manage print and production processes, liaising with printers to meet expectations and deadlines. 

  • Lead on the development of new wish family-facing materials to better engage those in our wish journeys whilst also providing opportunity for wider benefit. 

  • Support on the generation and upkeep of toolkits and templates to empower staff, volunteers and communities to use the Make-A-Wish brand appropriately ad consistently. 

  • Work with freelancers where appropriate, providing briefs to external designers to meet organisational demand. 

  Essential Criteria

  • Demonstrable experience in designing impactful visual content — content that inspire and drive measurable outcomes such as income generation, sign-ups, or content sharing. 

  • 3–5 years of experience in design-related roles with a focus on traditional print and layout alongside social-first digital assets. 

  • Minimum educational attainment of GCSE level in English Literature or English Language with a preference for further education in Graphic Design or related field. 

  • Practical experience of a range of communications channels, including social media, PR, email, web, and direct mail with knowledge of best design practices tailored to each. 

  • Solid understanding of accessibility within design including appropriate alt text, colour contrast, font sizing, layout requirements etc. 

  • Sound understanding of audience insight and its application in developing content strategies and design frameworks. 

  • Commitment to championing consistent, powerful messaging across all content. 

  • Awareness of what constitutes effective content, how to measure its impact, and how to apply insights to optimise future content creation. 

  Desirable Criteria

  • Proven experience working within the non-profit sector, with a specific focus on developing and delivering compelling design content and materials that align with organisational goals. 

  • Advanced knowledge of accessibility in design including tagged, hierarchical structures withing documents. 

  • Degree or further education/qualification in Graphic Design or related field.

  • Experience integrating volunteers and wider networks into team environments, fostering collaboration and shared purpose. 

  • Excellent communication skills, including the ability to negotiate and influence across various levels of the organisation to support effective planning, prioritisation, and alignment of content strategies. 

  For full list of key responsibilities and criteria, please see job description below.
  

  To apply for this role:

  
  To apply for this role you must submit both your CV and Cover Letter, ensuring all questions below are answered in full.
  
  Assessed Questions
  1. Thinking about the context of the job description, how would you demonstrate our values of magic, inclusion and inspiration in a meaningful way in this role
  2. Please tell us about your experience as it relates to the key responsibilities for the role.
  3. Give an example of how you have embedded creative and content guidelines across teams and/or organisations and to what effect?
  4. Describe an integrated campaign you have delivered design work for, what were the objectives and how did you meet your targets?
  5. Attach a portfolio (pdf format) of 5 pieces of work you have completed. Include an explanation of the work’s objectives and describe how it performed.

  
  Shortlisting: Shortlisting for this role will take place over w/c 8th September.
  
  Interviews: 
  First stage - 13th to 15th September. 
  
  Second stage - 22nd to 23rd September. 

  
  If you have any queries or issues uploading your documents, please contact jobs@makeawish.org.uk.

  Benefits

  - Competitive salaries
  - 26 days annual leave with the option to buy/sell annual leave
  - An additional day's leave on your birthday
  - Birthday and work anniversary recognition gifts
  - Flexible working arrangements
  - Access to a pension scheme with 4% employer contributions
  - Two days of additional paid leave a year to volunteer
  - Access to wellbeing support, training and events, including a wellbeing and retail discount platform, Mental Health First Aiders and occupational health
  - Enhanced maternity and paternity pay for eligible employees
  - Cycle to work initiative

  Notes

  At Make-A-Wish, we believe that agile working gives everyone an opportunity to have their own work pattern that suits their role and individual needs. We believe this is the most effective way to give our best to wish children and supporters, and as a result deliver our charitable mission in the most effective way; whilst ensuring we create a happy workplace.

  The organisation is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment. Relevant level of DBS check will be required for this role. Employment is subject to positive references and proof of the right to work in the UK.

  Make-A-Wish is also committed to attracting and recruiting diverse people as it’s vital that we strive towards ensuring that our trustees, employees, ambassadors and volunteers reflect the communities we seek to serve.

The Work From Home Hub is dedicated to finding and sharing remote and hybrid job opportunities across the UK. The content available on theworkfromhomehub.co.uk is intended for general informational purposes only. While we strive to ensure the information provided is accurate and reliable, we make no guarantees or warranties, expressed or implied, regarding the accuracy, adequacy, validity, reliability, availability, or completeness of the information presented on our site.