Director of UX/UI Design - Volunteer Leadership Role

The Donovan's Venom, INC. Is a non-profit 501(c)(3) tax exempt organization dedicated to taking music, art, and entertainment to those who need it the most. The Donovan's Venom, INC. Caters to no particular individual(s) yet pledges relief to impaired or deprived individuals who are in need of musical,visual, comedic, and-or any alternative forms of liberation-through fine art & entertainment. The Donovan's Venom INC. Gives its resources to individuals who don't have the means or access.
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About Us
The Donovan’s Venom is a 501 (c) (3) nonprofit organization dedicated to curating universal access to fine arts and music education for all. We are passionately dedicated to ensuring that everyone, regardless of financial circumstances, has access to high-quality music education, performance opportunities, and fine art. We aim to inspire, empower, and uplift communities by fostering a love for music and the arts through our commitment to education, inclusivity, diversity, and social impact, which drives us to expand our reach continually and enrich the lives of those we serve.
Director of UX/UI Design
The Director of UX/UI Design will lead the vision, strategy, and execution of the end-to-end user experience across our nonprofit’s digital platform. This is a high-impact leadership opportunity for an experienced UX/UI professional who is excited to build a design function, shape product experiences from the ground up, and use design to expand access to music and arts education.
In this role, you will establish the organization’s UX/UI strategy, build scalable design systems and standards, and lead and mentor a team of volunteer designers. You will partner closely with Product, Engineering, and organizational leadership to create intuitive, accessible, and engaging experiences across online music education, student and instructor workflows, live video lessons, fundraising and donations, e-commerce, and community engagement.
We are looking for a strategic thinker, hands-on designer, mentor, and collaborative leader who can balance user needs, organizational priorities, accessibility, and technical feasibility. The ideal candidate is comfortable creating structure where it does not yet exist, establishing design processes and best practices, influencing product strategy, and translating ideas into polished digital experiences.
This volunteer role is especially well suited for a senior design leader who enjoys building, mentoring, and creating meaningful impact. You will have the opportunity to shape the design function, develop emerging talent, influence the future of the platform, and help create digital experiences that make music and arts education more accessible to people everywhere.
What You’ll Own
Set the UX/UI Vision Define the design strategy, principles, standards, and roadmap for our digital products and experiences.
Lead and Grow a Volunteer Design Team Mentor, coach, and develop UX/UI designers while setting priorities, reviewing work, and raising the bar on quality.
Build and Scale Our Figma Design System Create a reusable, scalable system of components, patterns, layouts, typography, and interaction standards.
Shape End-to-End Digital Experiences Lead the design of intuitive experiences across music education, student and instructor journeys, live lessons, streaming, donations, e-commerce, and community engagement.
Bring User Research Into the Process Establish practical research, usability testing, journey mapping, prototyping, and validation practices that keep users at the center of design decisions.
Partner Closely With Engineering Work side-by-side with developers and technical leaders to ensure designs are responsive, scalable, accessible, and ready for implementation in our Next.js/React and Azure environment.
Champion Accessibility and Inclusive Design Embed accessibility into the design process and help drive alignment with applicable WCAG standards and best practices.
Raise the Bar on Design Quality Lead design reviews, strengthen documentation, and ensure consistency across products, screens, journeys, and interactions.
Influence Product and Organizational Strategy Partner with leadership, Product, and Engineering to turn organizational priorities and user needs into compelling digital experiences.
Build the UX/UI Function From the Ground Up Establish the tools, processes, governance, and ways of working needed to create a scalable, high-performing design function.
Required Skills & Qualifications
Senior-level or Lead-level experience in UX/UI, Product Design, Interaction Design, or a related field.
Demonstrated ability to lead, mentor, or coordinate designers or cross-functional teams.
Expert proficiency in Figma, including Auto Layout, Components and variants, Prototyping, Design tokens, Design systems, and Responsive design.
Strong understanding of UX research, information architecture, user flows, wire-framing, prototyping, and usability testing.
Working knowledge of React/Next.js and component-driven front-end development.
Understanding of how cloud-based environments such as Microsoft Azure can influence product design and technical feasibility.
Experience designing responsive web applications and complex digital workflows.
Strong understanding of accessibility and inclusive design principles.
Excellent visual, interaction, and product-design judgment.
Strong written and verbal communication skills.
Ability to provide constructive feedback and mentor designers effectively.
Strong organizational and project-management skills.
Ability to work independently in a fully remote and asynchronous environment.
Passion for nonprofit work, education, music, technology, accessibility, or community impact is highly valued.
Preferred Qualifications
Experience designing EdTech, LMS, SaaS, e-commerce, streaming, or nonprofit platforms.
Experience with online learning or music education products.
Experience designing donation and fundraising workflows.
Experience with live video, streaming, or virtual classroom experiences.
Experience creating or managing enterprise-level design systems.
Familiarity with WCAG 2.1/2.2 and accessibility testing.
Experience collaborating with distributed volunteer or nonprofit teams.
Previous experience serving as a UX/UI Lead, Design Lead, Head of Design, or Design Director.
Technical Environment
The Director will collaborate with teams working with technologies and tools such as
Figma
Next.js
React
Microsoft Azure
Responsive web technologies
Component-based design and development
Cloud-based application infrastructure
Digital learning and streaming workflows
You are not expected to be a software engineer; however, a strong understanding of modern web development and technical constraints is important for effective collaboration with engineering teams.
Volunteer Commitment
This is a remote, volunteer leadership position. The selected candidate should be able to commit a consistent number of hours each week and actively participate in design reviews, team meetings, planning sessions, and asynchronous collaboration.
Because this is a leadership role, reliability, communication, ownership, and the ability to keep projects moving in a distributed environment are especially important.
What You Will Gain
Mission & Impact
Help create technology that expands access to music education and creative opportunities for students and communities.
Leadership Experience
Lead a team of designers and contribute to product strategy from a senior/directorial perspective.
Portfolio Development
Build meaningful experience working on a complex, modern digital platform involving education, streaming, e-commerce, fundraising, and community engagement.
Design System Experience
Develop and oversee a scalable Figma design system that can support a growing technology platform.
Professional Community
Work alongside passionate professionals, volunteers, educators, designers, developers, and organizational leaders who are committed to using technology for social impact.
Important Disclaimer
As a 100% volunteer-led U.S. nonprofit organization, we may engage volunteers located outside the United States. International volunteer participation is subject to applicable U.S. sanctions and export-control requirements, data privacy and information-security requirements, background screening where appropriate, and confirmation that the volunteer’s country and assigned responsibilities have been approved by the organization.
Please only apply if you are prepared to begin within the next 14 days.

Work arrangement
Yes