Co-Design Lead Job at Maryland Institute College of Art
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Essential Duties & Responsibilities:
The Co-Design Lead will be an integral member of the Center for Social Design team and work closely with the Center’s Co-Director on the Multiscale RECIPES for Sustainable Food Systems project funded through the National Science Foundation.
Salary Range: $70,000 - $76,000. Where a candidate falls within this range is based on the candidate's years of experience above and beyond the minimum requirements and internal equity.
In the United States, 40 percent of all food produced is never eaten, resulting in lost resources, economic costs to businesses and households, decreased food security, and negative climate impacts. As the U.S. moves toward an ambitious goal to significantly reduce food waste by 2030, MICA Center for Social Design has joined as a partner in a national, $15 million, 5-year initiative funded by the U.S. National Science Foundation that will engage communities in California, the Great Lakes, Mid-Atlantic, and Southeast regions focused on developing original research and solutions around tackling the problem of food waste.
The
Multiscale RECIPES (Resilient, Equitable, and Circular Innovations with Partnership and Education Synergies) for Sustainable Food Systems Initiative
involves a national network of university and community partners, led by colleagues at American University in Washington, DC, and includes an interdisciplinary team of institutions across the country, including: Duke University; University of California-Davis; Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) & University at Albany - State University of New York; Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT) & University of Illinois at Urbana, Champaign; Ohio State University; Louisiana State University (Pennington Biomedical Research Center); and in Maryland - Johns Hopkins University and Morgan State University, alongside the MICA Center for Social Design; as well as the World Wildlife Fund, and a myriad of other community organizations both nationally and locally.
Multiscale RECIPES represents the largest externally-funded research grant in MICA’s history. The Co-Director of the MICA Center for Social Design serves as a co-Principal Investigator (PI) on the project, and MICA Center for Social Design will receive approximately $700,000 over 4 years (2021-2025) in support of our role which includes three programmatic, curricular and research elements:
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design and facilitate a process to enable "convergent" research and solutions among the diverse network of national partners and disciplines;
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facilitate a series of human-centered design studios involving RECIPES partners alongside MICA students and community partners in Baltimore focused on critical food waste issues; and
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further evolve our original research/practice in the Center for Social Design focused on "life-centered design," and applying this to the development of innovative solutions to food waste.
Specific duties and responsibilities of the Co-Design Lead will include program co-design, management, teaching, and partner collaboration:
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support Co-Director/Co-PI in overall RECIPES program strategy, planning, management, budgeting and project administration.
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co-design and lead a series of “convergent design studios,” a series (virtual and in-person) activities, workshops, and gatherings engaging members of the RECIPES network across the country in order to enableconvergenceamong diverse disciplines and institutions.
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co-design and manage collaboration with RECIPES partners at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health to co-facilitate a human-centered design process engaging a cohort of employees from Albertsons (second largest retail grocery chain in the US) in research, ideation, and prototyping of interventions to reduce food waste in their mid-Atlantic stores.
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co-design and lead a semester-long, graduate-level, credit-bearing courses engaging a team of MICA students, alongside RECIPES network and community partners, in prototyping and implementing innovative solutions to reducing food waste.
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co-design and facilitate monthly work sessions and workstreams of the RECIPES “Co-Design Cluster” to ensure ongoing collaboration between the three design schools in the network (including MICA Center for Social Design, UC Davis Center for Design in the Public Interest, and the Institute of Design at Illinois Institute of Technology);
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co-design and test with Co-Director a strategy for integrating principles of "life-centered design" into the work of RECIPES network to identify and prototype nature-inspired solutions to food waste.
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supervise and mentor MICA team of Graduate Fellows, Post-Graduate Associate(s), Community Fellows and partners, administrative team, and independent contractors engaged in the RECIPES initiative.
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serve as primary liaison with RECIPES Program Manager at American University, and attend and co-facilitated regular meetings with RECIPES Network Coordination Team (national team of RECIPES Principal Investigators).
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manage documentation (written and visual) of Center for Social Design process and progress on RECIPES initiative, and coordinate collaborative writing and publishing opportunities with RECIPES partners.
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manage communications strategy, promotion, press and social media for RECIPES project in collaboration with MICA Strategic Communications and network partners.
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establish systems, processes and technology to manage RECIPES project work and virtual/in-person collaboration with network and community partners.
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manage all administrative, budgetary, financial/accounting, human resources, and reporting requirements of RECIPES project and serve as primary liaison with the MICA Office of Research and American University Program Manager.
While the primary responsibilities of the position are on the Multiscale RECIPES initiative, the Co-Design Lead will also provide expertise and support to the Co-Directors on other projects of the Center for Social Design as time and needs allow.
Qualifications/Skills - Required:
The Co-Design Lead position requires an individual who is flexible, organized and self-motivated with strong design and project management skills, including:
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MA/MFA in social design/design for social innovation or equivalent graduate degree or professional experience required.
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demonstrated professional experience in community-centered, human-centered, co-design processes.
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professional project management & coordination (managing multiple projects and responsibilities simultaneously).
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demonstrated expertise in design strategy and research methods.
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demonstrated experience and skills in leading diverse teams and facilitating collaborative teamwork (both virtually and in person).
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excellent representational and communication skills (verbal, written and visual).
Qualifications/Skills - Preferable:
Candidates would preferably also have the following knowledge/expertise/skills:
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graphic design and strong visual communications skills.
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demonstrated community-based work experience.
Application Process
Applications must contain the following:
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Letter of Interest (1 page maximum)—provide specific reasons or insights for your interest in the position.
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Resume/CV—provide any professional experience or activities relevant to the project and position (past and/or current).
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Portfolio/Work Samples—include 4-5 portfolio pieces that show your skills and experience in design research/strategy, facilitation, and project management.
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Applications should be submitted in Workday. Please upload a single click-through PDF (embedded links are OK)
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Applications will be evaluated pursuant to the criteria set forth in this job requisition. Notification of selection or non-selection of all respondents who submitted applications will be issued after the final selection is made.
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Questions regarding this job requisition must be submitted to socialdesign@mica.edu.
Maryland Institute College of Art is committed to its policy of providing equal opportunity regardless of race, color, creed, national origin, religion, gender, sexual orientation, marital status, age, disability, or veteran status (disabled, Vietnam-era, or otherwise). Furthermore, the College does not tolerate any form of sex discrimination, including sexual harassment or sexual violence. This policy applies to all programs, facilities, and activities provided by Maryland Institute College of Art, including but not limited to admission, educational programs, and employment.
Applicants must apply online for each job in which they are interested. You will not be considered for any job for which you have not specifically applied. We do not accept applications via email, U.S. mail, or fax. Successful candidates for any staff or faculty positions will be subject to a pre-employment background check.
MICA provides reasonable accommodations to applicants with disabilities on a case-by-case basis. If you need a reasonable accommodation for any part of the application and hiring process, please contact Human Resources at 410-225-2363.
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