Contract Senior UX/UI Designer: Website Strategy & Design

This is a contract position open exclusively to candidates who are located in and legally authorized to provide services in Canada. Applications from candidates located outside of Canada will not be considered.

About Our Company

Kanopi Studios is a Design, Development & Support Agency with a fully distributed team of experts in Drupal & WordPress.

Our clients are mission-driven - and so are we. We design , build , and support websites that help their missions thrive.

We believe the people behind the work matter just as much as the work itself. That’s why we’re deeply committed to supporting our team’s growth, well-being, and success. When our people thrive, our clients do too - and together, we build a web that works better for everyone.

As Kanopi continues to grow, we're looking to engage a Contract Senior UX/UI Designer (Website Strategy & Design) on a contract basis.

About The Job

At Kanopi, we design, build, and support websites for clients who are doing meaningful work. We’re looking for a Contract Senior UX/UI Designer (Website Strategy & Design) who can help clients make sense of complex website challenges and turn that clarity into thoughtful, accessible, and effective digital experiences.

This is a hands-on role. You’ll lead and support discovery, shape UX and content strategy, create information architecture, wireframes, prototypes, and polished visual designs, then present your work clearly to clients and internal teams. You’ll be comfortable explaining the thinking behind your recommendations and empowering clients to make confident decisions.

Your engagement will also have you serve as a creative voice in our sales process and marketing process. That means joining conversations with prospective clients, contributing to proposals and project approaches, and showing how strategy-led design can create better outcomes for our prospective clients. You’ll help share Kanopi’s point of view through marketing and thought leadership, including webinars, blog posts, case studies, and other informational content.

We’re looking for someone who can think strategically, design with care, communicate clearly, and help make the web work better for everyone. This is a fully remote position, and the engagement is managed by the Director of Strategy and Creative.

You can expect to contribute in the following areas:

• Lead Project Discovery
• Conduct interest-holder interviews
• Translate research and client input into actionable design direction
• Assess qualitative and quantitative datasets and formulate meaningful recommendations that balance user and business goals.
• Conduct UX, content and design audits and articulate your findings to internal and client teams.
• Conduct and synthesize actionable insights from user research and testing
• Develop Information architecture and content strategy:
• Synthesize information architecture, navigation and sitemap strategy
• Conduct content audits and gap analysis
• Develop tone, voice and taxonomies to guide content creation
• Ability to understand and articulate how content strategy shapes design
• Produce visual design and strategy artifacts including, but not limited to:
• Wireframes
• Page templates
• Interactive prototypes
• Full-fidelity visual comps
• UI component libraries and static or interactive responsive design systems
• Sales and Marketing
• Act as a senior creative voice in sales conversations
• Help uncover client goals, risks, constraints, and opportunities during pre-sales discovery
• Contribute design and strategy perspective to proposals, estimates, scopes, and project approaches
• Contribute to Kanopi thought leadership through webinars, blog posts, case studies, conference ideas, or educational content

About the Compensation and Work Requirements

This is an independent contractor engagement. Work is project-based, hours will vary, and no minimum hours are guaranteed. Contractors invoice at their contracted hourly rate. The expected hourly rate range for this role is $50 - $70 CAD, depending on experience and skills. Please note the top of this range is firm and non-negotiable.

This is a 100% remote role. Applicants must be legally authorized to work in Canada, reside in British Columbia, Alberta, Yukon, or the Northwest Territories, and be available for regular collaboration during Pacific Time business hours. We are not able to provide visa sponsorship for this position.

Applications will be accepted on an ongoing basis until the position is filled.

Now, let’s talk about you!

Requirements

What you’ll bring:

• Senior-level, hands-on UX/UI design experience for complex, content-rich websites, with a strong portfolio that shows your process from discovery and strategy through high-fidelity visual design
• Strong visual design craft, including layout, typography, hierarchy, brand application, responsive design, and accessible UI patterns
• Advanced Figma skills, including prototyping, design systems, component workflows, and client-ready presentation files
• Advanced knowledge of UX strategy, content strategy, information architecture, and content experience principles
• Demonstrated experience in a creative agency environment
• Strong communication skills, with the ability to adapt your message for designers, developers, and clients, making complex ideas clear, useful, and actionable for each audience
• A collaborative approach to untangling complex creative and strategic challenges, with a focus on practical, thoughtful solutions

Nice to have:

• Coding experience
• Working knowledge of WordPress and/or Drupal
• Experience working in the higher-education, mission-driven or healthcare sectors

Studies show that some candidates, particularly women and people from underrepresented communities, only apply for a job when they meet every listed qualification. If you're excited about this role but your experience doesn't line up perfectly with every point above, we'd still love to hear from you.

Kanopi is committed to an inclusive team.

At Kanopi, we know that a diverse team makes us stronger, more creative, and more effective, and we enthusiastically welcome applicants of all backgrounds.

Kanopi Studios is committed to equal opportunity. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for engagement without regard to race, colour, national or ethnic origin, religion, age, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, marital or family status, disability, or any other characteristic protected by applicable federal, provincial, or territorial law.

Now, What?

If you think this post was written just for you, here’s what to do next:

1. Use the ‘Apply for this Job’ button located toward the bottom of the page.
2. Fill out all required fields on the Application page.
3. Upload your resume.
4. Upload your optional cover letter. Note: Some folks feel that cover letters are no longer important to hiring teams. Please be assured that Kanopi looks forward to reading yours! We’d love to hear what makes you a great fit for this role!
5. Remember to include a link to your portfolio or work samples when prompted. If work is under NDA, redacted or anonymized materials are welcome.

What to expect after you apply:

We want to make sure we’re a great fit - for you and for us! Here’s what our process looks like:

• Application review: We’ll take time to carefully review your application.
• Initial questions: If we’d like to learn more, we’ll send a short set of questions to get to know you better.
• Interviews: You’ll meet with several team members to chat about the role and your experience.
• Ongoing communication: We aim to follow up with every applicant. If you haven’t heard from us, feel free to reach out - we’re happy to connect.
  

We’ll explain each step more fully as you move through the process. We're excited to get to know you!

Please note: we try to make an effort to contact every applicant to let you know the status of your application, but we are human, so if you don’t hear from us, drop us a line!

Kanopi Studios is committed to fostering an inclusive and accessible recruitment process. If you require accommodations at any stage of the application process, please let us know, and we will work with you to meet your needs.

How we use AI in our hiring process.

In the interest of fostering a fair and unbiased recruitment process, we use artificial intelligence (AI) technology to assist our hiring team in reviewing job applications. Specifically, AI tools may be used to anonymize applications to mitigate potential bias and to assist in the initial assessment of qualifications against the criteria listed in this posting.

AI is never the sole basis for a decision. All selection decisions are made with human review and oversight, and no applicant is rejected solely by an AI-based tool. We regularly review our processes and the tools we use to monitor for accuracy and potential bias, and to ensure alignment with the fair treatment of applicants and with applicable federal, provincial, and territorial law.

Hiring Transparency Notice

• This is a contractor opportunity at Kanopi Studios. Engagements are project-based, hours will vary, and no minimum hours are guaranteed.
• This posting reflects a current contracting need.
• The expected compensation range for this role is listed in the job posting and may vary based on experience and skills.
• Artificial intelligence (AI) may be used to assist in reviewing applications as part of the hiring process. All selection decisions include human review and oversight.
• Kanopi Studios evaluates candidates based on their skills, experience, and qualifications and does not require in-country work experience as a condition of engagement.

This posting describes the general nature of the contract work anticipated. Specific engagements and deliverables will be defined in the contractor agreement, and may be modified in accordance with applicable federal, provincial, and territorial laws.

No agencies or recruiters, please.