Expression of Interest - Freelance UI/UX Designers

Job Description

• Remote roles across the Asia–Pacific region (could be based in Southeast Asia, Australia, Aotearoa NZ, Pacific Islands)
• Freelance, daily-rate consultancy | Short and longer-term engagements
• Build thoughtful technology that matters

About us

Catalpa is an Australian not-for-profit working across the Asia–Pacific to improve lives through locally driven solutions. We design creative responses to complex problems, combining technology, behavioural insights and deep contextual understanding.

We bring together people from many disciplines — engineers, designers, economists, researchers and more — to work on projects with real-world impact. Our work is often one-of-a-kind, sometimes ambitious, and genuinely meaningful.

We work remotely across the region from homes, co-working spaces and a handful of offices.
Learn more at www.catalpa.io.

About the opportunity

As Catalpa’s project pipeline grows, we’re looking for experienced UI/UX Designers to join our Products team — a small, highly capable group building digital products designed for social impact.

You’ll work across multiple projects, bringing hands-on design skill and a strong UX sensibility to the products we build.

This role is suited to an early career to mid-level designer – someone who can independently take a brief from concept through to high-fidelity output, engage constructively with product and engineering teams, and apply human-centred design thinking in their day-to-day practice.  Our products support work in health, education, infrastructure, transparency and public services, often in complex and resource-constrained environments.

What you'll do

As a UI/UX Designer at Catalpa, you'll take ownership of the design process from discovery through to delivery, creating intuitive, accessible, and visually engaging experiences across our web and mobile products.

You'll work across user research, information architecture, interaction design, prototyping, and visual design, translating user and business needs into high-quality solutions. Using tools such as Figma, Claude, and Cursor, you'll create production-ready designs, contribute to our design systems, and collaborate closely with product and engineering teams to ensure successful implementation.

You'll be comfortable communicating design decisions, participating in reviews, incorporating feedback, and maintaining a high standard of quality through testing, documentation, and design QA. This role is ideal for someone who enjoys working independently while contributing to a collaborative, design-led culture focused on continuous improvement and delivering exceptional user experiences.

Requirements

You’re a creative, but pragmatic UI/UX Designer who cares about the craft and impact in equal measure.

You likely bring:

• A passion for making great products
• 3–5 years of professional experience in UI/UX design, ideally with some exposure to working in or alongside multidisciplinary digital product teams.
• A strong portfolio demonstrating end-to-end design work across web and/or mobile products, covering both UX thinking and high-quality visual execution.
• Fluency in Figma, including component-based design, auto-layout, and design handoff.
• Working knowledge of design systems, experience contributing to or building them is an advantage.
• Solid foundations in user-centred design, including experience with usability testing, user research synthesis, and iterative design.
• Comfort working with AI tools as part of the design workflow, including using them for prototyping, accessibility checking, and research synthesis. Experience with Claude, Cursor, or similar tools is an advantage but willingness to learn and adopt them is essential.
• Clear communication skills in English and ease collaborating across time zones and cultures (we’re diverse!)
• A relevant degree is welcome — but an interesting alternative path is just as valued.
• You enjoy working in a highly agile and collaborative working style.

• Sufficient technical literacy to run a web or mobile application locally, navigate a codebase at a surface level, and submit a pull request with design changes or annotations. You don't need to be an engineer, but you should not be intimidated by a terminal or a Git workflow.

How you work

• You care deeply about designing meaningful and thoughtful designs that address real user needs and have tangible impact
• You think about performance, accessibility and long-term sustainability of product design
• You enjoy collaborating across the product lifecycle from design, QA, product and engineering
• You contribute to all aspects of design including design discovery through to hand off and QA of design assets
• You’re open to continuous learning and new ways of working
• You’re fun to work with, and generous with your knowledge

Bonus points for (not required):

• Experience designing for development or social sector contexts
• Experience designing for low digital literacy and low-resource context
• Familiarity with accessibility standards (WCAG)
• Experience working in agile/sprint-based product teams

Eligibility

We love working with kind, smart people from diverse backgrounds willing to learn new things. This job will require many skills, but feel free to apply even if you think you may not be a ‘perfect fit’.

Work environment

We work in a creative, supportive environment with colleagues from diverse walks of life, and we value their perspectives. We pay attention to the details and work together to achieve the best outcomes for our communities. Importantly, we work here because we love what we do and the impact we have.

We recognise that consultants balance a range of professional and personal commitments. We support flexible, remote ways of working and focus on outcomes rather than fixed schedules. We believe people do their best work when they have the space to take care of themselves, their families, and their communities. We work collaboratively to plan project timelines and workloads in a way that supports both delivery needs and individual wellbeing.

Fit

Catalpa staff believe in technology's potential to transform lives. Our team members are flexible and can handle working across a broad range of responsibilities. They don’t mind rolling up their sleeves to solve thorny challenges that take time, patience, and creativity. We are friendly and care about the people we work with, always seeking to build and nurture relationships for the long term. 

Catalpa seeks to provide a fair and equal employment opportunity for all people, regardless of race, colour, religious creed, national origin, ancestry, age, gender, pregnancy, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, or marital status. We especially welcome applications from people with diverse backgrounds.

Safeguarding

Catalpa prioritises the safeguarding of all people, including the prevention of sexual exploitation, abuse and harassment and the safeguarding of children. Engagement of personnel with Catalpa is conditional upon the outcome of background checks, and there is a requirement for all candidates to disclose any current charges or previous convictions regarding assault, abuse or exploitation of children or adults, as well as regarding fraud and/or corruption. All Catalpa personnel are required to abide by Catalpa’s Child Safeguarding Policy, Prevention of Sexual Exploitation, Abuse and Harassment Policy and Code of Conduct.

How to Apply

If this sounds like you, please apply now with your up-to-date resume, and we will contact you!  Please send a cover letter and explain why you’d be a good fit for this role. Applications are to be submitted through our jobs page catalpa.io/work-with-us

For further inquiries or questions regarding this position, email [email protected] with ‘Freeland UI/UX Designer’ in the email's subject line. Please do not email CV's as we require them to go through our website, thanks.

Expression of interest closes at midnight on 26 June 2026

We look forward to hearing from you!

Benefits

• Remote roles across the Asia–Pacific region (Southeast Asia, Australia, Aotearoa NZ, Pacific Islands)
• Daily-rate consultancy | Short and longer-term engagements
• Build thoughtful technology that matters