Circle.so Community Designer & Developer

About Us We are a patient education and support organization serving cancer patients, survivors, caregivers, and their families. Join our team to enhance our Circle.so community platform. We seek a designer and developer to improve UX, ensure accessibility, and integrate new features. Your role will focus on member engagement and creating a seamless user experience. Collaborate with our team to design and develop innovative solutions that foster community growth and interaction. We have launched a private online community using Circle.so where members can connect with others, share experiences, participate in discussions, and access educational resources including articles, books, videos, documents and other support materials. The community is already functional, but we are looking for an experienced Circle.so designer and developer to help us transform it into a polished, intuitive, accessible, and engaging member experience. Many of our members are older adults or people dealing with serious illness. Because of this, simplicity, accessibility, readability, and ease of navigation are extremely important. What We Need We are looking for someone who can do more than simply make Circle look better. We need an expert who can first audit what we currently have, understand our goals and member needs, recommend the right community structure, and then implement those improvements. You should be comfortable guiding us on both design and functionality. We are relatively new to Circle.so and want someone who can recommend best practices rather than simply wait for detailed instructions. ## Phase 1 - Community Audit & Strategy The first step will be a complete review of our existing Circle community, including the admin/backend configuration. We would like you to: * Audit the current homepage, spaces, space groups, navigation, permissions, and overall community structure * Review the member journey from signup through onboarding and ongoing participation * Identify usability problems, unnecessary complexity, and areas where members may become confused or frustrated * Review how our educational resources are currently organized and recommend a better structure * Evaluate the current mobile experience * Review existing integrations and automations * Identify opportunities to improve member engagement and retention * Clearly document what is working, what should change, and why * Provide a prioritized implementation roadmap and estimated hours after completing the audit ## Phase 2 - UX/UI & Community Redesign After the audit and roadmap are approved, we would like you to redesign and improve the community experience. This may include: ### Homepage & Navigation * Create a clear, welcoming homepage that immediately explains what the community offers * Simplify navigation so members can quickly understand where to go * Use large, readable typography and clear calls to action * Reduce unnecessary clicks and cognitive load * Make important resources and community features easy to discover * Optimize the experience for older and less technical users Our goal is for someone entering the community for the first time to immediately understand: 1. Where am I? 2. What can I do here? 3. Where should I go first? 4. How do I find help, resources, or other members? ### Community Architecture Help us determine the best way to organize: * Spaces and space groups * Discussion areas * Patient and survivor support areas * Educational resources * Books * Videos * Documents and downloadable materials * Events or announcements * Member interaction and peer support * Frequently accessed resources We have a significant amount of educational content and want members to have one clear, organized place where they can easily find what they need. ## Accessibility & Ease of Use Accessibility is a major priority. Many members may be older, fatigued, under emotional stress, or unfamiliar with community platforms. The experience should therefore prioritize: * Large, readable text * Clear labels * Simple navigation * Obvious calls to action * Strong visual hierarchy * Minimal clutter * Accessible color contrast * Mobile-friendly layouts * Simple step-by-step workflows * Consistent navigation patterns Experience designing digital products for healthcare, senior, accessibility-focused, or non-technical audiences is highly valuable. ## Branding & Visual Design Apply consistent branding throughout the Circle community based on our existing Cancer Monthly / Surviving Mesothelioma websites and brand identity. This may include: * Colors and typography * Homepage graphics * Space banners and thumbnails * Icons * Community imagery * Branded resource graphics * Consistent visual templates Graphic design experience is a plus. ## Circle.so Customization & Development We need someone comfortable working beyond Circle's default configuration when necessary. Experience should include: Circle.so admin configuration Spaces and space groups Member permissions Custom pages Custom code blocks CSS customization where supported Circle workflows and automations API and webhook integrations Third-party integrations Analytics and tracking Mobile optimization We currently use WordPress SSO through miniOrange, so experience troubleshooting or improving WordPress-to-Circle authentication flows is especially valuable. ## Member Onboarding We want new members to feel welcomed and immediately understand how to use the community. You may help us improve: Signup and SSO experience New-member onboarding Welcome sequences Guided first steps Profile completion Recommended spaces Automated welcome messages Email and in-platform notifications New-member engagement campaigns The onboarding process should be extremely simple and require minimal technical knowledge. ## Engagement & Member Retention Our goal is not simply to launch a better-looking community. We want members to join, participate, return regularly, and find ongoing value. We would like guidance and implementation support around: Member engagement strategies Automated engagement campaigns Notifications and reminders Re-engagement workflows Community prompts and discussions Feedback loops Member activity tracking Engagement analytics Retention and churn analysis A/B testing where practical Identifying where members disengage from the experience We are open to ongoing optimization after the initial redesign. ## Integrations & Automation Experience with any of the following is helpful: WordPress miniOrange SSO Circle API Circle workflows Zapier or Make ManyChat Email marketing platforms CRM systems Marketing automation Analytics platforms Webhooks and custom API integrations Documentation & Training At the end of the implementation, we need clear documentation so our internal team can manage the community without depending on a developer for every small change. Deliverables should include: Documentation of the final Circle structure Explanation of spaces and permissions Automation and integration documentation Instructions for updating content and resources Recommendations for ongoing community maintenance Team training or walkthrough sessions Required Experience !!! Please apply only if you have strong experience with Circle.so. We are specifically looking for: Demonstrated Circle.so community design and development experience Strong UX/UI design skills Experience structuring complex communities and resource libraries Understanding of accessibility and usability best practices Experience with Circle admin tools, workflows, automations, and integrations Ability to work with custom CSS/code when appropriate Strong communication and documentation skills Ability to independently audit an existing implementation and recommend improvements You should be comfortable acting as both an implementer and an advisor. We want someone who can identify problems we may not know to ask about and explain recommended solutions clearly. Nice to Have Healthcare or patient-support community experience Nonprofit community experience UX experience designing for older adults Accessibility-focused design experience Graphic design skills WordPress experience miniOrange SSO experience ManyChat experience Email and marketing automation experience Community analytics and retention optimization experience Engagement Remote Initial audit followed by redesign and implementation Potential for ongoing monthly support and optimization Hourly or project-based structure can be discussed after the initial audit The selected developer will first receive access to review our existing Circle community. After reviewing the current backend, structure, content, and member experience, we expect a clear proposal outlining: What is currently working What needs improvement Recommended priorities Proposed implementation phases Estimated hours or project cost Recommendations for ongoing maintenance and optimization -To Apply Please include: Links to Circle.so communities you have personally built, redesigned, or significantly customized A brief explanation of exactly what you did for each Circle project Your approach to auditing and redesigning an existing Circle community Examples of work involving older, healthcare, nonprofit, or non-technical audiences, if applicable Your experience with Circle workflows, APIs, custom code, SSO, and third-party integrations Your hourly rate and/or typical project pricing Your availability for the initial audit and implementation Important: Applications that do not include relevant Circle.so work examples will not be considered. We are looking for a long-term partner who can help us create a community that is simple enough for anyone to use, valuable enough for members to keep returning, and flexible enough to grow with our organization.