Consultant Product Designer

Background   

Turquoise Mountain is a non-profit, non-governmental organisation established in 2006 by His Majesty King Charles III to revive traditional crafts, historic areas and to provide jobs, skills and opportunity through cultural heritage projects. By blending heritage buildings, education and enterprise, Turquoise Mountain has created sustainable heritage places and livelihoods that support the revival of artisan industries. Turquoise Mountain now works in Afghanistan, Myanmar, Saudi Arabia, and the Levant. Since 2006, Turquoise Mountain has restored over 150 historic buildings, created employment for thousands of artisans and builders, built over 50 small businesses, and supported and generated over $17 million in sales of traditional crafts to domestic and international markets.   

 Context   

Turquoise Mountain Levant was established in 2018 and leverages cultural heritage from across the region to train and educate young people in traditional crafts, deliver sustainable heritage-led regeneration for communities, and connect hundreds of artisans to new and sustainable markets. This is an exciting time for the organisation, as we are growing our operation to support Palestinian artisans, engage Palestinian communities in their heritage, and open up livelihoods in the craft sector from our new base in Bethlehem.  

Consultancy Summary:  

In this consultancy, you will help Turquoise Mountain to showcase the talent of Palestinian artisans and will innovate and evolve historical crafts in the hopes of preserving them in new forms. You will work closely with Turquoise Mountain’s in-house Design and Production Team to design, sample, prototype and produce two products collections in two different Palestinian crafts.  

In this process, you will carry out a detailed design research, collect historical visual samples of the craft, will concept, design, and sample the collection, working closely with the artisans to understand what is and isn’t possible within the scope of the craft. You will then supervise production with the artisan. At the end of this project, these collections will belong to the artisan and to the Turquoise Mountain design library, to continue producing directly with the workshops going forward – ensuring that they provide meaningful and long-term sources of income for the artisans.   

Deliverables: 

• Carry out at least 3-4 workshop visits and produce an assessment report identifying two artisans/workshops that you will produce collections with 

• Produce a detailed design research report for two crafts  
• Produce a design concept brief for two crafts  
• Produce finalised product designs for two product ranges 
• Produce product samples for two product ranges  
• Oversee final production for two product ranges  

All deliverables must be reviewed and approved by the Levant Head of Design and Production 

جميع الحقوق محفوظة لموقع جوبس.

A minimum of five-years of experience.  

A degree in Design/ Interior Architecture/ Architecture is required.  

The ability to understand and conceive of technical drawings.  

Knowledge of AutoCad and rendering programs is essential.  

Ability to conduct effective research.  

Excellent oral and written communication skills in both Arabic and English. 

Experience in cultural heritage is preferred.  

Contract Duration:   

3-month consultancy contract  

Location:  

You must be based within the West Bank or be able to travel to and around the West Bank on a weekly basis.   

Application Pack:  

To apply, please submit the following in one PDF document to [email protected] :  

In your application pack please include:  

• A one-page resumé. 
• A portfolio with samples of your work. 
• A one-page technical proposal outlining which two crafts you would choose for this project, and why. Please include your expected fees.