Freelance, Senior Graphic Designer

CACTUS is a remote-first organization and we embrace an accelerate from anywhere culture. You may be required to travel to our Mumbai office based on business requirements or for company/team events

The Freelance Senior Designer will create high-quality, visually compelling scientific graphics and illustrations that clearly communicate complex scientific and medical concepts. Working project-to-project, this role collaborates closely with scientific content teams, video teams, and subject-matter experts to deliver infographics, journal covers, medical and technical illustrations, and visual assets for digital platforms.

As a freelancer, the designer is expected to work independently, manage their own timelines, maintain consistency across deliverables, and uphold high-quality standards. The role also includes reviewing design outputs from other freelancers when needed.

• Develop visually compelling designs as a scientific graphic designer and illustrator, transforming complex concepts into clear, engaging visuals.
• Collaborate with the scientific content and video teams to produce high-quality graphics for scientific infographics, videos, journal covers, and other related materials.
• Work closely with content experts to brainstorm and conceptualize new ways to represent scientific information visually.
• Design scientific infographics, social media collateral targeting audiences like medical professionals, researchers, and authors, as well as technical/medical illustrations for science explainer videos based on storyboards.
• Review the work of peers and freelancers to ensure that it meets client expectations and maintains high standards.
• Ensure consistency and attention to detail across all designs, preserving the integrity of the brand in every deliverable.

• 5+ years of professional graphic design experience with a strong, diverse portfolio graduate degree required and scientific background preferred.

• Proven expertise in scientific/medical design, including infographics, technical illustrations, journal covers, and graphical abstracts.

• Strong understanding of scientific concepts with the ability to communicate complex information visually.

• Advanced proficiency in Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop PowerPoint skills are a plus.

• Excellent communication, collaboration, and presentation skills, especially when working with scientific content experts.

• Highly detail-oriented, creative, and self-directed, with strong design fundamentals and the ability to meet tight deadlines independently.

Before applying, please ensure you meet the role requirements listed above and have legal authorization to work in the country where this role is advertised. Our selection process typically involves an initial screening by a recruiter, a technical assessment, and two to three interview rounds. For this role, the process starts with a take-home assignment, followed by an interview with the Hiring Managers.

Equal Opportunity

Our hiring practices reflect our commitment to providing equal opportunities and creating an environment where everyone can thrive, develop, and succeed. We celebrate the uniqueness of our team members and prohibit discrimination of any kind, based on race, color, religion, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, marital status, disability, or any other protected characteristic.

Accelerating from Anywhere

As a remote-first organization, these are essential attributes we look for in all our candidates.

• Taking ownership of your work with minimal supervision, showing strong ability to organize, prioritize and deliver results independently.
• Documenting work that brings everyone on the same page.
• Maturity to choose between synchronous and asynchronous collaboration.
• Effectively collaborating with colleagues across different time zones by setting dedicated hours for collaboration and keeping team members updated through your MS Teams status.

Established in 2002, Cactus Communications () is a leading technology company that specializes in expert services and AI-driven products which improve how research gets funded, published, communicated, and discovered. Its flagship brand Editage offers a comprehensive suite of researcher solutions, including expert services and cutting-edge AI products like Mind the Graph, Paperpal, and R Discovery. With offices in Princeton, London, Singapore, Beijing, Shanghai, Seoul, Tokyo, and Mumbai and a global workforce of over 3,000 experts, CACTUS is a pioneer in workplace best practices and has been consistently recognized as a great place to work.