Senior Design Leader, AI Innovation Lab

Kyndryl; Liverpool; Hybrid; GBP 90,000 - 130,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Hybrid-friendly culture

Be Well programs

Job summary

Kyndryl seeks a strategic Associate Director to lead customer innovation engagements end to end, bridging business problems, research insights and tangible concepts. You will guide executive-level stakeholders, shape opportunity frames and direct cross-functional teams through focused build cycles and credible prototypes.

The role emphasizes design leadership, AI fluency and the ability to turn ambiguity into actionable pathways, with a hybrid-friendly, collaborative culture in the UK.

Qualifications

• Education: Bachelor's degree in design, HCI, business, engineering, computer science, architecture or a related field.
• 10+ years in design, innovation or consulting with 3+ years leading multidisciplinary teams and senior customer relationships.
• Portfolio of end-to-end engagements showing framing, prototyping, testing and outcomes.

Responsibilities

• Lead customer innovation engagements end to end from framing to decision.
• Shape engagement architecture, outcomes and executive sponsorship.
• Translate priorities into precise opportunity frames and actionable design challenges.
• Define the human-AI system: who decides, what is automated, and where handoffs occur.
• Direct build and test cycles with designers, researchers and engineers, using evidence-based scenarios.
• Connect insights to concrete next steps: sprint, pilot or transformation initiative.

Skills

Executive presence

Business acumen

Human-centered design leadership

End-to-end engagement leadership

AI opportunity fluency

Multidisciplinary direction

Education

Bachelor's degree in design, HCI, business, engineering, computer science, architecture or a related field

Job description

Kyndryl seeks a strategic Associate Director to lead customer innovation engagements end to end, bridging business problems, research insights and tangible concepts. You will guide executive-level stakeholders, shape opportunity frames and direct cross-functional teams through focused build cycles and credible prototypes.

The role emphasizes design leadership, AI fluency and the ability to turn ambiguity into actionable pathways, with a hybrid-friendly, collaborative culture in the UK.