Director, Design Strategy

Uiuxtrend; New York (NY); On-site; USD 180,000 - 240,000; Full time

Job summary

American Express is seeking a Director, Design Strategy to lead a multidisciplinary team of experience strategists, service designers, and prototypers, shaping the future of experiences. Working upstream of product delivery, the team will conduct time-boxed discovery, frame problems, define future-state experiences, and mobilize product and design teams for execution.

This role partners with Product, Technology, Research, Brand, and senior leaders to translate opportunities into strategy,

Qualifications

• 10+ years in design strategy or related disciplines.
• Proven ability to lead multidisciplinary teams.
• Experience turning opportunities into executable strategies.
• Strong storytelling and executive communication.

Responsibilities

• Lead and develop a multidisciplinary Design Strategy team across experience strategy, service design, systems thinking, and rapid prototyping.
• Lead time-boxed discovery engagements focused on emerging customer needs, business opportunities, technologies, and experience models.
• Frame ambiguous business challenges into clear customer problems, strategic hypotheses, and actionable opportunity areas.
• Develop future-state experience concepts that connect customer needs, business priorities, brand, and technology.
• Apply service design and systems thinking to understand end-to-end journeys, ecosystems, capabilities, and dependencies across products and channels.
• Use rapid prototyping and experimentation to make future experiences tangible, test hypotheses, and accelerate learning and decision-making.
• Explore the implications of emerging technologies, including AI and new interaction models, on the future customer experience.
• Create strategic narratives, experience visions, frameworks, and executive-level artifacts that simplify complexity and support senior leadership decisions.
• Facilitate strategic working sessions with senior leaders and cross-functional teams to create alignment around problems, opportunities, and future direction.
• Partner with Product, Technology, Research, Brand, and business teams to ground strategies in customer insight, business priorities, and technical possibilities. Translate discovery into experience principles, opportunity areas, prototypes, and product recommendations.
• Build a culture of curiosity, experimentation, collaboration, and customer-centered thinking while elevating the role of Design as a strategic partner across the organization.

Skills

Design leadership

Experience strategy

Service design

Systems thinking

Stakeholder engagement

Education

Bachelor's or Master's in Design or related field

Tools

Figma

Sketch

Job description

The Director, Design Strategy will lead a multidisciplinary team of experience strategists, service designers, and prototypers focused on shaping the future of American Express experiences.

Working upstream of product delivery, the team will lead time-boxed discovery efforts to explore opportunities, frame complex problems, define future-state experiences, and mobilize product and design teams for execution.

This role will partner closely with Product, Technology, Research, Brand, and business leaders to turn complex opportunities into experience strategies, prototypes, and executive narratives that inform investment decisions.

Responsibilities

• Lead and develop a multidisciplinary Design Strategy team spanning experience strategy, service design, systems thinking, and rapid prototyping.
• Lead time-boxed discovery engagements focused on emerging customer needs, business opportunities, technologies, and experience models.
• Frame ambiguous business challenges into clear customer problems, strategic hypotheses, and actionable opportunity areas.
• Develop future-state experience concepts that connect customer needs, business priorities, brand, and technology.
• Apply service design and systems thinking to understand end-to-end journeys, ecosystems, capabilities, and dependencies across products and channels.
• Use rapid prototyping and experimentation to make future experiences tangible, test hypotheses, and accelerate learning and decision-making.
• Explore the implications of emerging technologies, including AI and new interaction models, on the future customer experience.
• Create strategic narratives, experience visions, frameworks, and executive-level artifacts that simplify complexity and support senior leadership decisions.
• Facilitate strategic working sessions with senior leaders and cross-functional teams to create alignment around problems, opportunities, and future direction.
• Partner with Product, Technology, Research, Brand, and business teams to ground strategies in customer insight, business priorities, and technical possibilities. Translate discovery into experience principles, opportunity areas, prototypes, and product recommendations.
• Build a culture of curiosity, experimentation, collaboration, and customer-centered thinking while elevating the role of Design as a strategic partner across the organization.

Qualifications

• 10+ years of experience in design strategy, experience strategy, service design, product design, innovation, or a related discipline, including leadership of multidisciplinary teams.
• Demonstrated ability to lead complex strategic design initiatives from ambiguous problem spaces through clearly articulated strategies, concepts, and recommendations.
• Deep expertise in strategic design, service design, systems thinking, experience strategy, or product innovation with the ability to lead across design disciplines.
• Experience developing future-state customer experiences that span products, channels, services, and organizational boundaries.
• Strong understanding of human-centered design and the ability to connect customer insight with business strategy and technology.
• Demonstrated ability to synthesize complex information into clear, compelling strategic narratives and executive-level communications.
• Exceptional facilitation, storytelling, and communication skills, with experience influencing senior leaders and cross-functional stakeholders.
• Proven ability to navigate ambiguity, establish direction, and mobilize teams around complex problems and emerging opportunities.
• Experience partnering closely with Product Management, Engineering, Research, Brand, and business strategy teams.
• Strong people leadership skills with demonstrated success attracting, developing, and leading high-performing multidisciplinary design talent.
• Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Design, Human-Computer Interaction, Business, Strategy, or a related field, or equivalent professional experience.
• Depending on factors such as business unit requirements, the nature of the position, cost and applicable laws, American Express may provide visa sponsorship for certain positions.