Director – Design Strategy

Jobtailor; New York (NY); On-site; USD 140,000 - 180,000; Full time

Job summary

Jobtailor is seeking a Senior Design Strategist to lead a multidisciplinary team and shape future-state customer experiences. You will drive discovery, frame problems as opportunities, and translate insights into strategic principles, prototypes, and product recommendations.

Collaborate with Product, Technology, Research, Brand, and business teams to elevate design as a strategic partner. You will mentor designers, collaborate with senior leaders, and champion human-centered approaches across

Qualifications

• 10+ years of experience in design strategy or related disciplines with leadership of multidisciplinary teams
• 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
• Experience developing future-state customer experiences spanning products, channels, services, and organizational boundaries
• Strong understanding of human-centered design and ability to connect customer insight with business strategy and technology
• Ability to synthesize complex information into clear strategic narratives and executive-level communications
• Exceptional facilitation, storytelling, and communication skills
• Experience influencing senior leaders and cross-functional stakeholders
• Visa sponsorship may be provided for certain positions depending on business requirements, position, cost, and applicable laws

Responsibilities

• Lead and develop a multidisciplinary Design Strategy team of experience strategists, service designers, and prototypers
• Lead time-boxed discovery engagements focused on emerging customer needs, business opportunities, technologies, and experience models
• Frame ambiguous business challenges into customer problems, strategic hypotheses, and actionable opportunity areas
• Develop future-state experience concepts connecting customer needs, business priorities, brand, and technology
• Apply service design and systems thinking to understand end-to-end journeys, ecosystems, capabilities, and dependencies
• Use rapid prototyping and experimentation to test hypotheses and accelerate learning and decision-making
• Explore the impact of emerging technologies, including AI and new interaction models, on customer experience
• Create strategic narratives, experience visions, frameworks, and executive-level artifacts supporting senior leadership decisions
• Facilitate strategic working sessions with senior leaders and cross-functional teams
• Partner with Product, Technology, Research, Brand, and business teams to translate discovery into experience principles, opportunity areas, prototypes, and product recommendations
• Build a culture of curiosity, experimentation, collaboration, and customer-centered thinking while elevating Design as a strategic partner

Skills

Design Strategy

Service Design

Systems Thinking

Human-Centered Design

Facilitation

Storytelling

Executive Communication

Leadership

Cross-Functional

Education

Bachelor’s in Design

Master’s in Design

Human-Computer Interaction

Job description

• Lead and develop a multidisciplinary Design Strategy team of experience strategists, service designers, and prototypers
• Lead time-boxed discovery engagements focused on emerging customer needs, business opportunities, technologies, and experience models
• Frame ambiguous business challenges into customer problems, strategic hypotheses, and actionable opportunity areas
• Develop future-state experience concepts connecting customer needs, business priorities, brand, and technology
• Apply service design and systems thinking to understand end-to-end journeys, ecosystems, capabilities, and dependencies
• Use rapid prototyping and experimentation to test hypotheses and accelerate learning and decision-making
• Explore the impact of emerging technologies, including AI and new interaction models, on customer experience
• Create strategic narratives, experience visions, frameworks, and executive-level artifacts supporting senior leadership decisions
• Facilitate strategic working sessions with senior leaders and cross-functional teams
• Partner with Product, Technology, Research, Brand, and business teams to translate discovery into experience principles, opportunity areas, prototypes, and product recommendations
• Build a culture of curiosity, experimentation, collaboration, and customer-centered thinking while elevating Design as a strategic partner

Requirements

• 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
• Experience developing future-state customer experiences spanning products, channels, services, and organizational boundaries
• Strong understanding of human-centered design and ability to connect customer insight with business strategy and technology
• Ability to synthesize complex information into clear strategic narratives and executive-level communications
• Exceptional facilitation, storytelling, and communication skills
• Experience influencing senior leaders and cross-functional stakeholders
• Ability to navigate ambiguity, establish direction, and mobilize teams
• Experience partnering with Product Management, Engineering, Research, Brand, and business strategy teams
• Strong people leadership skills and success attracting, developing, and leading multidisciplinary design talent
• Bachelor’s or master’s degree in Design, Human-Computer Interaction, Business, Strategy, or a related field, or equivalent professional experience
• Visa sponsorship may be provided for certain positions depending on business requirements, position, cost, and applicable laws

Core Competencies

Demonstrates deep expertise in Strategic Design, Service Design, and Systems Thinking, with a strong ability to lead multidisciplinary teams in developing future-state customer experiences. Proficient in synthesizing complex information into clear strategic narratives and facilitating collaboration across cross-functional teams.

Highest-signal resume keywords

• Design Strategy Leadership
• Service Design Expertise
• Systems Thinking
• Human-Centered Design
• Strategic Communication

Hard Skills

• Design Strategy
• Service Design
• Experience Strategy
• Product Innovation
• Rapid Prototyping
• Customer Experience Development
• Strategic Narrative Creation
• Facilitation
• Storytelling
• Complex Problem Solving

Soft Skills

• Exceptional Communication
• Influencing Senior Leaders
• Navigating Ambiguity
• Team Mobilization
• People Leadership

Certifications & Qualifications

• Bachelor’s Degree in Design
• Master’s Degree in Design
• Human-Computer Interaction

Industry Keywords

• Customer-Centered Thinking
• Cross-Functional Collaboration
• Emerging Technologies
• Experience Models
• Business Strategy