HCD (Human-centered Design ) Design Director

Ford Motor Company; Dearborn (MI); Hybrid; USD 90,000 - 150,000; Full time

Job summary

An established global company is seeking a visionary Experience Design Director to lead a multidisciplinary design team. This role offers the chance to shape the future of innovative products and services by identifying customer needs and driving strategic direction. You'll collaborate across various departments, ensuring that user experience principles are at the forefront of design solutions. Join a dynamic environment that values creativity and collaboration, where your leadership will inspire teams to deliver exceptional experiences. This is an exciting opportunity to influence product vision and strategy while working in a culture that encourages bold thinking and innovation.

Benefits

Immediate medical, dental, vision, and prescription drug coverage

Flexible family care days

Paid parental leave

Tuition assistance

Vehicle discount program

Paid time off for community service

Generous holiday schedule

Option to purchase additional vacation time

Qualifications

• 10+ years of design experience with a focus on human-centered design.
• Experience leading multidisciplinary design teams and projects.

Responsibilities

• Define strategic briefs and lead project execution across design teams.
• Foster a collaborative environment and embody the design culture.

Skills

Human-Centered Design

Leadership

Collaboration

Communication

Prototyping

Problem Solving

Education

Bachelor’s degree in Design or related field

Master’s degree in Design or related field

Tools

Prototyping Tools

Design Software

Job description

Join us in shaping the future of Ford Motor Company, as part of a global organization with exceptional colleagues in world-class facilities. As part of Ford Design, you’ll be at the cutting edge of Ford’s most strategically critical work, designing people and society’s needs into the heart of our next generation of products, services, and experiences.

The Experience Design Director leads a multi-disciplinary design team, owning a specific domain and driving its strategic direction. You'll identify customer, business, and technology opportunities, guiding project teams to ideate, visualize, and prototype future experiences.

You'll champion a holistic approach to experience design, starting with the customer and rapidly iterating solutions to deliver delightful, technically feasible, and strategically aligned experiences that are viable at scale. You're a strategic leader and natural collaborator, bringing multidisciplinary design teams together to set and achieve a shared vision.

You'll apply domain-specific expertise and overall experience design leadership to influence product vision, strategy, roadmaps, and decision-making. You'll partner cross-functionally across Ford, including Design, Marketing, Technology, Program Management, CX, and key business units, aligning on future program planning and objectives. Your focus is on finding creative alignment across all disciplines and ensuring business strategy translates into innovative experiences that delight users. You're exceptionally well-versed in modern product and experience creation, capable of leading a team in the right direction even within complex and ambiguous opportunity spaces.

Portfolio is required upon submission for consideration.

Qualifications

You'll have…

• Bachelor’s degree in design, Engineering, Science, Psychology, Anthropology, or related field
• 10+ years of design work experience (8 years with a Master’s degree)
• 5+ years of experience applying human-centered design approaches, methods, and tools to solve complex problems
• Deep understanding of the human-centered design process and proven application of knowledge of user experience principles, from research to prototyping to product release
• 4+ years of experience leading multidisciplinary design teams

Even better, you may have…

• Master’s degree in design, Engineering, Science, Psychology, Sociology, Anthropology, Philosophy, or related field
• Experience in the automotive industry
• Passion for the automotive and mobility industry; fluency in technology and product innovation
• Experience working in or with creative cultures
• Passion for collaborative environments that encourage the sharing of ideas and openness to feedback, learning, and iteration
• Experience working in highly collaborative environments and skill as an open and willing resource to team members in assessing designs
• Experience working in large, corporate environments; ability to navigate complexity and execute under tight timelines
• Experience managing multiple stakeholders across complex projects
• Experience presenting to executive audiences; exceptional communication skills

You may not check every box, or your experience may look a little different from what we've outlined, but if you think you can bring value to Ford Motor Company, we encourage you to apply!

As an established global company, we offer the benefit of choice. You can choose what your Ford future will look like: will your story span the globe, or keep you close to home? Will your career be a deep dive into what you love, or a series of new teams and new skills? Will you be a leader, a changemaker, a technical expert, a culture builder…or all of the above? No matter what you choose, we offer a work life that works for you, including:

• Immediate medical, dental, vision and prescription drug coverage
• Flexible family care days, paid parental leave, new parent ramp-up programs, subsidized back-up child care and more
• Family building benefits including adoption and surrogacy expense reimbursement, fertility treatments, and more
• Vehicle discount program for employees and family members and management leases
• Tuition assistance
• Established and active employee resource groups
• Paid time off for individual and team community service
• A generous schedule of paid holidays, including the week between Christmas and New Year’s Day
• Paid time off and the option to purchase additional vacation time.

This position is a leadership level 5.
For more information on salary and benefits, click here: https://fordcareers.co/LL5SP1

Visa sponsorship is not available for this position.
Candidates for positions with Ford Motor Company must be legally authorized to work in the United States. Verification of employment eligibility will be required at the time of hire.

We are an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, religion, color, age, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability status or protected veteran status. In the United States, if you need a reasonable accommodation for the online application process due to a disability, please call 1-888-336-0660.

Onsite work of up to three days per week may be required for candidates within commuting distance of a Ford hub location. #LI-Hybrid #LI-SC3

Responsibilities

What you'll do…

• Define strategic briefs and lead project execution: Define the problem and opportunity, set learning objectives, collaborate on research, translate insights into prototypes, and define assumptions and plans for testing.
• Lead and inspire a diverse creative team: Oversee the design and development of end-to-end experiences within your domain.
• Be a hands-on leader: Generate ideas, actively participate in ideation and co-creation sessions, and inspire your teams to do the same.
• Embody Ford Design culture: Foster a visionary and innovative design culture within the team, encouraging bold thinking, creativity, and a collaborative environment.
• Represent the HCD Design function: Collaborate across departments, ensuring a human-centered focus throughout.
• Influence product vision and strategy: Apply domain expertise and experience design leadership.
• Communicate strategic recommendations: Clearly articulate the "why" behind the "what" to diverse stakeholders.
• Oversee multiple projects: Maintain high quality, accuracy, and impact. Ensure on-time delivery, effective outcomes, and project team success through clear and measurable goals.
• Identify opportunities for business value: Articulate the rationale for design solutions in the context of business and user needs.
• Continuously evaluate and refine ideas: Collaborate with others to improve ideas for distinctiveness, relevance, and effectiveness.