Manager, CX Design

Guitar Center Stores, Inc.; Kansas City (MO); On-site; USD 110,000 - 170,000; Full time

Job summary

Guitar Center in Kansas City seeks a Manager of CX Design to lead an innovation function turning business opportunities, insights, and emerging tech into measurable improvements across customer and employee experiences.

You will own the end-to-end innovation lifecycle from opportunity identification to pilot execution and enterprise-scale implementation, partnering with analytics, technology, and frontline teams to deliver sustainable ROI.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in business, innovation, or related field, with relevant experience considered.
• 5+ years in innovation, transformation, product or program management, or analytics.
• Proven success designing, launching, evaluating, and scaling pilots with measurable results.
• Strong analytical and financial acumen, including KPI definition and ROI evaluation.

Responsibilities

• Define and manage an innovation pipeline aligned with strategic priorities.
• Translate business challenges into problem statements, hypotheses, and next steps.
• Design pilots with clear scope, baselines, success criteria, and governance.
• Lead cross-functional teams across analytics, technology, operations, and frontline workers.
• Monitor adoption, value realization, and ROI after launch; refine as needed.

Skills

Innovation leadership

Project management

Data analysis

Executive storytelling

Stakeholder collaboration

Education

Bachelor's degree in business or related field

Advanced degree or relevant certification preferred

Tools

CRM

AI platforms

Workflow tools

Job description

ROLE OVERVIEW

The Manager of CX Design establishes and leads a dedicated innovation function that turns business opportunities, behavioral insights, and emerging technology into measurable business improvements. Reporting to the Senior Manager, Sales Excellence, this role owns the end-to-end innovation lifecycle-from opportunity identification and prioritization through solution design, pilot execution, validation, and enterprise-scale implementation. The position connects strategy, frontline experience, analytics, and execution; builds a continuous pipeline of high-value initiatives; accelerates responsible AI and automation adoption; and ensures transformation efforts improve customer, employee, and financial outcomes while delivering sustainable return on investment.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

Innovation Strategy & Opportunity Pipeline

• Establish and manage a disciplined innovation pipeline aligned with enterprise and CSC strategic priorities.
• Source opportunities through performance data, customer and employee feedback, journey analysis, operational observations, process friction, and emerging technology.
• Create a consistent intake and prioritization framework that evaluates potential value, strategic alignment, feasibility, effort, risk, and readiness for adoption.
• Translate ambiguous business challenges into clear problem statements, hypotheses, solution concepts, and recommended next steps.
• Partner with the Senior Manager, Sales Excellence and business leaders to sequence initiatives, secure sponsorship, and maintain focus on the highest-value opportunities.

Pilot Design, Experimentation & Validation

• Design pilots and experiments with clearly defined scope, target population, baseline, success criteria, timelines, owners, controls, risks, and decision points.
• Coordinate solution development and pilot execution across business, analytics, technology, operations, and frontline teams.
• Apply rapid test-and-learn methods to validate assumptions, gather evidence, and make timely scale, revise, or stop decisions.
• Maintain pilot governance and documentation, including charters, project plans, findings, recommendations, and lessons learned.
• Ensure pilots account for customer impact, employee experience, privacy, information security, legal, compliance, and operational sustainability requirements.

Behavioral Insights & Performance Improvement

• Observe and analyze customer and employee behaviors, workflows, and decision points to identify root causes, barriers, and improvement opportunities.
• Map customer and employee journeys and translate behavioral insights into practical interventions, including workflow changes, prompts, tools, communications, scripts, coaching, and reinforcement.
• Partner with Analytics and Data Operations to establish baselines, define leading and lagging indicators, and evaluate causal impact wherever practical.
• Measure improvements across customer, employee, operational, and financial KPIs and convert findings into clear business recommendations.
• Build feedback loops that support continuous learning and refinement after implementation.

AI, Automation & Technology Enablement

• Identify and prioritize AI, automation, and digital use cases that reduce effort, improve quality, increase productivity, personalize experiences, or accelerate revenue growth.
• Partner with Technology, Data Operations, Information Security, Legal, and business leaders to evaluate feasibility, controls, integration requirements, and implementation readiness.
• Define responsible-use expectations, human oversight, process controls, training, and measurement plans for new capabilities.
• Monitor adoption, usage, performance, and user feedback; address barriers and refine solutions to improve realized value.
• Maintain awareness of relevant emerging capabilities and translate them into practical, business-focused opportunities.

Scaling, Change Adoption & Value Realization

• Develop enterprise-ready scale plans that include operating processes, ownership, standard work, training, communications, support, governance, and KPI measurement.
• Build implementation roadmaps that clarify dependencies, resource needs, decision rights, risks, and transition responsibilities.
• Partner with Sales Enablement/CX, Customer Service, Sales, Data Operations, Technology, Finance, HR, Marketing, Digital, Retail, and other functions to execute sustainable change.
• Track adoption, benefits realization, and ROI after launch, escalating gaps and coordinating corrective action when results do not meet expectations.
• Create reusable playbooks, templates, and standards that increase the speed, quality, and consistency of future innovation efforts.
• Recommend retirement or redesign of low-value pilots, duplicative tools, and legacy processes when evidence supports change.

Cross-functional Leadership & Communication

• Lead cross-functional initiative teams and influence stakeholders without direct authority.
• Facilitate discovery sessions, design workshops, pilot reviews, and executive decision forums that move work from concept to execution.
• Communicate progress, risks, decisions, results, and recommendations through concise business cases, roadmaps, dashboards, and executive-ready presentations.
• Build strong partnerships with frontline associates and leaders to ensure solutions address real business needs and are practical to adopt.
• Foster a culture of experimentation, disciplined learning, accountability, and continuous improvement.

Business Impact & Success Measures

• Reduce cycle time from opportunity identification to pilot decision and implementation, enabling faster execution of strategic priorities.
• Maintain a healthy, prioritized innovation pipeline with clear ownership, stage gates, and expected value.
• Accelerate responsible adoption and measurable business value from AI, automation, and digital capabilities.
• Increase ROI and benefits realization across transformation initiatives.
• Deliver data-validated improvements in customer experience, employee experience, productivity, revenue, cost, quality, and other financial KPIs.

Additional Responsibilities

• Perform other duties and special projects as assigned.

MINIMUM Requirements & Special ATTRIBUTES:

• Bachelor's degree in business, innovation, operations, analytics, behavioral science, industrial engineering, information systems, or a related field; an equivalent combination of education and relevant experience will be considered. Advanced degree or relevant certification preferred.
• 5+ years of progressive experience in innovation, transformation, product or program management, process improvement, operations excellence, analytics, consulting, or a related discipline.
• Demonstrated success designing, launching, evaluating, and scaling pilots or new capabilities that produced measurable business results.
• Strong analytical and financial acumen, including experience defining KPIs, building business cases, quantifying benefits, and evaluating ROI.
• Working knowledge of experimentation, process mapping, root-cause analysis, journey mapping, change management, and benefits realization practices.
• Practical experience evaluating or implementing AI, automation, CRM, workflow, analytics, or other digital technologies.
• Strong project and portfolio management skills, with the ability to manage multiple complex, cross-functional initiatives.
• Excellent facilitation, written communication, presentation, and executive storytelling skills.
• Demonstrated ability to influence without direct authority, build stakeholder alignment, and translate ambiguity into structured action.
• Experience in a contact center, retail, e-commerce, customer experience, or other high-volume operating environment preferred.
• Personal experience with musical instruments, the music industry, or a related field preferred, with a passion for serving musicians and creators.

About Guitar Center

Guitar Center embodies the world of creativity and music by encouraging our teammates to find their own individual sound. We strive to craft lifelong musicians and make a difference in the world by enabling musicians and non-musicians alike to experience the almost indescribable happiness that comes from playing an instrument. We believe in putting our customers first, engaging with respect and integrity and fulfilling our mission with passion.

Why join us?

With a career at Guitar Center, you become part of the world's largest multichannel musical instrument retailer. Whether at our Stores, Contact Centers, Distribution Centers, or Support Center, Guitar Center employees have a common goal: to help people find their sound and fill the world with more music.

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Send your resume and cover letter today along with salary expectations!

Guitar Center is an Equal Opportunity Employer and provides fair and equal employment opportunity to all employees and applicants regardless of race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, disability, veteran status or any other protected status prohibited under Federal, State, or local laws. All employment decisions are based on valid jobarelated requirements.

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