Senior Experience Strategist (Hybrid)

M&T Bank Corporation; Buffalo (NY); Hybrid; USD 86,000 - 143,000; Full time

Job summary

M&T Bank Corporation seeks a Senior Service Designer to lead service and touchpoint experiences within the Commercial Bank on the M&T Experience Design & Innovation team.

You will guide cross-functional teams, conduct user research, and translate insights into strategic opportunity spaces, using journey maps and service blueprints to shape differentiated customer experiences.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree or equivalent with 3+ years in service design or related field
• Experience creating service blueprints, journey maps, and service prototypes
• Portfolio demonstrating service design work across digital and non-digital channels
• Ability to mentor others and work in a cross-functional environment

Responsibilities

• Lead team members across opportunity spaces and align with the experience vision
• Ideate and propose service concepts with implementation recommendations
• Lead cross-functional design workshops using human-centered methods
• Conduct user/customer research with UX Research team
• Translate insights into opportunity spaces for differentiated service experiences
• Select and apply appropriate service design methods (journey maps, blueprints)
• Collaborate with Product, Process, Finance, Research, Analytics, and Technology teams
• Communicate rationale to partners and manage stakeholder relationships

Skills

Service design

Human-centered design

Design thinking

Workshop facilitation

User research

Journey maps

Service blueprints

Stakeholder collaboration

Mentoring

Ambiguity tolerance

Education

Bachelor's degree in Service Design or related field

Tools

Miro

Webex

Adobe

Sketch

InVision

Figma

Job description

Overview

Overview: As a Senior Service Designer on the M&T Experience Design & Innovation team, you will lead the design of service and touchpoint experiences within the Commercial Bank.

Primary Responsibilities

• Lead team members dedicated to one or more opportunity spaces; connect to broader experience vision.
• Ideate and conceptualize service concepts aligned to strategies defined by product and workstream leads and provide recommendations for implementation.
• Lead cross-functional teams in design workshops using human-centered and design thinking methodologies.
• Perform user/customer research in partnership with our User Experience Research team.
• Translate user/customer insights into opportunity spaces for providing differentiating service experiences.
• Strategically choose and apply the service design tools and methods (e.g., journey maps, service blueprints) that best fit the strategic outcomes of the program.
• Contribute example service design best practices for M&T Bank.
• Work closely with peers from Product, Process, Finance, Research, Analytics, and Technology.
• Communicate rationale to partners and collaborate with cross-functional peers.
• Adhere to applicable compliance/operational risk controls in accordance with Company or regulatory standards and policies.
• Promote an environment that supports belonging and reflects the M&T Bank brand.
• Maintain M&T internal control standards, including timely implementation of internal and external audit points together with any issues raised by external regulators as applicable.
• Complete other related duties as assigned.

Scope of Responsibilities

The M&T Experience Design & Innovation team is a dedicated team of designers, developers, strategists, and leaders who believe in the transformative power of customer centricity. We believe that focus on craft and advocacy for the customer as truth are keys to building differentiated, innovative experiences. We lead by example - staying curious, doing the work, and challenging assumptions at every turn. We're bold enough to believe that great design can exist at a bank, and that it can be a catalyst to bettering the lives of our customers and the communities we share with them. Our mission: Combine deep human understanding with the bank’s full suite of capabilities to provide personal, connected, and surprisingly simple banking experiences that help our customers achieve their financial goals.

Managerial/Supervisory Responsibilities

None

Education and Experience Required

• Bachelor's degree in Service Design, Human Computer Interaction, Strategic Design, or similar, and a minimum of 3 years relevant experience or in lieu of a degree, a combined minimum of 7 years education and/or relevant work/service design experience
• Background in the design/user experience field, preferably demonstrated through an online portfolio
• Experience creating service blueprints, illustrated journey maps, concept designs, service experience prototypes, empathy maps, and value proposition proposals to communicate ideas and designs
• Hands-on experience designing for a variety of digital touchpoints and non-digital channels
• Experience with conceptualization, ideation, and iterative prototyping, and with employing various methods to prototype service concepts such as staging and role-playing approaches
• Ability to mentor and educate others on the value and principles of good experience design
• Team player who is comfortable navigating ambiguity within a self-directed culture
• Ability to establish strong working relationships with colleagues, clients, and key stakeholders
• Experience conducting remote and in-person workshops; strong familiarity with supporting tools such as Miro and Webex
• Proficiency in design and prototyping tools such as Adobe, Sketch, InVision, Figma or other similar tools used widely in the design community
• Proficiency in industry best practices for digital and non-digital products and services
• Experience with accessibility standards, cross-platform issues, mobile user interfaces and systems-thinking

Education and Experience Preferred

Core Competencies:

• Customer Centric - Outside in perspective with a focus on improving the customer experience
• Curiosity - Seeks out ways to improve the customer experience
• Resilient - Respectful of broad opinions and makes tough calls with ease
• Driven & Prioritization - Self-motivated and knows how to say no
• Challenges assumptions
• Decisive & Lead Taking - Sense of urgency with an ability to inspire followers
• Takes ownership with a strong sense of accountability
• Interdependent - Communicates and convenes others; reaches across boundaries
• Continuously seeks out ways to improve
• Familiarity with design systems
• Experience in financial services industry a plus
• Consulting Experience is a plus

Work Model & Office Locations

This role follows a hybrid work model, requiring onsite presence four days per week at one of M&T Bank's regional offices. Candidates must reside within a reasonable commuting distance to one of the following locations: 345 Main Street, Buffalo, NY 115 Federal Street, Boston, MA 1 Light Street, Baltimore, MD 1350 I Street NW, Washington, DC 1100 North Market Street, Wilmington, DE 277 Park Avenue, New York, NY 850 Main Street, Bridgeport, CT 77 Pine Street, Burlington, VT

Anticipated Travel Requirements

Employees in this position should be prepared to travel at least once per month. Travel frequency may fluctuate based on business demands and the nature of assigned projects. Employees located outside the Buffalo market are generally expected to travel more frequently than those already based there.

Salary

M&T Bank is committed to fair, competitive, and market-informed pay for our employees. The pay range for this position is $85,800.00 - $143,000.00 Annual (USD). The successful candidate’s particular combination of knowledge, skills, and experience will inform their specific compensation.

Location

Location Buffalo, New York, United States of America

Company Overview

Great companies have an enduring sense of purpose. At M&T, our purpose is a simple one: make a difference in people’s lives and uplift the communities we serve. M&T Bank Corporation is a financial holding company headquartered in Buffalo, New York. M&T's affiliates offer advice, guidance, expertise and solutions across the entire financial spectrum, combining M&T Bank's traditional banking services with the wealth management and institutional capabilities offered by Wilmington Trust. M&T Bank has a network of over 1,000 branches and 2,200 ATMs that span 12 states from Maine to Virginia and Washington, D.C. For more than 165 years, M&T has strived to take an active role in our communities and build long-lasting relationships with our customers. We are a bank for communities - combining the capabilities of a large bank with the care of a locally focused institution. As an employer of choice, we are proud to offer competitive benefits ranging from medical and retirement to forty hours of paid volunteer time, each year. Our core values - integrity, ownership, collaboration, curiosity, and candor - drive the work we do. We seek to further build upon our record of success by bringing in top talent and fresh skill sets while continuing to support the growth and development of all our team members. View M&T's Human Capital Report to learn more.

Equal Employment Opportunity

M&T Bank is unwavering when it comes to providing equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants without regard to race, color, national origin, religion, ethnicity, sex, gender identity, age, disability, citizenship, pregnancy, veteran status, military status, marital status, sexual orientation, genetic information or any other characteristic protected under applicable federal, state or local laws.

M&T Bank Corporation has policies and procedures in place to promote a drug free workplace.