Strategic Designer: Human-Centered Innovation Leader

Bain & Company; San Francisco (CA); Hybrid; USD 128,000 - 157,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Performance bonus

401(k) matching

Medical, dental, vision fully paid

Generous paid time off

Life and long-term disabilityInsurance

Job summary

Bain & Company in the US is seeking a Strategic Designer to lead human-centered innovation—from research and insight development to concept creation, prototyping and experimentation.

You will co-lead ideation with case teams, build storytelling assets and prototypes, and translate findings into actionable strategies. Travel ~30% with in-person client work, based in New York or San Francisco.

Qualifications

• You’ll be a strong fit if you have 1-2 years of hands-on experience in digital product, service, or venture design.
• You can navigate strategic ambiguity and co-create direction in fast-changing contexts.
• You have a strong grasp of design thinking, human-centered design, and agile ways of working.
• You are fluent with tools such as Figma, Miro, and Adobe Creative Suite and comfortable with GenAI tools that support design research, ideation, prototyping, and storytelling.
• You show intellectual curiosity and a consulting mindset with an interest in understanding case context, contributing to business strategy, and delivering design with clear intent.
• You have strong communication and collaboration skills with designers and non-designers.
• You are comfortable with approximately 30% travel for client work.
• You have advanced proficiency in English.

Responsibilities

• Lead the end-to-end strategic design process, from framing and research to experimentation and delivery.
• Conduct qualitative research and synthesize insights into artifacts like personas, journeys, and opportunity maps.
• Co-lead ideation sessions and conceptualize new experiences and business models with case teams.
• Build storytelling assets and prototypes to bring ideas to life quickly and iteratively.
• Run light experiments to test desirability, feasibility, and viability of solutions.
• Collaborate with case teams, GPs, and client stakeholders, showing ownership and design leadership.
• Adapt design approaches based on project goals with structured yet flexible methods.
• Articulate rationale and implications behind design decisions clearly.

Skills

Design thinking

Human-centered design

Agile methodologies

GenAI design tools

Communication

Consulting mindset

English proficiency

Travel readiness

Tools

Figma

Miro

Adobe Creative Suite

GenAI tools

Job description

Bain & Company in the US is seeking a Strategic Designer to lead human-centered innovation—from research and insight development to concept creation, prototyping and experimentation.

You will co-lead ideation with case teams, build storytelling assets and prototypes, and translate findings into actionable strategies. Travel ~30% with in-person client work, based in New York or San Francisco.