Principal Experience Design Strategist

Thoughtworks is a global software consultancy creating positive impact and product innovation through design, strategy, and responsible technology. In partnership with our clients, designers at Thoughtworks help deliver extraordinary and impactful customer experiences integrated into agile software delivery.

We are looking for a seasoned design leader with demonstrable experience of creating high-quality products and customer experiences, driving commercial results for clients, and who can act as a trusted advisor to our clients on their journey to becoming customer-centric, outcome-focused and value-driven.

Job responsibilities

• As a trusted advisor to a client’s senior executives, you will partner with them to understand their context and needs, and provide advice and hands-on experience to shape and deliver products and channel agnostic, cross cutting experiences. 
• You will apply a broad range of design capabilities on diverse projects in a variety of industries and organizations, from launching new products to market, defining the experience vision and strategy, reimagining existing customer and employee experiences, and delivering programme-wide change at scale with operational design management.
• You will provide strategic leadership, leading cross-functional teams to create a wide range of experience design artefacts including experience visioning, value-driven hypotheses, journey maps, service blueprints, roadmaps, prototypes, and design systems.
• You will articulate the value and importance of design to senior client executives, and guide them on how to establish design capabilities within their product and technology organisation. 
• You will become part of a multicultural team of design and product specialists, and guide and coach teams from both Thoughtworks and the client on customer centricity and design best practices.
• You will create points of view and case studies through insights on client needs and solutions, alongside creating assets and accelerators to create repeatability to scale our efforts and credentialise Thoughtworks’ design expertise to the wider industry.
• You will be responsible for taking our design and product offerings to market. This means being heavily involved in sales by creating proposals and pitches, shaping engagements for clients, and helping to educate both clients and colleagues about the value of our offerings.

 

Job qualifications

Design experience

• 8+ years of design leadership experience, overseeing a portfolio of products and leading a team of designers.
• 3+ years of CX and design consulting or advisory experience, and driving sales and revenue for your organisation.
• Proven expertise in all aspects of experience design, with specialism in experience visioning and strategy, and at least three additional areas such as user research and ResearchOps, service design, interaction design, design leadership and DesignOps.
• Strong strategic and advisory competence to manage and negotiate with client stakeholders, and ensure sponsor buy-in.
• Expertise in developing an inspiring experience vision that supports or influences strategic client decisions, supported by innovative frameworks, new service concepts, and critical design deliverables.
• Expertise in leading and managing design, research, synthesis, and validation activities, as well as design tools, methodologies and approaches to meet changing client, project, or technical demands.
• Proven leadership experience in cross-functional implementation teams or programmes, scaling design activities across multiple workstreams, and owning engagement outcomes.
• Deep expertise in the end-to-end product development lifecycle, agile and lean methodologies, and the confidence to operate within Enterprise client ecosystems.  

Consulting experience

• Skilled at building relationships with C-suite executives and confident in driving conversations at the intersection of technology and business.
• Strong facilitation and communication skills to deliver differentiated presentations, effective workshops, cross-functional discussions, and impactful storytelling.  
• Enjoys collaboration with multidisciplinary teams, and can operate as an advisory but also as a hands-on practitioner.
• Ability to advocate for and demonstrate the business value and strategic impact of design with clients and colleagues.
• Desire for thought leadership and/or building an industry profile on design topics, and a proven knowledge of industry and practice trends.
• Commitment to the growth and sustainability of the design and product practice at Thoughtworks, through coaching, operational improvement, and contribution to career development initiatives.

What we need from you

Please share a link to your portfolio, showcasing some of the products, services, and design initiatives you have led or played a key role in. We are especially keen to see work for enterprise clients, and examples of successful go-to-market activities. Please also include examples of any thought leadership materials you have created, such as conference talks, publications, podcasts etc.