Digital Product Design Director

Digital Product Design Director (UX / UI)

Cambridge, MA

At IDEO, we use design to create new products, services, experiences, tangible strategies, and creative capabilities (check out our work with Ethiqly, Ascencia & Kooth).

IDEO is in search of a Digital Product Design Director, who will scale their expertise in designing and delivering digital products by enabling others and directly enacting consulting services within our offer of building breakthrough products, services, and experiences. This individual will advance design-centric product leadership and champion the launch of innovative products into the market, steward commercial application of emerging technologies, and bring confidence to our clients through product-led prototyping and experimentation.

This hire will expand our portfolio of work in digital products through proactive business development with potential clients, scoping work collaboratively, building trusted client relationships, and establishing and delivering methods, approaches, and consulting services for teams creating digital products.

The successful candidate will bring experience with and knowledge of modern UX / UI design practice as both a practitioner and leader, as well as familiarity with or curiosity about the intersection of UX / UI design and product management with human-centered design practice.

In a Nutshell:

An IDEO Digital Product Design Director's main priority is leading the design and development of innovative digital products that satisfy user desirability, technological feasibility, business viability, and social responsibility. This role includes product and client engagement ownership, leveraging foundational technical knowledge and a developer’s skillset to successfully deliver digital products to market, collaborating with development partners, and multidisciplinary teams. As part of the UX / UI design discipline, the Director will guide teams through the digital product delivery lifecycle from blue-sky concepting to product launches, manage and mentor team members, provide expert advice and direction in digital product creation, and make strategic decisions that influence product direction and performance, ensuring alignment with business goals.

We are especially excited to meet candidates with a strong design or consulting background in a digital product setting. This role will work closely with the Cambridge, MA leadership team, local and hybrid project teams and business development teams, and other digital product leaders across North America.

This hire must be based within 50 miles to our Cambridge, MA Studio or willing to relocate.

IDEO proudly supports flexible work.

Once here you will:

• Drive and nurture new and existing client relationships that advance the Hub’s strategy and communicate IDEO's design offerings, understanding the client’s business priorities.
• Effectively frame and scope projects that are financially viable and allow us to deliver value to our clients.
• Support components of the end-to-end process of our Business Development process to execute a continuation of opportunities, e.g: sit in NA All Pipeline meetings, join a BD workshop, assist business development with scoping work and be able to speak to our solutions/offerings to external stakeholders.
• Develop assets and resources to codify expertise in UX / UI design.
• As needed, be the Project Lead for projects of high complexity, for key client relationships, or other strategic needs with complex or important relationships.
• Set, communicate, and enact a location-based strategy for an area of leadership or industry subsection, while collaborating across IDEO’s North American locations to coordinate IDEO’s services in digital product design and deliveryLead strategic programming, craft, and culture initiatives necessary to excel in our work.
• Support, mentor, and grow new Project Leads.
• Lead through craft excellence, holding team members accountable for institutionalizing knowledge, materials, and client deliverables.
• Exemplify and teach junior designers what excellent client communication, team collaboration, and project management skills look like.

Qualifications / Experience:

As you read… please consider applying even if you do not have all the qualifications listed in the posting!

• A maker who enjoys tinkering and developing innovative products using emerging technologies.
• 10 years of experience designing and leading the development of digital products, both established and emerging technologies, products.
• 4-5 years in a leadership role, demonstrating advanced product management skills.
• Fluent and experimenting in frontend languages most common to your industry & product type
• Proven record of product ownership/management skills including the ability lead day-to-day decision making
• Experience collaboratively creating implementable roadmaps with clients and guiding teams to make trade-offs amongst product, design, engineering, research, and business needs
• Strong foundation in modern UX / UI design practices and experience with various front-end technologies with a background that includes a thorough understanding of coding and software development.
• Identifies and integrates external technical expertise to support product efforts.
• Knowledge and experience to evaluate, select and collaborate with software development service providers to advance products from prototype to production-level iterative delivery
• Ready to explore emerging technologies for commercial products and prototyping experiences involving emergent technologies, e.g. generative AI, sensors & robotics, computer vision, machine learning, augmented/virtual/mixed reality, and decentralized technologies.
• Strategic thinker with experience designing complex systems that require a deep understanding of information dynamics, user interaction, and feedback mechanisms.
• Demonstrated understanding of information flow, inputs & outputs, choice, behavior, and feedback.
• Ability to apply skills and business knowledge to business development.
• Able to expertly guide project objectives and team goals, and ensure that all parties involved are aware of their responsibilities.
• Excellent visual, written and verbal communication skills, including creating presentation deliverables
• Able to effectively and persuasively communicate with senior clients, including active listening and synthesis skills.

Application Requirements and Instructions:

Please submit any relevant examples of work in portfolio/website format.

This application will remain open until September 27th at 5pm ET. Applications received after this date will be reviewed on a rolling basis.

Salary & Benefits

IDEO is committed to paying its employees equitably, regardless of gender identity or race/ethnicity/cultural identity. We support the holistic well-being of our community by providing a thoughtfully designed benefits package.

The salary range for this role is $140 - 200k USD. This range is influenced by a wide range of factors considered in compensation decisions at IDEO. This includes, but is not limited to: skills, industry knowledge, and experience. Final offers may vary from the amount listed based on geography, candidate experience & expertise, and other factors.

In addition to base compensation, IDEO offers a rich benefits package including the following:

Health Benefits: Vision, Dental, Healthcare

Financial Benefits: 401K matching

Family & Caregiving: Parental Leave, Adoption Assistance, Fertility Assistance, Transgender Medical Assistance, Breastmilk shipment, Back-up/Dependent Care, Pet Insurance

Other Benefits: Hybrid Working arrangements, Flexible Time Off, Paid Holidays, Annual Education Stipend

Commitment to Diversity

At IDEO, we are committed to the work of advancing diversity, equity and inclusion within our organization and in the world. Our purpose of having disproportionate, world-changing impact through design is directly connected to our ability to bring many different perspectives to the table. This applies to our candidates, the people we hire, the clients and customers we serve, and the communities we learn from in our research.

As a human-centered organization, we are committed to working with and designing for people of every race, ethnicity, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, socio-economic status, physical ability or attribute, religion, national origin, or political belief. We recognize that this commitment requires ongoing work and sustained attention, as well as adaptation to new insights and best practices. We keep our diversity data public for the sake of accountability and transparency. These commitments will also be part of your journey at IDEO, so please feel free to read more about them here.

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