Design Strategy Lead

Do you have the passion and experience to define and prioritize next-gen products, services and experiences for the strategic portfolio of a major global player in The Future of Mobility?

Do you thrive on leading stakeholders on a design-led and digital transformation journey while driving impact at scale – at the design organization, global enterprise and societal level? 

If the answers are ‘yes’, this could be the opportunity you’ve been waiting for.

Our client is a global Future of Mobility player seeking a Design Strategy Lead (DSL)  to deeply understand and direct the design of products, services and experiences for current and future customers of one of our client’s four global businesses. The DSL will be the connective tissue between the Design Lab and the business, helping leaders to develop their strategic portfolio and the Lab to set its priorities. They will meet with executives regularly to align on business goals, priorities and OKRs/KPIs to share responsibility for delivering against them. The DSL will lead multidisciplinary teams, comprised of Lab and cross-functional colleagues, on a myriad of projects, as well as engage with cross-functional, internal and external partners. The company is at the early stages of applying Design Thinking and part of the role will include educating and leading stakeholders, partners and teams to help develop this capability. 

Core Responsibilities  

• In collaboration with heads of planning, development, product engineering, product marketing and sales teams, define regional/localized priorities for the strategic portfolio  
• Define strategic briefs and guide global and local multidisciplinary teams through project execution: define the problem and opportunity, define research strategy to better understand target customer segments, lead synthesis and insights sessions with key stakeholders, translate insights into prototypes with extended team members, and define assumptions and plans to test new concepts and prototypes for implementation  
• Embody the culture and guide others in the application of the Design organization’s shared values and ways of working inside the Lab and within the greater company.  

Profile   
The ideal candidate will be/have: 

• Comfortable with complexity — finding opportunities and clear paths in ambiguous environments  
• Comfortable facilitating senior stakeholder discussions   
• The courage to be provocative and the curiosity to design systems and connections that enable people to move more freely  
• Passion for the business side of creative solutions and can meet the organization where it’s at in managing change in a high-growth environment  
• Radically collaborative, solving problems with teams across the organization  
• The empathy and patience to meet the organization where it is on its transformation journey and to lead in managing change in a high-growth environment  
• Comfortable leading key stakeholder discussions and becoming their trusted advisor  
• The ability to drive a strong POV and the credibility to defend it with strong rationale   
• The passion to lead and the eagerness to bring your whole self to the community. 

Experience  

Ideally, you have a background in design and have experience helping to solve complex, human-centered problems at global, complex, people-centric corporations. You have a high level of business acumen. You have enjoyed leading people, processes and projects during times of change and excel at storytelling and stakeholder management and influence. You are a strong communicator and have contributed to your creative community at large. You have experience leading design strategy and/or advanced product/service planning for global, lifestyle-driven consumer or B2B/commercial brands.

Professional Requirements  

• Bachelor’s degree in Design (product, service, or interaction design preferred). Would consider degrees in HCI, Psychology, Sociology, Anthropology, Philosophy, Engineering, Science, or equivalent if ample professional Design experience  
• 5 years’ work experience  
• 2 years’ experience applying human-centered design approaches, methods and tools to solve complex problem  
• 2 years’ leadership experience  
• Fluency in Mandarin and English 

Additional Preferred

• Master’s degree in Design or related (see above) strongly preferred 
• 2 years’ experience leading multidisciplinary teams 
• Passionate about automotive and mobility industry 
• Experience working in large, corporate environments 
• Experience managing multiple stakeholders across complex projects 
• Experience presenting to executive audiences 

Work Authorization

Candidates for this position at our client must be legally authorized to work in China on a permanent basis. Verification of employment eligibility will be required at the time of hire. Visa sponsorship is not available for this position.

Diversity, Equity & Inclusion 

Our client is an equal opportunity employer committed to a culturally diverse workforce. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, religion, color, age, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability status or protected veteran status.