Design Lead

ZS Associates • Chicago, IL

316d • $130,000 - $138,550 • Remote

About The Position

ZS is a place where passion changes lives. As a management consulting and technology firm focused on improving life and how we live it, our most valuable asset is our people. Here you'll work side-by-side with a powerful collective of thinkers and experts shaping life-changing solutions for patients, caregivers and consumers, worldwide. ZSers drive impact by bringing a client first mentality to each and every engagement. We partner collaboratively with our clients to develop custom solutions and technology products that create value and deliver company results across critical areas of their business. Bring your curiosity for learning; bold ideas; courage and passion to drive life-changing impact to ZS. Our most valuable asset is our people. At ZS we honor the visible and invisible elements of our identities, personal experiences and belief systems—the ones that comprise us as individuals, shape who we are and make us unique. We believe your personal interests, identities, and desire to learn are part of your success here. Learn more about our diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts and the networks ZS supports to assist our ZSers in cultivating community spaces, obtaining the resources they need to thrive, and sharing the messages they are passionate about. The ZS Digital Experience and Design (DXD) practice was created to champion design in the creation of compelling, innovative and outcomes focused services and products. Our clients look to us to design and create engaging experiences and solutions for a broad range of B2B or B2C customers, with a focus on healthcare providers, physicians, and patients. We use our deep understanding of people to design meaningful interactions and desirable outcomes for customers, while delivering better performance for our clients.

Requirements

• Open to candidates with backgrounds in design research/ethnography, design strategy, and service design (and related disciplines) need not demonstrate mastery in all areas - but must be open to developing, with our support, their skillsets across this spectrum of qualifications with time and experience.
• Bachelor's degree required (Master's preferred) in one of design/design strategy/design research/service design/industrial design, psychology, anthropology or a related discipline focused in social science and design communication, with a demonstrated record of academic success.
• 5-7 years of experience applying Design Thinking methods to reach successful business outcomes; demonstrated experience in the Life Sciences and Healthcare industry are an additional asset.
• Experience with the user centered design (UCD) process and designing complex, multi-channel experiences for customers.
• Familiarity with digital product management and agile methodologies; Experience designing products following product design methodology is a plus.
• Exposure to and comfort with foresight/futures and or service design methodologies will be considered an additional important asset.
• Fluency in design research techniques such as ethnography, contextual inquiry, user interviews and usability testing, as well as in-depth practice incorporating findings from research studies into the experience design process.
• Basic visual design capabilities will also be considered an asset.
• Ability to travel for research and to client locations (10-25%) to work with teams and provide in-person expertise.

Nice To Haves

• Curious, results-driven, confident, and committed to professional growth.
• Can work independently, prioritize time, and is quick on his/her feet.
• Good interpersonal skills, with the ability to listen to, and build rapport with research participants, designers, and cross-disciplinary project teams.
• Can work well in cross-functional teams, including designers, business consulting teams, and project managers.

Responsibilities

• Design and deliver new services, products, and brand experiences that solve customer problems, increase brand value and inspire people.
• Create best-in-class design deliverables to articulate customer research insights and strategies and craft a broad range of design artifacts including experience maps, user journeys, service blueprints, and personas.
• Ability to boundary-span into visual design deliverables including wireframes, high-fidelity design and design systems is a distinct advantage.
• Partner and collaborate with cross-disciplinary teams through all phases of design process including alignment with client, understanding context, developing insights, exploring and defining opportunities, setting strategy, creating actionable/tangible design expressions and concepts, communicating vision, and guiding go-to-market strategies.
• Execute qualitative customer research using design, behavioral, ethnographic, and market research techniques and apply insights to inform design decisions.
• Elicit requirements through a range of activities from planning and leading stakeholder interviews, working from problem statements, articulating business objectives and asking the right questions in the right ways to inform design thinking processes.
• Lead cycles of rapid iteration/design sprints to prototype experiences across mediums and realize a final solution.
• Present design solutions with precision and personality to variety of business stakeholders, clients, and internal colleagues with a polished mix of verbal and visual communication.
• Plan and facilitate Design Thinking workshops to support creative collaboration and evangelize customer centricity with clients and colleagues.
• Translate requirements into initial concepts, visual artifacts and designs using existing or net new design system thinking and development.
• Collaborate with designers and developers to ‘tell the design story' from concepting to initial prototype to dev-ready design translation.

Benefits

• ZS offers a comprehensive total rewards package including health and well-being, financial planning, annual leave, personal growth and professional development.
• Our robust skills development programs, multiple career progression options and internal mobility paths and collaborative culture empowers you to thrive as an individual and global team member.
• We are committed to giving our employees a flexible and connected way of working.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Mid Level
• Industry: Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services
• Education Level: Bachelor's degree