Director, Human-Centered Industrial Design

Veranex, Inc.•Providence, RI

5d•Hybrid

About The Position

Veranex’s mission as an Innovation CRO is to improve patient outcomes by accelerating our clients’ innovations to market. As the world’s only end-to-end professional services firm focused on MedTech, we take clients’ Vision to Velocity through our comprehensive service portfolio, with expertise in human centered design and product development, preclinical and clinical research, regulatory affairs, and market access and reimbursement consulting. About This Role: The Director, Human Centered Industrial Design (HCID) leads the Human Centered Industrial Design functional team across Veranex, setting the strategy and best practices for the design of medical devices that improve patient outcomes and user experiences. Bridging Design, Engineering, Human Factors, and Regulatory, the Director of HCID needs to ensure products are intuitive, safe, manufacturable, and aligned with user needs and business goals, resulting in successful product solutions. This position provides strategic leadership, establishes quality standards, facilitates mentorship and coaching, oversees team resourcing and performance, builds strong client relationships, and plays a key role in business development and organizational strategy.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in industrial design or related discipline.
8–12 years of relevant work experience, including 3–5 years as a functional manager.
Advanced knowledge of human factors, ergonomics, and usability best practices.
In‑depth knowledge of people management processes, including hiring, performance management, corrective action, and compensation administration.
Strong leadership skills, including change management, strategic thinking, and influencing.
Experience supporting business development or revenue‑generating client engagements.
Excellent oral and written communication skills.
Strong attention to detail and advanced ability to manage multiple complex projects.
Ability to communicate complex business concepts to a multi‑disciplinary audience.
Ability to structure a scalable team to promote high‑quality deliverables.
Ability to ensure attainment of departmental objectives through effective resource management.

Nice To Haves

Experience leading design functions within MedTech, life sciences, or regulated product development environments.
Experience shaping design vision and service offerings at a functional or organizational level.
Experience partnering with executive‑level clients and internal leaders.

Responsibilities

Lead the Human Centered Industrial Design team across all design phases, objectives, and deliverables.
Translate user insights into clear design direction, concepts, and design specifications
Develop and foster close working relationships with other functional leaders
Drive a customer‑experience and user‑centric mindset across teams.
Provide management and leadership to the human‑centered design team, including resource allocation, prioritization, performance management, coaching, and professional development.
Oversee, manage, and prioritize activities across the design staff to ensure high‑quality outcomes.
Achieve staff results by clearly communicating expectations, monitoring performance, coaching, and enforcing systems, policies, procedures, and productivity standards.
Develop short‑ and long‑term Human Centered Industrial Design business strategies support business needs and client satisfaction.
Set departmental budgets, manage workload forecasting, balance resources, and ensure optimal utilization.
Prepare reports, status updates, escalations, and communications for senior leadership.
Interact with senior leadership and major stakeholders to establish strategic plans and objectives for programs and projects.
Contribute meaningfully to business development initiatives.
Foster strong client relationships at both the project and senior/executive levels to drive retention and new business opportunities.