Associate Director, Design Strategy

Location: New York

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** Who We Are
**** The Role
**** Who You Are
** You are a confident, outcomes-driven experience leader with a strong point of view and the ability to bring others with you. You combine strategic rigor with deep customer empathy and are known for simplifying complexity into narratives that move executives to action.

You thrive in ambiguity, lead through influence, and elevate those around you. You bring a growth mindset, embrace experimentation, and are energized by shaping thinking—both internally and with clients—to win in the CX market.
** Required Skills and Experience
** Executive-Level Pre-Sales Leadership
* Own and shape high-impact, executive-ready pre-sales assets including value propositions, POVs, pitch narratives, solution frameworks, and storytelling systems that clearly articulate customer outcomes and business impact.
* Enable sellers and pursuit teams by providing strategic clarity and differentiated CX positioning that accelerates deal velocity and win rates.

Experience Strategy at the Intersection of Business, Technology, and Human Needs
* Define and lead integrated experience strategies that align business objectives, technology capabilities, and user needs.
* Champion experience-led transformation as a growth driver, helping clients and internal teams understand and invest in CX as a strategic advantage.

Strong Business Acumen and Market Perspective
* Connect experience strategy directly to business strategy, revenue growth, and operational outcomes.
* Bring an informed market POV—grounded in trends, competitive intelligence, and customer insight—to shape offerings and GTM direction.

Experience Optimization & Innovation
* Evaluate end-to-end customer and employee journeys to identify high-value opportunities for optimization, including the application of self-service, AI, automation, and empowerment models.
* Prioritize initiatives based on impact, feasibility, and scalability.

Strategic Solution Design
* Lead the creation of senior-level strategic deliverables such as experience maps, customer journeys, service blueprints, and future-state visions that guide solution development and investment  & Facilitation Leadership
* Design and lead executive workshops, co-creation sessions, and future-state innovation engagements that align stakeholders, unlock insight, and drive clear outcomes.
* Mentor others in facilitation excellence and collaborative design practices.

Compelling Storytelling & Influence
* Craft and deliver narratives that change minds, hearts, and behaviors—internally and externally.
* Communicate with clarity and confidence across executive, seller, and delivery audiences.

Research, Insight, and Strategic Analysis
* Direct qualitative and quantitative research, concept testing, and competitive analysis to identify trends, opportunities, and risks that inform CX strategy and offering development.

Deep Understanding of Human Behavior
* Apply psychology and behavioral insight (motivations, beliefs, emotions, perceptions) to influence desirability, adoption, and cultural change across customer and employee experiences.

Leadership & Mentorship
* Act as a trusted mentor and thought partner to indirect reports and cross-functional peers, raising capability, confidence, and strategic maturity across the CX community.
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* What you’ll need:

*** 10+ years of progressive, CX strategy focused consulting role; with a blend of sales and delivery experience preferred, bringing well formed perspectives on the future of CX.
* An obvious speciality / expertise in CX concepts (e.g., VOC programs, service design, automation, AI-Driven experience transformation, CX benchmarking, etc.)
* Undergraduate or graduate degree in service design, strategic design, innovation strategy,business administration, or a related field.  + Advanced degree or certifications from well-known CX institute is a plus (CXPA, Forrester, IDEO, Stanford Design School, Kellogg, etc.).  +

Exper…