Lead Interaction Designer

IA Collaborative is seeking a Lead Interaction Designer who will be the primary touchpoint for clients in user experience and digital transformation strategy, service design, digital product design, or enterprise application design. In this role you will report to an Associate Director of Interaction Design.

As a Lead Interaction Designer at IA Collaborative, you will: 

• Lead and contribute to projects end-to-end:
  • Serve as primary contact for day-to-day and executive-level client(s) 
  • Guide updates to overall project approach, team performance, and activities 
  • Individually manage smaller projects, including budgets, project scope, project resourcing and project timelines, or contribute as a workstream lead on larger projects
  • Design effective, simple, and beautiful interactions and interfaces across digital apps and responsive web channels
  • Deliver across all phases of digital projects by developing accurate user journeys; concept sketches; user & data scenarios; user flows; experience; information architecture; wireframes; prototypes; and high-fidelity designs
  • Lead deliverable creation, ensuring execution aligns with the project and client goals
  • Develop narratives and presentations in support of strategic design efforts
  • Manage digital production design efforts using an agile model
  • Meaningfully contribute to business development efforts, including drafting or supporting project continuations, new approaches and pitches
• Coach junior team members on how to execute on projects; mentor multiple new team members across disciplines; create growth opportunities for skills development; assist in performance reviews and goal-setting
• Collaborate effectively with clients and team members to achieve strategic design outcomes

In addition, you will be asked to:

• Contribute to strategic design communication and develop novel interactions for emerging tech, including AI
• Participate and contribute to various research methods, including: ethnographic in-field research, unmoderated product testing, and interpreting product analytics
• Utilize and develop design systems for enterprise-scale products
• Create end-to-end process maps of various systems, intersection, and new user experiences and business outcomes
• Contribute to client workshops from ideation to facilitation
• Understand current trends in emerging tech, digital design and business, and bring strategic thinking to insights and solutions, as well as to the organization as a whole
• Advance approaches to client experiences; identify and solution client needs and challenges; grow and maintain client relationships beyond the project.
• Explore future possibilities for the organization, including new offerings and capabilities, talent acquisition, thought leadership, and other business growth oriented activities

Required qualifications include:

• Bachelor’s degree in Interaction Design, Human Computer Interaction, or related field. Masters degree preferred or eight or more years of equivalent experience
• Eight or more years of UX/UI design experience, preferably within a design firm or digital agency, including experience with:
  • Client-facing presentation and relationship responsibilities
  • User research that can be translated into design decisions
  • Business strategy for digital projects at various scales
  • A range of methodologies for digital project engagements
  • Leading teams through complex engagements with enterprise clients
  • Structuring and facilitating successful client ideation and prioritization work sessions
  • Design tools (Sketch, Figma) and rapid prototyping tools (Figma, Framer, etc.)
  • Core web technologies, such as HTML, CSS, and JavaScript as well as iOS and Android
  • Experience working with agile methodologies
• Demonstrated organizational skills and the ability to manage multiple projects simultaneously are essential
• Demonstrated comfort with ambiguity, and ability to take in information and pivot to consistently drive impact

Preferred Qualifications:

• Experience collaborating with developers on delivery requirements, sprint planning, and QA testing; and experience with Jira, Azure Dev Ops, or similar tools
• Experience and understanding of LLMs, RAG, and other emerging AI, including designing for AI tooling

In the application or as part of the hiring process, candidates may be asked to submit work samples. These should be anonymized as needed to protect current employer and/or client confidentiality agreements. 

About the Interaction Design Team

Interaction designers at IA Collaborative create experiences for people through their engagement with products, services, and platforms. Employing our user-driven design approach, we translate insights and strategy into tangible experiences that meet business objectives and delight users. As digital innovators, we thrive on an iterative design process and explore emerging platforms and novel applications; as digital leaders, we guide organizations through transformation.

Our team thrives in a fast-paced, challenging, multidisciplinary and highly collaborative environment. We welcome new tools and processes, diverse perspectives and backgrounds, and challenges that demand unconventional thinking to push the boundaries of our discipline.

IA Collaborative Work Model:

IA Collaborative leverages a hybrid work model with Chicagoland-area team members working from our downtown headquarters three days per week (Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday) with additional, occasional required on-site days as needed. 

Occasional onsite and in-field work is required for all team members. We are typically in the field once or twice a month, for two to three consecutive days, conducting research or meeting with clients. We are committed to following CDC guidelines to ensure safety and well-being for our team members. 

Why IA Collaborative:

At IA, you’ll practice your craft in a whole new context. You’ll be a part of designing the future of human experience as you transform your client’s business, empower communities and create a positive and lasting impact on the world.

Our internationally recognized workspace provides the inspiration and flexibility to collaborate with teams or to focus as an individual.

IA’s comprehensive benefits package includes medical, dental, vision; Retirement Savings Benefits; scholarship funds to promote individual learning, growth and inspiration; discretionary bonus and profit-sharing programs; a suite of family benefits including paid time off for the birth of a child, caregiver leave, wellness check-in days, flexible spending accounts for dependent care, health expenses and childcare, and 529 college savings planning and contributions; and employer-paid life insurance and disability.

About IA Collaborative:

IA Collaborative is a global design and innovation consultancy. We help leading organizations and category disruptors find new growth, create new offerings, and empower a culture of innovation. We fully integrate human-centered design and business strategy into the ongoing operations of our clients, to launch new corporate ventures and drive continuous innovation. From Insight to Action, we define new business models and create new products, technology platforms, experiences, brands, services and environments.

IA is on the national and global stage speaking about the business value of design. Featured by Fast Company as one of the country’s preeminent design thinkers and nominated by the Cooper Hewitt Smithsonian Design Museum as a “Design Visionary,” IA’s leadership and work have been profiled by prominent business publications and has received multiple design accolades, including Best Design North America and Best UX Design in Fast Company’s Innovation by Design Awards; the SXSW Business Design Award; and multiple honors in the Red Dot International, International Design Excellence Awards (IDSA), the GOOD DESIGN Awards, and the iF World Design Awards. IA Collaborative works with the world’s most successful brands, including FedEx, Allstate, Airbnb, Fidelity, Apple, Johnson & Johnson, Nike, Lilly, and Audi.

At IA Collaborative, we are proud to be an equal opportunity workplace. We believe that welcoming a diverse variety of backgrounds, perspectives, and skills to our organization contributes to a thriving culture, a vibrant community, and breakthrough work. We are committed to equal employment opportunity regardless of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, age, citizenship, marital status, disability status, genetics, protected veteran status, gender identity or expression, or any other characteristics protected by federal, state, or local law. 

For more information about IA Collaborative visit iacollaborative.com, LinkedIn, Instagram, and Glassdoor.

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