Director of Experience Design, Innovation and Strategic Initiatives

When you join Verizon

Verizon is a leading provider of technology, communications, information and entertainment products, transforming the way we connect across the globe. We’re a diverse network of people driven by our ambition and united in our shared purpose to shape a better future. Here, we have the ability to learn and grow at the speed of technology, and the space to create within every role. Together, we are moving the world forward – and you can too. Dream it. Build it. Do it here.

What you’ll be doing...

The Verizon Design team is a growing internal group tasked with evolving the Verizon customer experience across all channels and touchpoints through the design and implementation of innovative products and services. Based in New York City, the team is assembling the brightest designers to collaborate with teams shaping the future of connected customer experiences

Verizon is on a mission to create the networks that move the world forward. To do so, we are expanding our product and service offerings beyond the traditional telecommunications boundaries to the benefit of our customers, employees, shareholders, and society. As a part of that effort, the Verizon Design Innovation and Strategic Initiatives team is tasked with discovering and defining new breakthrough experiences for the consumer and business customer segments. You will be responsible for leading the team in reimagining current experiences and defining new ones:

Reimagining current experiences

• Development of holistic frameworks and experience strategies to enable consistent, elevated experiences across platforms and channels.
• Next generation of customer journeys
• Next generation of channel experiences
• Next generation of existing products and services

Defining New Experiences

• Determine how Verizon can extend its leadership in new directions by defining, vetting, and illustrating new platforms and revenue producing product opportunities for the future
• New ways to leverage 5G network
• New products and services

As a Director of Design, you’ll be involved in every aspect of the product development process and will be responsible for driving ideas from conception through execution and evaluation. You will work closely with a highly collaborative team of product designers, user researchers, product managers, marketers, technologists, and business leaders to bring ideas to life. You will have ample opportunity to practice and grow your strategic thinking skills as you create and execute on a short-term and long-term roadmap. Most importantly, you’ll act as a leader who can elevate and grow our designer’s skills while also taking our products to the next level. One in three Americans uses Verizon services, so your work will have meaningful impact at a massive scale.

Design Directors at Verizon:

• Are accomplished design leaders who build teams and maintain relationships internally with our partners, and externally with the design community at large
• Are responsible for project success, delivering best-in-class customer experiences, and the growth and morale of your teams
• Drive the overall user experience strategy for brand-defining experiences across a range of consumer-facing products and furthering the impact and reach of the design organization within the company
• Build teams of future leaders by recruiting, hiring, growing, and retaining talented designers services
• Provide design vision and expertise in senior stakeholder meetings, building trusted relationships with product, tech, and business partners
• Contribute to the strategic and operational design decisions for the Customer Experience organization
• Facilitate and inspire creative concepting by challenging designers to responsibly push the boundaries during concept phases
• Plan and facilitate team activities to identify appropriate design problems, solutions, and opportunities within project brief and business context; recognize when to make a decision and commit to a direction
• Plan and facilitate iteration and critique to improve solution quality and support user, business, and technical requirements
• Recommend and facilitate design activities and methods to guide teams and partners through ambiguous project periods; assess needs of team members and provide resources where possible
• Identify activities and communications necessary to deliver digital product strategy ideas to a partner; build a shared understanding of how the method and tone of communication impacts the project

Specific areas of responsibility:

Mentorship

• Create transparency into your decision-making process, and recognize valid challenges to your point of view; externalize choices and behaviors so that teams can understand the rationale
• Gain an understanding of the goals of individuals on the team; provide real-time, constructive feedback on project performance and impact on their careers; represent goals in resource management processes
• Ramp up new team members, including business context, product positioning, and strategy
• Help the team see value in the work; coach team on project dynamics, collaboration, and interpersonal communication

Project Management

• Plan for, coordinate, and facilitate meetings with staff and partners to gather feedback, make decisions, and determine next steps
• Recognize, track, and communicate issues, accomplishments, milestones, to team and partnersMonitor and regularly communicate progress to team and partners related to project goals
• Participate in resource planning with partners to articulate the appropriate project team and duration for your project
• Maintain and manage appropriate team size and mix of capabilities
• Assess gaps in availability, competency, and time

Consulting

• Cultivate relationships and shape opportunities for great work
• Facilitate teams to define product roadmaps, prioritize new features and enhancements, and recommend feature sets for phased product releases
• Participate in/facilitate project definition and estimation to shape activities, timeline, and resource plan that align with client objectives and approach
• Identify partner needs and shape project approaches to match them
• Make partners stronger and provide thought leadership around design-led processes
• Play gatekeeper for the type of work your team takes on

Leading Design Teams

• Will be a model and a resource for all employees, proactively engaging with others to make the design organization bette
• Contribute constructive, thoughtful critiques real-time and in the performance feedback process; provide input to role change and performance discussions
• Visibly participate in internal initiatives, including the practice and the learning program; lead by example
• Participate in the recruiting and hiring process

What we’re looking for...

• Bachelor’s degree and/or relevant work experience in design or a related field; Master’s degree strongly desired
• 8+ years of relevant design experience leading multi-disciplinary design teams to solve complex design problems
• A blend of digital and physical retail design experience
• Experience working with executive stakeholders to:
  • shape projects to address business problems and technical possibilities
  • set expectations and facilitate alignment on requirements, process timeline, and deliverables
  • persuasively present design solutions and explain their benefit to the customer and the business
• Demonstrated ability to lead and mentor teams who:
  • Digest and translate complex business and technical requirements
  • Plan, gather, and synthesize user needs
  • Create world-class design solutions

Equal Employment Opportunity

We're proud to be an equal opportunity employer - and celebrate our employees' differences, including race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, disability, and Veteran status. At Verizon, we know that diversity makes us stronger. We are committed to a collaborative, inclusive environment that encourages authenticity and fosters a sense of belonging. We strive for everyone to feel valued, connected, and empowered to reach their potential and contribute their best. Check out our diversity and inclusion page to learn more.