Job Description

In a nutshell:

IDEO is seeking an experienced organizational designer who has created and implemented organizational strategies and solutions for future fit organizations, either as a consultant or in-house within a large organization. This role requires a rare blend of real world experience and the latest in organizational theory, a real passion for challenging received wisdoms while navigating change in a confidence-inducing manner, and the right mix of grassroots hustle and boardroom polish. You will work as a member of IDEO’s interdisciplinary project teams to help our clients achieve bold and meaningful change by designing, testing, and evolving strategies and solutions that build creative capabilities within an organization.

We believe that transformation happens by movement, not mandate , and above all else, we need you to set clear organizational strategies that inspire action throughout our clients’ iterative change journeys. We believe that today’s successful organizations look more like organisms than machines, and we need you to help our clients become more adaptable, agile, and creatively competent.

In the past, we’ve helped clients address design challenges such as:

How might we:

• Develop the future capabilities, competencies, and critical roles that will enable an organization’s 5-10 year business strategies?
• Establish and evolve minimum viable organizations in line with minimum viable products or services?
• Design and activate organizational interventions to encourage collaboration across siloed, global companies?

You can read about our organizational design case studies here .

Why is this role important for IDEO's work?

Your role as an organizational designer will vary from project to project, relationship to relationship, but may include:

• Crafting a research plan comprised of internal and analogous inspiration to understand an organization’s working dynamics and surface opportunity areas and new ideas for change
• Developing new operating models, competency and capability models, and career journey frameworks for companies in times of rapid talent change
• Developing experimental approaches for our clients to prototype new ways of working in their organization
• Designing inspiring internal tools, models, programs, or processes that address strategic and organizational issues and foster new ways of working
• Developing a roadmap for new capabilities to make a new product or service concept successful
• Shaping IDEO’s perspective on organizational design. We like to push the edge in all aspects of our work, and we are building our own perspective on how to mobilize, pioneer, and scale change within organizations

Relevant experience and mindset:

• 5 - 7 years of organizational design and strategic experience working on transformation in large business and corporate environments
• Experience structuring and guiding transformative efforts within organizations — you are an expert in the prevailing organizational theories and can apply, adapt, or completely rethink them as appropriate to different contexts
• Experience in management consulting, human capital consulting, or internal organizational consulting — you can articulate clear and compelling organizational strategies and plans that cultivate capabilities for the future, rather than ones that primarily optimize for today
• Bachelor’s and/or master’s degree in a related field, including but not limited to business administration, organizational psychology, or organizational behavior

Bonus points if you’ve:

• Demonstrated literacy in human centered design, and have collaborated effectively with interdisciplinary teams of designers
• Published or spoken as a thought leader on topics related to the future of work
• Been an organizational consultant AND a talent operator, in some combination

You should be able to share stories of design solutions that have influenced new ways of working within an organization.

What does IDEO offer you?

IDEO is a place unlike any other. It’s a place where you can solve diverse, complex challenges for our clients or the organization, alongside thoughtful, intelligent individuals who lead with curiosity, empathy, and optimism. We work hard, but we also intentionally craft moments that allow our community to pause, create, and connect. We encourage our community to bring their whole selves to work, respect the need for work-life balance, and allow for autonomy in the design process and your career.

Application instructions:

To apply, please submit your resume and cover letter.

Equal Opportunity Employer

IDEO is an equal opportunity employer; applicants are considered for all roles without regard to race, color, religious creed, sex, national origin, citizenship status, age, physical or mental disability, sexual orientation, marital, parental, veteran or military status, unfavorable military discharge, or any other status protected by applicable federal, state or local law.