Job Description

Deadline to apply: The application deadline for this role is October 17th, 2021 . After this date, we will start to review applications on a rolling basis. We’re looking forward to reading yours!

Come create impact with us.

IDEO is a global design company committed to creating positive impact. As early leaders of human-centered design, we keep people at the center of our work. It's a key tenet of design thinking, and even as our methods evolve in response to new, complex challenges, we’re always designing solutions for people first. We’re building to learn, and learning as we build, through inspiration, ideation, and implementation.

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 are a community of people who thrive together in navigating the unknown with creativity and imagination and we encourage everyone 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.

Who we’re looking for

IDEO is looking to hire a Design Director to help shape, grow, and creatively push the edges of our Health Portfolio. Our goal is to be an indispensable partner to our clients in designing human-centered, sustainable, and equitable solutions within health—designs that bring equity, dignity, and joy to all. In service of that work, you will join a team of leaders that shares responsibility for leading & guiding world-class talent as it collaborates with top-tier local, regional, and international health and well-being clients on complex challenges that require design to solve.

Design Directors at IDEO are involved in the work in a number of ways. Our ideal candidate has experience leading multidisciplinary design teams and can easily transition between a mode of guiding to designing directly alongside our creative teams and clients , has a deep passion for health and wellbeing , and has the ability to work side by side with other leaders to shape compelling strategic design narratives to inspire teams and clients.

You are a seasoned strategic design leader

• You possess a capacity and passion for creative problem solving, which could draw from your experience in either design, innovation, or consulting contexts.
• You expertly guide creative teams and invest in supporting the learning and development of individuals at different stages of their careers.
• You develop and nurture client relationships. You lead client conversations with confidence, communicating an organization’s unique value proposition, and activate client networks.
• You like to take the mic. You have experience representing an organization or offering to external audiences through speaking engagements and other media opportunities.

You are a health-passionate creative who seeks to tackle some of the most complex challenges in the world.

• You have the desire to create significant and lasting change in people’s experience of health and healthcare through design, illustrated by a depth of expertise, lived experience, and/or a strong network within the healthcare industry.
• You have experience with equity-centered design work within healthcare, including working with diverse teams and ensuring equity in design process and outcomes.
• You are comfortable in a role with accountability for the growth and excellence of IDEO North America Health Portfolio.

You have a knack for building compelling narratives that help inspire and activate design teams

• You have direct experience crafting compelling design narratives and are able to harness design talent to build evocative human stories.
• You are eager to connect the dots between external health trends, client challenges, human needs, and IDEO capabilities to inspire design teams to envision future states.

Why is this role important for IDEO’s work?

As a Design Director, you will join IDEO’s Health leadership team and provide critical guidance to the domain through a variety of capacities, including business development, mentoring, brand building, and craft excellence. You will make the biggest impact through your creative design leadership and passion for health: deploying your craft to bring our work to life through emotion, and helping execute a business development strategy that both captures IDEO’s ability to exceed our client’s expectations and also capitalizes on opportunities in the market.

Our commitments to diversity, equity, and inclusion

At IDEO, we are committed to the work of advancing diversity, equity, and inclusion within our organization and in the world. Our purpose of having disproportionate, world-changing impact through design is directly connected to our ability to bring many different perspectives to the table. This applies to our candidates, the people we hire, the clients and customers we serve, and the communities we learn from in our research.

As a human-centered organization, we are committed to working with and designing for people of every race, ethnicity, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, socio-economic status, physical ability or attribute, religion, national origin, or political belief. We recognize that this commitment requires ongoing work and sustained attention, as well as adaptation to new insights and best practices. These commitments will also be part of your journey at IDEO, so please feel free to read more about them here .

Some previous projects to check out:

First Mile Health

Bedsider

Planned Parenthood

Ascencia

uMotif

Please note this role will begin remotely and will be based in one of our US studio locations of San Francisco, CA, Chicago IL, or Cambridge, MA by the start of 2022.

Application instructions

We recognize that candidates will have various degrees of expertise for this role. As such, we would like to hear from senior candidates with a proven track record of leadership in creative organizations, in and out of the design industry.

If you are interested in applying, please provide your resume along with a portfolio or link to your work and a cover letter that touches on why you’re excited to be a creative leader at IDEO?

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.

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.

Apply now