CX Design Lead

Boston, MA, United States

Who We Are:

Since 1906, New Balance has empowered people through sport and craftsmanship to create positive change in communities around the world. We innovate fearlessly, guided by our core values and driven by the belief that conventions were meant to be challenged. We foster a culture in which every associate feels welcomed and respected, where leaders and creatives are inspired to shape the world of tomorrow by taking bold action today. At New Balance, We Got Now.

JOB MISSION:

Create impact through considered CX design. Our goal is to deliver desirable, feasible, and viable consumer experiences in line with New Balance's values and mission of connecting community, craft, and sport. This role will ideate and design core experiences and support their execution in the real world, allowing New Balance to continue building deep and meaningful connections with our consumers by delivering the right experience, to the right person, at the right time.

As a Design Lead, you are human centered in all aspects of your approach, bringing humility, curiosity, and empathy to both your work output and your collaborators. You thrive on complex challenges, have a passion and point of view for design, keep a pulse on emerging cultural trends and technology, and hold a developed point of view about your work.

You will weave together different aspects (vision, brand story, visual elements, physical environment, service) into a well-crafted narrative that connects to measurable impact for the consumers we serve. You'll bring experience building and using prototypes to test assumptions and collect feedback on design direction.

You are highly collaborative and maintain a mindset of curiosity and openness when working across teams and functions. You practice curiosity by asking questions, learning through secondary research, talking to experts or others not like yourself, requesting feedback from others, and seeking out other perspectives. You can spot opportunities for breakthroughs, seeking diverse and analogous sources of inspiration to improve CX design output, and comfortably stretch across various categories of the business. This position is based at New Balance headquarters in Boston.

MAJOR ACCOUNTABILITIES:

Surface and translate human-centered research insights into actionable experiences for consumers across digital and physical platforms. Craft compelling and creative interactions, bringing them to life through design, prototyping, and storytelling.

Make experience ideas tangible early in the design process in order to pressure test what's directionally compelling. Understand and exercise the value of building early and rough to de-risk big questions and solicit stakeholder feedback.

Establish experience continuity consistent with brand growth: design foundational independent experiences that can extend to multiple iterations and executions that are consistent and continuous, elevating our brand and what we stand for in an authentic, seamless way.

Lead diverse teams and engage stakeholders through the entire project journey, partnering with Retail, Ecommerce, Visual Merchandising, Go-To-Market (GTM), Marketing, Product, Operations, and Engineering to bring CX design ideas to life and scale.

Build an understanding of our internal organization and foster meaningful relationships with our business units. Lean into helping evolve leadership's CX-first mindset to help drive this team's success.

Help craft our CX execution structure, working closely with CX Strategy & Operations to formalize process and standards as we evolve this crucial business function.

REQUIREMENTS FOR SUCCESS: 8+ years of experience in Experience Design, Interaction Design, or Human Factors.

Masters degree preferred.

Ability to design storyboards and build and use prototypes to craft compelling stories and test and get feedback on design directions.

Balance vision and execution, demonstrate innate curiosity, and surface novel connections between culture and brand.

Ability to guide work in the below areas:

Proven ability to surface and articulate human-centered insight to answer business questions.

Proficiency in qualitative research methods, including research scope and design.

Deep knowledge and expertise across design methodologies and clear dedication to being a champion of design and design thinking, teaching along the way.

Ability to effectively communicate with senior leadership who may not speak design natively.

Strong presentation skills with a creative and compelling storytelling style.

Regular Associate Benefits

Our products are only as good as the people we hire, so we make sure to hire the best and treat them accordingly. New Balance offers a comprehensive traditional benefits package including three options for medical insurance as well as dental, vision, life insurance and 401K. We also proudly offer a slate of more nontraditional perks - opportunities like online learning and development courses, tuition reimbursement, $100 monthly student loan support and various mentorship programs - that encourage our associates to grow personally as they develop professionally. You'll also enjoy a yearly $1,000 lifestyle reimbursement, 4 weeks of vacations, 12 holidays and generous parental leave, because work-life balance is more than just a buzzword - it's part of our culture.

Temporary associates are provided three options for medical insurance as well as dental and vision insurance and an associate discount.

Part time associates are provided 401k, short term disability, a yearly $300 lifestyle reimbursement and an associate discount.

Flexible Work Schedule

For decades we have fostered a unique culture founded on our values with a particular focus on in-person teamwork and collaboration. Our North American hybrid model encourages rich in-person experiences, showcasing our commitment to teamwork and connection, while maintaining flexibility for associates. New Balance Associates currently work in office three days per week (Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday). Our offices are fully open, and amenities are available across our North American office locations. To continue our focus on hybrid work we have introduced "Work from Anywhere" (WFA) for four weeks per calendar year. This model will help us enhance our culture while continuing to maintain elements of flexibility.

Equal Opportunity Employer

New Balance provides equal opportunities for all current and prospective associates and takes affirmative action to ensure that employment, training, compensation, transfer, promotion and other terms, conditions and privileges of employment are provided without regard to race, color, religion, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, handicap, genetic information and/or status as an Armed Forces service medal veteran, recently separated veteran, qualified disabled veteran or other protected veteran.