As the Experience Design Director, you will lead the Experience Design team in Melbourne, and be the ‘go to’ expert for our clients and the wider agency. The Experience Design team at AKQA craft, concept, and deliver interfaces that make technology more natural and enjoyable to use. With expertise in design strategy, technology and brand, our design team of researchers, visual designers and user experience designers take a human-centred approach to create beautiful and meaningful brand experiences.
You are open to new ideas, new experiences and exploring alternative avenues for solving a problem or unlocking an opportunity. You have design leadership experience, a background in Design or UX, and an understand that the design process can be applied to solve any number of problems. You believe that every brief is the opportunity to do remarkable work, and have a portfolio that demonstrates an ability to generate useful, usable and delightful ideas. You will champion user-centred design processes and techniques, driving our Experience Design team and inspiring all of our disciplines. Through your exceptional design craft and thinking, you will develop work that is distinctive, and effective.
Based in Melbourne, as part of AKQA you’ll work alongside the Design Directors in Sydney, Auckland and Wellington as part of our Design Leadership team, and be surrounded by some of the brightest minds in their fields. Our leaders develop themselves and colleagues. They build teams, set direction, raise standards and enhance cohesion to provide encouragement and inspiration.
The exhilaration will hopefully always outweigh the exhaustion. We create something, so there is satisfaction. We do it as a team, so there is friendship and we do something useful and inspiring, so there is a sense of purpose.
ROLE REQUIREMENTS
- Drive and inspire your team in partnership with the leadership team.
- Confidently present work to all levels of internal and client teams.
- Direct mobile, responsive and systematic designs projects.
- Facilitate client workshops that encourage participatory design processes.
- Drive formal experience design critique sessions and participate in daily stand-ups.
- Ensure a collaborative ‘one team’ approach of client and agency.
- Drive the vision and growth of the AKQA Experience Design discipline.
- Foster a thriving team culture that helps us attract and retain the best staff.
- Contribute to wide-ranging new business and company profile-building opportunities.
QUALITIES AND CHARACTERISTICS
- Extensive experience in a dedicated design/UX role.
- Exceptional design aesthetics and craft.
- Strong leadership experience.
- Experience working on responsive, design-focused projects.
- Expert in user-centred design methodologies and design thinking.
- Strong experience ‘on the tools’
- Previous product, retail and ecommerce design experience highly desirable.
AKQA is an Equal Opportunities Employer, we believe that diversity is vital to AKQA’s ability to provide our clients with the best recommendations and are committed to fostering a varied and inclusive work environment. Your race, colour, ancestry, religion, gender, gender identity, national origin, sexual orientation, age, marital status, disability or veteran status have no bearing on our hiring decisions. If you have a disability or special need that requires accommodation, please let us know. Aboriginal, Torres Strait Islander and Indigenous people are encouraged to apply for this role.