Strategic Design Lead
Today, Australia

We’re looking for a resourceful, thoughtful and creative human to lead strategy and innovation projects, for the benefit of people and planet.

We are mostly based in ngar-go (Fitzroy, Melbourne) and we welcome applications from all lands and backgrounds. We encourage applications from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, people with disability, people from diverse cultural and linguistic backgrounds, mature age workers and lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTIQA+) people.

We are Australia’s most awarded social impact agency.

We use design and technology to make change happen, at pace and at scale. In the last 12 months, we’ve designed and built Australia’s first online family violence intervention order, established a new approach to co-design for the Victorian mental health sector, built a peer-to-peer product that helps people learn Auslan, and launched a campaign to shift mainstream perceptions of climate changeplus many more.

Our practice is built on strong foundations of human-centred design and digital making. There are over 60 of us, based mostly in Naarm (Melbourne), working across strategy, research, design, content, delivery and a wonderful support team.

You’ll experience a welcoming environment filled with smart, fun and caring people from a wide variety of backgrounds and disciplines, who are passionate about creativity, making change, and learning from each other.

Your expertise will be appreciated while you get busy making change in sectors like:

• arts, culture and public spaces
• children, youth and families
• cities, transport and housing
• climate, nature and energy
• education
• financial wellbeing
• First Nations
• health, wellbeing and care
• justice
• public service
• rural and regional communities, and
• sustainable economy

Requirements

You’ll be part of a strategic design team that has diverse skills across service design, digital strategy and innovation, with a well-developed research practice and a strong focus on co-design. You’ll work on a breadth of projects and contexts, with the opportunity for both variety and diving deep.

What you’ll be doing:

• Conducting research (both qualitative and quantitative), and gathering inspiration and insight from interesting places
• Leading multidisciplinary teams on projects big and small, from early discovery to implementation
• Collaboratively developing ideas for business models, services and products, and proposing improvements to organisations with big ambitions for impact
• Giving form to ideas through wireframes, prototypes or service scenarios
• Facilitating workshops and other collaborative experiences with clients, stakeholders and people with lived experience
• Effectively communicate design ideas using a variety of techniques, including storytelling, user journeys, system maps, and service blueprints
• Building cases for change based on robust data and best practices
• Supporting business development and client engagement
• Mentoring and supporting others in the team
• Taking an active interest in the design discipline and regularly share the subject with the broader team and community

We’re looking for an experienced strategic design lead, with solid (8+ years) experience in innovation, digital strategy, or service design.

We are seeking somebody with a passion for social and environmental impact, who brings sharp business acumen to innovation problems. You might not use the word ‘designer’ to describe yourself, and may have never set foot inside an agency or studio before. You will have a generalist problem-solving skill set you’ve honed, with depth or specialisation in an area (or areas).

• Working on digital products and services
• Developing robust business cases and strategic recommendations
• Strategy development
• Creative problem solving
• Human-centred design, design research, and/or other forms of research

• Lean and agile methods
• Innovation ‘labs’ or social entrepreneurship
• Experience working in healthcare, not-for-profit, social enterprise or public sectors
• Change management and org design
• Data science and analytics
• Monitoring and evaluation
• Digital platform strategy
• Strategic foresight or trend forecasting
• Emerging technologies
• Brand strategy and communications planning
• Behaviour change
• Business design

• Passion for delivering work that makes social and environmental impact
• Experience with managing multiple, complex projects, with

Job Rewards and Benefits