Director, Service Design

As the Director of Service Design on CIBC’s Enterprise Digital and Innovation team, you will be leading a multidisciplinary team that solves important, bank-wide challenges. We put peoples’ needs at the heart of every experience we design—from buying a home, to experiencing credit card fraud, to building a financial plan.  At the heart of our work, we are creative problem solvers, human-centered design champions and story tellers who are passionate about falling in love with the problem, not the solution. You will be co-leading the practice, alongside another Director, as you solve end-to-end projects that seek to understand the unmet needs of our clients and employees, find opportunities to drive positive change, co-create inclusive solutions, make and test prototypes, and work with partners to implement new services. You will be a champion for changing the way we solve problems and design experiences at CIBC.

How You’ll Succeed

• Engagement strategy and project shaping – You will work directly with senior leaders to source and shape potential engagements including the overall vision, approach, success criteria, resourcing and project plan. You will play a critical role in helping partners understand the value of applying a human-centred approach to solving some of their most important challenges. You’ll work effectively within constraints, understanding the broader organizational context but also being ready to challenge it when necessary.
• Lead end-to-end Service Design engagements –  You’ll lead a multidisciplinary and cross-functional team using a mixed-methods approach to research & design meaningful experiences for our clients and employees. You’ll build strong partnerships with stakeholders and project sponsors to ensure that engagements are meeting expectations and that any obstacles or risks are effectively mitigated. You will provide service design leadership and support to the team, leveraging your knowledge and experience, across all phases of work including:
  • Research and synthesis – Primary research (for example, interviews and ethnographic studies) and secondary research (for example, literature reviews, behavioural diagnostics, competitive analyses and market research studies) focused on building empathy, understanding context and studying behavioural patterns. Analysis and translation of research data into meaningful insights and powerful stories using artifacts such as customer journey maps, videos and storyboards.
  • Co-creation, prototyping and testing –Interactive ideation and co-creation workshops with clients and employees to develop a vision for future experiences. Build, test and refinement of low- to medium-fidelity prototypes, such as sketches, storyboards, digital wireframes, physical spaces and face-to-face conversations, that demonstrate possible solutions and service experiences. Design of testing and feedback mechanisms to measure results and the effect they have on the bank.
  • Build / Implementation – In partnership with stakeholders, creation of service blueprints, business requirements and strategic roadmaps for new services. Identifying and navigating constraints, existing systems, and potential barriers to building and scaling these services.
• Develop and Nurture Talent – You will coach and mentor service designers at all levels across the team by building a deep understanding of their skills, development plans and ambitions. You’ll work to shape engagements and opportunities that not only leverage the team’s strengths but give them opportunities to continually grow and improve.
• Grow our practice – Alongside your co-lead, you will play a critical role in evolving our Service Design practice by providing thought leadership to our methodology and overall strategy, including portfolio planning, resourcing and partnership development. You will also contribute to roadshows to help grow our reach and visibility across the bank and champion our CIBC Service Design Community of Practice.

Who You Are

• You can demonstrate significant experience in human-centered design practices, and have led end-to-end projects (across varying sizes) from project conception through to delivery and implementation. You have expertise in the field of research and design, or in a field that complements our mixed-method approach to problem solving, such as (but not limited to) Behavioural Science, Inclusive Design or Strategy. Experience leading projects in Financial Services, or a related industry, is an asset.
• You can effectively navigate large organizations to motivate partners, build consensus and ultimately drive change. You have experience working directly with cross functional partners such as Legal, Privacy, HR, Digital and Technology teams when needed to develop and execute against an implementation plan.
• You’re a nurturing leader. You’re passionate about developing and coaching to bring out the best in people. You’re driven by collective success and care about helping others grow. You know how to create the right environment for people to feel safe and take risks. You have a vested interest in seeing others thrive, both individually and as a team. You understand the power of an inclusive team that enjoys working together to bring a shared vision to life.
• You love solving complex problems. You’re a creative thinker. You understand how to navigate ambiguity and abstract strategic concepts, while still executing against fundamental project management principles.
• You’re passionate about people. You care deeply about building a future that is more equitable and inclusive for everyone. You’re a strong facilitator and you’re comfortable supporting collaborative sessions with cross-functional working groups. You find meaning in relationships, and surround yourself with a diverse network of partners. You build trust through respect and authenticity.
• You give meaning to data. You enjoy investigating complex problems and making sense of information, both qualitative and quantitative. You’re confident in your ability to communicate detailed information in an impactful way.
• Values matter to you. You bring your real self to work and you live our values – trust, teamwork and accountability.