Job Profile Summary
As a senior leader in SoftServe’s Design Office, the Service Design Lead is responsible for advancing, scaling, and evangelizing our global Service Design practice. This role is key to connecting the dots between customer needs, digital and physical touchpoints, and complex backend systems to deliver seamless, innovative, and measurable end-to-end service experiences.
You will lead and execute service design strategies for major client engagements, mentor cross functional teams, and contribute to thought leadership—while also driving AI-informed and AI-enabled service innovation across sectors. You’ll play a critical role in partnering with Product Managers, Business Analysts, Solution Architects, and Client Partners to shape holistic solutions that fuse human-centered design with technological capability.
You will also contribute to the evolution of SoftServe’s broader experience design group, which includes product designers, visual designers, motion designers, and immersive specialists (VR, AR, XR), helping define how service design complements and integrates with these disciplines.
Duties & Responsibilities
- Lead holistic service design efforts at both project and practice levels, connecting frontline user experiences with backend systems, business operations, and AI-powered capabilities.
- Design for AI and with AI—incorporate responsible AI practices into service delivery blueprints,and adopt generative and agentic AI as tools for ideation, research synthesis, prototyping, and delivery
- Drive discovery and co-creation processes including in-depth user research, stakeholder interviews, workshops, and service safaris to uncover pain points, behaviors, and latent needs.
- Visualize complex ecosystems by crafting experience maps, customer journeys, service blueprints, ecosystem maps, and operating models.
- Deliver actionable strategy including service value propositions, opportunity framing, concept development, and service MVP definition to guide cross-functional product delivery teams.
- Act as a bridge between design and delivery, ensuring service vision is carried through implementation, collaborating closely with engineering, data science, and business stakeholders.
- Partner effectively across functions—working hand-in-hand with Product Managers, Business Analysts, Solution Architects, Delivery Leads, and Go-to-Market teams to ensure cohesive experiences and measurable impact.
- Represent the service design discipline in presales and consulting engagements—scoping design programs, supporting proposals, and driving service-led opportunities.
- Mentor designers across levels, contributing to a culture of continuous learning, critique, and design excellence within distributed and multidisciplinary teams.
- Establish and scale methodologies, tools, frameworks, and best practices across our global design network.
- Champion inclusive design and accessibility, ensuring services are equitable and resonate across user groups and markets.
- Contribute to public thought leadership through conference speaking, publishing, and involvement in design communities.
- Support practice development by helping grow the service design discipline within SoftServe—shaping our IP, community, recruitment, training, and design standards.
Preferred Competencies & Experience
- Minimum of 8 years in service design, experience strategy, or systems design.
- Extensive experience working with globally distributed teams across the US, EMEA markets, and LATAM countries.
- Demonstrated success working across many cultures and backgrounds, applying cultural awareness to inform inclusive, localized, and scalable design solutions.
- Proven track record delivering complex, multi-stakeholder service initiatives.
- Portfolio showcasing systems thinking, service journeys, and measurable outcomes.
- Public speaking, client-facing workshops, and presales experience is a strong plus.
- Demonstrated expertise in end-to-end service design across industries and digital ecosystems.
- Strong knowledge of AI trends, ethical design principles, and how AI impacts service and product experience.
- Experience designing services that span digital, physical, human, and automated interactions.
- Proficiency in Figma, Miro, Adobe CC, and service design tools (e.g., Smaply, Mural, Lucidchart).
- Familiarity with data-informed design and service experimentation methods.
Required Skills
- Excellent storytelling, systems thinking, and visual communication skills.
- Strong collaboration and facilitation experience across cross-functional and multicultural teams.
- Ability to handle ambiguity, navigate complexity, and translate insight into opportunity.
- Fluent in design methods (HCD, co-creation, JTBD, design sprinting, speculative design).
- Fluent English (C1+), with superior written and verbal communication skills.
- Capable of influencing executives and engaging clients at the C-level.
Qualifications
- Education- Master’s degree in Design (Service Design, Strategic Design, Interaction Design, etc.) or equivalent experience.
- Certifications - Business education or certification (MBA, service innovation,behavioral science) is a plus.
Other Requirements
As a senior member of the global design team, you will also take a leading role in building out SoftServe’s service design practice. This includes growing our internal knowledge base, coaching design talent, evolving service design methodologies, and helping position SoftServe as a global leader in human-centered, AI enabled service innovation.
All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity/expression, or protected veteran status. SoftServe is an Equal Opportunity Employer.