Design Lead

Introduction

A career in IBM Consulting is rooted by long-term relationships and close collaboration with clients across the globe. You'll work with visionaries across multiple industries to improve the hybrid cloud and AI journey for the most innovative and valuable companies in the world. Your ability to accelerate impact and make meaningful change for your clients is enabled by our strategic partner ecosystem and our robust technology platforms across the IBM portfolio

In this role, you'll work in one of our IBM Consulting Client Innovation Centers (Delivery Centers), where we deliver deep technical and industry expertise to a wide range of public and private sector clients around the world. Our delivery centers offer our clients locally based skills and technical expertise to drive innovation and adoption of new technology.

Your role and responsibilities

Are you a passionate and driven designer ready to shape innovative digital experiences?

We are seeking a Design Lead with 6+ years of professional design experience. In this role, you will combine strategic vision, creativity, and user-centered design to guide cross-functional teams in delivering cutting-edge, visually engaging, and highly functional digital solutions.

You will lead design initiatives from concept to execution, ensuring alignment between user needs, business objectives, and technological feasibility. You will play a key role in defining and communicating the design vision, managing and evolving Design Systems, and promoting a cohesive and scalable approach across projects. As a mentor and point of reference for other designers, you will foster a culture of collaboration, creativity, and excellence, providing guidance and constructive feedback throughout the design process.

Working closely with Product Owners, Developers, and Business stakeholders, you will facilitate co-design sessions and workshops, helping to shape experiences that merge brand identity with innovation and digital trends. Your ability to translate abstract ideas into actionable design directions, balance creativity with functionality, and articulate design rationales at executive level will be essential to drive impact and consistency across all touchpoints.

Required education

Bachelor's Degree

Preferred education

Master's Degree

Required technical and professional expertise

• Professional design experience with a portfolio representing design artifacts and associated projects; Master degree in Design (i.e. UX/UI, Interaction, Service, Communication or Graphic)
• Proven experience in Design Management, with the ability to lead multidisciplinary teams, define design strategies, and ensure delivery excellence across multiple projects
• Strong experience in Design Governance, ensuring consistency, scalability, and adherence to design standards across multiple initiatives
• Experience in Design Operations, from process optimization to workflow definition, ensuring efficiency and quality in multi-stream environments
• Strong facilitation skills, with experience leading workshops and aligning diverse stakeholders toward shared design goals
• Expertise in end-to-end digital product design, from research and ideation to delivery and continuous improvement
• Deep understanding of human-centered design principles and methodologies, including user research, rapid ideation, prototyping, and user testing
• Strong design sensibility, capable of creating innovative and engaging interfaces that combine brand guidelines with contemporary digital trends
• Analytical mindset and problem-solving attitude, applied to complex design challenges
• Precision and attention to detail in the creation of pixel-perfect, high-fidelity mockups
• Proven ability to lead and mentor designers, fostering growth and ensuring alignment to design and business objectives
• Experience working within Atomic Design and collaborative environments
• Excellent communication, storytelling, and presentation skills in both English and Italian, with the ability to engage effectively with executives and clients
• Strategic mindset and strong organizational skills to manage multiple priorities and cross-functional collaboration
• Interest in consulting and innovation, with curiosity toward emerging technologies such as Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence

• Demonstrated accountability and adaptability, with the ability to take ownership of complex design challenges
• Proven ability to manage and evolve Design Systems, defining principles, components, and documentation in collaboration with tech and brand teams
• Capacity to translate insights into strategic design directions and scalable frameworks
• Experience in mentoring design teams and fostering their professional growth
• Empathy, humility, and boldness in the conception of solutions that combine creativity and business value
• Exposure to Design Thinking, Lean UX, or other co-design methodologies