London, UK
Senior design strategist
at Seymourpowell
Seymourpowell is seeking a senior design strategist to join its team in London.
What we do
Seymourpowell help our clients grow their business by delivering transformative brand experiences that people love.
We are a global design and innovation company. With a 35 year history of delivering world-first innovations.
Our foresight team is a small and specialist unit within Seymourpowell. Set up over 20 years ago we were one of the first dedicated design strategy teams. We use our expertise in people insight, trend forecasting, brand strategy and colour, material and finish to create the conditions for design and innovation to thrive.
We are lucky to work with many of the world’s best loved brands and innovative start-ups. From spaceships to sex toys we cover pretty much every category you can dream of.
What we believe
We believe that design can and should make things better for people, businesses and the world.
What we are looking for
We’re on the hunt for an exceptional senior design strategist to join our foresight team with the ability to inspire and channel a team of clients and world class designers, adding clarity and accuracy to the design and innovation process.
The projects you would work on could come from categories and countries far and wide – the future of payment; the next evolution of photography; the passenger experience for space travel; the innovation roadmap for a global brewery; or new revenue streams for a much-loved broadcaster.
The diversity of our project briefs means that our team covers multiple skills and we’re looking for someone with experience in some or all of the following:
- future product or experience visions
- creative propositions
- visual language directions
- opportunity frameworks
- human insight and consumer research
- persona creation
- trend forecasting and scenario building
- workshop facilitation
- brand models and DNAs
- portfolio and brand architecture
- innovation pipelines and roadmaps
Key responsibilities
Working with design teams, other foresight colleagues and client services, your responsibilities as a senior design and innovation strategist will include:
- plan and implement numerous research methodologies to gather user and expert insights, translating them into tangible and actionable design and innovation strategies. You should be comfortable moderating across a range of methodologies including expert interviews, in-person ethnography, online platforms, surveys, discussion forums, co-development groups and UX and usability testing
- ability to identify and apply insights to underpin and then create fresh, original and compelling propositions and design briefs
- find effective ways to approach each project, identifying fresh perspectives on the challenge that will give our clients something new
- analyse research findings and sharpen insights into compelling rationales for our clients and directional inspiration for our design teams – lifting the quality of our new ideas and designs
- evaluate creative work and build a reasoned case to support its development and direction, maintaining a solid bridge between strategy and reality
- facilitate workshops and creative sessions with confidence. You know how to smooth the cogs of cross-functional collaboration and orchestrate a creative process effectively
- help clients find clarity and consistency through creative and reasoned brand models, DNAs, portfolio and brand architectures
- you’ll have an instinct for the zeitgeist and the ability to sense what’s next, allowing you to shape the signals of change into directional trends, scenarios and implications for clients
- take a role in developing Seymourpowell’s internal trend observatory. Actively keeping up with emerging trends and contemporary culture. Identifying new trends and capturing them in an easy to digest format
- help to build Seymourpowell’s reputation by generating compelling commentary and content for our social media channels
- write client winning proposals and contribute to new business efforts (including building dialogue in meetings and pitches) in support of the leadership within the business
You are a Seymourpowell Design Strategist if:
You work with passion
Seymourpowell’s team is built from a broad range of skills and personalities. What unites our diversity is our passion for mastering our craft and delivering excellence.
You have a love for design
We are looking for someone with a deep passion for design. Ideally you will have a degree that is relevant to a design and innovation company.
You are culturally keyed in
You are curious about the new and have an instinct for the next. You have a good understanding of trends and are able to quickly get to grips with the concepts and language of new subject areas. You enjoy exploring how trends will affect the world and know how to use them to inspire the design and innovation process.
You are an instigator
You start things and work proactively taking the initiative in a resourceful way. When you don’t know the answer you work hard to figure it out.
You are original
You bring new perspectives to challenges and are able to inspire your team mates with fresh perspectives. You like to push beyond the current debate and imagine what will come next.
You know your tools
You are familiar with a broad range of research and analytical tools and you know how and when to apply them. You are comfortable leading day-to-day project planning, suggesting methodologies, moderating research and capturing fieldwork, expert interviews etc.
You are a persuasive storyteller.
You have an eye for beauty and a way with words. You are comfortable presenting as part of a team and like to explore new mediums and formats to get your message across.
You are meticulously concise
You sweat the small stuff, you are considered and opinionated. You know how to gather, analyse and prioritise information.
You take a critical approach
Whilst an optimist at heart, you use critical thinking skills to stress-test your work against your client’s business priorities.
You are solution focussed
You have strong analytical skills. You like problem solving and are able to bring well-informed and fresh approaches to our client’s business challenges.
You can make a mean cup of tea
Collaboration makes you tick and you believe in the adage that two heads are better than one. You love learning from and with your team mates.
If this sounds like you, get in touch with your CV and portfolio today via the ‘apply’ link below.