> Markdown version of [/jobs/ext/3204857-associate-director-ai-innovation-lab-human-centered-design](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/jobs/ext/3204857-associate-director-ai-innovation-lab-human-centered-design). Every page supports `.md` or `Accept: text/markdown`. Links point to the HTML versions so they work for humans too. Agent guide: [/agents.md](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/agents.md). --- # Associate Director - AI Innovation Lab, Human-centered Design - **Company:** Kyndryl, Inc. - **Location:** Liverpool, UK (Remote available) - **Experience:** Expert - **Contract:** Permanent contract - **Skills:** Adobe InDesign, Artificial Intelligence, Human-Computer Interaction, System Testing, User-Centered Design, Model Validation, Information Technology, Figma, Interactive Whiteboards - **Published:** September 4, 2026 - **Apply:** https://dejobs.org/x/x/077571E3D3A94DC598F9A508722316DD/job/ ## About the Role * Education. Bachelor's degree in design, HCI, business, engineering, computer science, architecture or a related field, or equivalent practical experience. * Experience. 10+ years in design,innovationor consulting, including 3+ years leading multidisciplinary teams and owning senior customer or executive relationships. * Portfolio. Case studies of engagements you led end to end: the challenge, how you framed it, what was prototyped and tested, and the decision or outcome it produced. * Language. Business-level fluency in English. You will thrive here if you have * Executive presence and facilitation. Confidence leading senior customers through ambiguity, co-design, constructivechallengeand consequential decisions. * Business acumen and consulting judgment. The ability to read enterprise priorities, frame opportunity and connect value,feasibilityand a practical route to action - going beyond strategy into live implementation. * Human-centered design leadership. Significant experienceleading service, product, experience or innovation work from research and framing through validation and outcome. * End-to-end engagement leadership. Experience shaping and running complex customer workshops, Labengagementsor consulting programs, not justfacilitatingisolated sessions. * AI opportunity fluency. Enough understanding of generative and agentic systems to spot meaningful possibilities, challengeassumptionsand direct credible prototypes. * Multidisciplinary direction. Experience aligning designers, creative technologists, researchers, engineers, industryexpertsand commercial teams around one outcome, and the curiosity to keep learning without a fixed playbook., * Advanced degree. Master's degree or MBA in design, HCI, innovation,businessora relatedfield. * Consultancy or lab background. Time in a design consultancy, innovation lab, productstudioor creative agency, repeatedly moving ambiguous customer challenges into actionable opportunities. * Global and cross-industry exposure. Senior stakeholders across sectors such as financial services, insurance, manufacturing, retail,travelor government, ideally in more than one geography. * Working toolkit. Figma,FigJamor Miro; workshop and design-sprint facilitation methods; generative AI tools for research synthesis and concept exploration. * Prototype and governance familiarity. Digital,spatialor physical prototyping and the enterprise considerations around responsible AI adoption - governance,riskand model evaluation. * Business development. Experience shaping proposals, pitches and thought leadership with account and industry teams. * Mobility. Willingness to travel to customer sites and Lab locations as engagements require. ## Description As Associate Director you lead customer innovation engagements end to end - from challenge framing and executive workshops through prototype direction, evidence and the decision that follows. You are the customer's strategic contact throughout and a trusted advisor to their senior leadership, bridging the gap between business problems, research insight and tangible concepts people can test. This is a design-leadership and consulting role, not an engineering one. Practical AI fluency is essential - a point of view on how AI reshapes what we design, and enough understanding of agentic systems to direct credible prototypes - but you do not need to be the deepest engineer in the room. You are composed in ambiguity, create just enough structure to move fast and help a complementary team do its best work. What you will own * The customer journey . Shape the brief, engagement arc and success measures with the customer and account team; connect immersion, co-design, workshops, build,testand post-Lab follow-through. * Executive momentum. Lead CIOs, CTOs, COOs and their leadership teams through ambiguity, constructivechallengeand the decisionsrequiredto move. * The opportunity frame. Translate business priorities, user needs and operational realities into a precise opportunity, a credible valuehypothesisand an actionable design challenge. * The human-AI system. Define what people, agents and systems each know,decideand do - handoffs, exceptions,controland accountability. * The build and the test. Set fidelity, medium and AI approach; direct creative technologists, designers,researchersand engineers through focused build cycles; define the evidence before the test using research, realistic scenarios, syntheticpersonasand system evaluation. * The decision. Connect challenge,evidenceand recommendation to an owned next step - sprint, pilot, transformationinitiativeor deliberate stop. * What repeats. Turn validated work into reusable methods, patterns, components, prompts, agent states, policies, evaluationsetsand reference builds. * The practice. Build complementary strengths across design, consulting,AIand business strategy rather than one profile; set the quality bar and coach; keeproughly 10 percentof capacity for moonshots in human-AI collaboration, embodiedAIand adaptive interfaces. Scope and partnerships You own the whole engagement, not every artifact: its intellectual and experiential quality, the senior customer relationship and the path from Lab activity to durable business value. * You own engagement architecture and outcomes. Customer journey, design direction, prioritization, prototype intent, validation plan, executive decision moments and the post-Lab path. * The Senior Creative Technologist owns hands-on making. Assigned prototypes, interaction artifacts, technical exploration, testingevidenceand implementation-ready handoff, workingtodirection from you and the Director. On smaller engagements they carry the day-to-day customer relationship within that direction. * Engineering, account and Lab operations own their domains. Engineering leadsownproduction architecture, security,integrationand deployment; you connect business intent and the intended experience to technical delivery. Account, industry and alliance teams bring opportunity context, domainexpertise,relationshipsand commercial follow-through. Scheduling, hospitality, AV,safetyand equipment sit with Lab operations. Success looks like . Engagements end with evidence and an owned executive decision, not just satisfaction; what is built traces to a customer priority and a plausible source of value; validated opportunities move into funded sprints, pilots or programs; patterns and assets compound across Lab teams, industries and customers. ## Related Videos - [Insight into AI-Driven Design](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/videos/1016-insight-into-ai-driven-design) - [How To Test A Ball of Mud](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/videos/173-how-to-test-a-ball-of-mud) - [Boost Productivity with AI: Figma & Playwright MCP Workflows - Aris Markogiannakis](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/videos/1768-boost-productivity-with-ai-figma-playwright-mcp-workflows-aris-markogiannakis) - [Designing the Future of Human<>Agent Collaboration](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/videos/1447-designing-the-future-of-human-agent-collaboration) - [What If We Designed Employee Experience Like a Customer Journey?](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/videos/1824-what-if-we-designed-employee-experience-like-a-customer-journey) - [How I Built QA from Scratch in a Scaling Startup - no fluff real life story](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/videos/2041-how-i-built-qa-from-scratch-in-a-scaling-startup-no-fluff-real-life-story) ## Related Articles - [Navigating the AI Shift](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/magazine/629-navigating-the-ai-shift) - [The future is here: How artificial intelligence is influencing UX design](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/magazine/65-the-future-is-here-how-artificial-intelligence-is-influencing-ux-design) - [Coffee with Developers - Maria Apazoglou - Making AI understandable for all in production](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/magazine/475-coffee-with-developers-maria-apazoglou-making-ai-understandable-for-all-in-production) - [How to Become an AI Engineer](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/magazine/331-how-to-become-an-ai-engineer) - [Prompt Engineering is a Job of the Past](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/magazine/342-prompt-engineering-is-a-job-of-the-past) - [Dev Digest 132 - Binging WADFlix?](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/magazine/473-dev-digest-132-binging-wadflix)