Experience Design Director

At Horizontal Digital, we hold ourselves to one key belief: You’re only as good as your worst customer experience. This manta is what drives our digital consultancy to think beyond the easy answers and instead create websites, apps, portals and other experiences that solve customer needs for brands in intuitive and empathetic ways. And we make this lofty standard a reality by fusing strategy, data, design and technology together to arrive at solutions that set the bar higher for everyone. 

Our digital product solutions are driven by our CX Strategy, Design and Engineering teams — and powered by technical platforms like Sitecore, and Salesforce. Get a deeper look at our expertise today by visiting the Work section of our website. 
 
Our Creative, UX, and Design (CXD) team is growing across EMEA (Dubai, UK, KSA), and we require a big thinking conceptual creative, able to win big accounts through the power of their ideas and creativity; then work in the Discovery & design phase of our projects. 
 

We use these values to fuel superior results: 

Lock Arms 
We forge relationships that make our impact 1,000x stronger. This means working across departments and engaging both our clients and our communities to deliver the greatest good. 

Show Hustle 
We’re not ones to sit on our hands and wait. Instead, we anticipate opportunities, collectively roll up our sleeves and find ways to execute the exceptional. 

Embrace Change 
From new technologies to workplace philosophies, we welcome the unexpected and constantly anticipate what’s next. 

Elevate Empathy 
We listen before we take action. This means understanding a variety of perspectives and holding ourselves to a higher standard of accountability. 

Never Settle 
We motivate each other to push past the easy answers and collectively arrive at bigger, more inspiring ideas. 
 

But enough about us. Let’s talk about you. 

As an Experience Design Director, you will play a critical role by leading the experience strategy that drives our UX and creative approach to digital experience focused work—from supporting sales pitches, project phases (kickoff and discovery through execution) with minimal oversight. You will establish and sell through creative and strategic visions that ladder up to our client’s business goals. You will apply your exceptional taste to shape, design and guide executions that are attractive, intuitive, and engaging. You will effortlessly present and sell work to clients, building strong and trusted relationships along the way. You will work collaboratively with our internal teams (PMs, strategists, front-end developers, engineers and other designers), helping guide the process, solving problems, all with an eye on delivering a premium final product that everyone is proud of. In this position, you will thrive in a fast-paced environment at the forefront of digital transformation where you are encouraged to own your craft and impact brands from around the world. 

What you’ll do: 

– Take charge and own the experience and creative vision, inspiring internal partners and external clients to believe in your ideas and executions. 

– Lead the work with a strong creative viewpoint that supports our client’s business objectives AND provides users with an exceptional and elevated digital experience. 
 
– Execute flawlessly, designing beautiful crafted and thoughtful digital experiences. 

– Lead the process, connecting the dots between client objectives and strategy, strategy and creative, and finally creative and development. 

– Build collaborative relationships with internal partners and work cross-functionally with UX designers, writers, engagement leads, project managers, strategists, developers and leadership. 

– Build trusted relationships with clients through your ability to understand their needs, collaborate effectively, provide thoughtful recommendations, and execute flawlessly. 

– Strategically sell award-winning work and ideas by crafting compelling stories and presenting to clients, as well as internal stakeholders. 

– Pivot effortlessly, as needed, based on evolving requirements, timelines and feedback. 

– Coach and mentor designers with less experience while showing great empathy. 

– Provide input on tools and process to make us better and more efficient. 

– You will be ok with some travel across EMEA. 

Who you are: 

– A creative and digital visionary with an eye towards the future, that can apply creative and strategic insights to difficult business problems and customer needs. 

– A digital expert with excellent taste in what makes an experience great. 

– A leader who can take the reins on any project and make an impact, locking arms with internal teams and clients and guiding them toward the execution of the vision. 

– A creative with passion for the tone, look, feel, story and interactivity of digital experiences. 

– A confident salesperson, able to sell concepts and executions to both internal and external stakeholders. 

– Though experienced, you’re eager to learn and grow. If you aren’t working on a project, you’re likely reading about the latest digital trends or competitor innovations. 

– You are a proactive problem-solver who requires minimal direction. 

– You are flexible with the ability to handle multiple demands, shifting priorities and rapid change. Ambiguity is not something that scares you. 

– You can roll with the punches and embrace change while carrying a positive, can-do attitude throughout the entirety of a project. 

– You have excellent written and verbal communication skills. 

– Arabic language is incredibly useful, but not essential. 

What you bring:  

–  8+ years of experience working in UI and digital design. 

–  3+ years of project-based design leadership on digitally focused creative-lead projects. 

–  Strong understanding of how to drive the creative process of bringing component-based digital solutions to life (Sitecore or other CMS solution). 

–  Expertise in the fundamentals of experience design and the creative process. 

–  Deep understanding of how brands work, from a business perspective, with proven ability to elevate brands in the digital space through experience design. 

–  Great presentations skills, with the ability to clearly express ideas, while exuding a strong presence in both in-person and remote presentations. 

–  Ability to manage and prioritize multiple projects at once. 

–  Ability to handle stressful situations and deadlines with a positive attitude. 

–  Proficiency in Figma, Sketch, Adobe Suite (XD, Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign), and PowerPoint 

–  Experience with Motion Design or CSS is a bonus.