Associate Director - AI Innovation Lab, Human-centered Design

Job description

Who We Are At Kyndryl, we run and reimagine the mission-critical technology systems that drive advantage for the world’s leading businesses. We are at the heart of progress; with proven expertise and a continuous flow of AI-powered insight, enabling smarter decisions, faster innovation, and a lasting competitive edge. For our people—Kyndryls—that means doing purposeful work that powers human progress. Join us and experience a flexible, supportive environment where your well-being is prioritized and your potential can thrive. The Role 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, test and post-Lab follow-through. Executive momentum. Lead CIOs, CTOs, COOs and their leadership teams through ambiguity, constructive challenge and the decisions required to move. The opportunity frame. Translate business priorities, user needs and operational realities into a precise opportunity, a credible value hypothesis and an actionable design challenge. The human-AI system. Define what people, agents and systems each know, decide and do - handoffs, exceptions, control and accountability. The build and the test. Set fidelity, medium and AI approach; direct creative technologists, designers, researchers and engineers through focused build cycles; define the evidence before the test using research, realistic scenarios, synthetic personas and system evaluation. The decision. Connect challenge, evidence and recommendation to an owned next step - sprint, pilot, transformation initiative or deliberate stop. What repeats. Turn validated work into reusable methods, patterns, components, prompts, agent states, policies, evaluation sets and reference builds. The practice. Build complementary strengths across design, consulting, AI and business strategy rather than one profile; set the quality bar and coach; keep roughly 10 percent of capacity for moonshots in human-AI collaboration, embodied AI and 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, testing evidence and implementation-ready handoff, working to direction 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 leads own production architecture, security, integration and deployment; you connect business intent and the intended experience to technical delivery. Account, industry and alliance teams bring opportunity context, domain expertise , relationships and commercial follow-through. Scheduling, hospitality, AV, safety and 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. Who You Are What you bring Minimum qualifications 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, innovation or 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, constructive challenge and consequential decisions. Business acumen and consulting judgment. The ability to read enterprise priorities, frame opportunity and connect value, feasibility and a practical route to action - going beyond strategy into live implementation. Human-centered design leadership. Significant experience leading 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, Lab engagements or consulting programs, not just facilitating isolated sessions. AI opportunity fluency. Enough understanding of generative and agentic systems to spot meaningful possibilities, challenge assumptions and direct credible prototypes. Multidisciplinary direction. Experience aligning designers, creative technologists, researchers, engineers, industry experts and commercial teams around one outcome, and the curiosity to keep learning without a fixed playbook. Preferred qualifications Advanced degree. Master's degree or MBA in design, HCI, innovation, business or a related field. Consultancy or lab background. Time in a design consultancy, innovation lab, product studio or 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, travel or government, ideally in more than one geography. Working toolkit. Figma, FigJam or Miro; workshop and design-sprint facilitation methods; generative AI tools for research synthesis and concept exploration. Prototype and governance familiarity. Digital, spatial or physical prototyping and the enterprise considerations around responsible AI adoption - governance, risk and 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. Being You The “Kyn” in Kyndryl means kinship, which represents the strong bonds we have with each other, our customers and our communities. We focus on ensuring all Kyndryls feel included and we welcome people of all cultures, backgrounds, and experiences. Even if you don’t meet every requirement, we encourage you to apply. We believe in growth, and we’re excited to see what you can bring. At Kyndryl, employee feedback has told us that our number one driver of employee engagement is belonging. That sense of belonging — being a valued, respected, trusted member of the team — is fundamental to our culture and fueling great experiences for our customers. This dedication to welcoming everyone into our company means that Kyndryl gives you the ability to thrive and contribute to our culture of empathy and shared success. That’s The Kyndryl Way. What You Can Expect Your career with us isn’t just a job—it’s an adventure with purpose. We offer a dynamic, hybrid-friendly culture that supports your well-being and empowers you to grow. Our Be Well programs are thoughtfully designed to support your financial, mental, physical, and social health—because we know that when you feel your best, you do your best. From your very first day, you’ll dive into impactful work that powers the systems our customers rely on every day. You won’t just contribute—you’ll make a difference, tackling meaningful projects that sharpen your skills and fuel your growth. We’re here to champion your journey. With powerful tools to chart your career path, personalized development goals aligned with your ambitions, and continuous feedback to keep you inspired and on track, you’ll have everything you need to thrive and evolve. You’ll develop in-demand skills to grow your career and achieve your ambitions with access to cutting-edge learning opportunities—from certifications with Microsoft, Google, and Amazon to coaching and hands-on experiences. And through it all, you’ll be part of a culture that values empathy, restless learning, and a devotion to shared success. We want you to thrive here—and we’re committed to helping you do just that. Ready to make an impact? Join us and help shape what’s next. Get Referred! If you know someone that works at Kyndryl, when asked ‘How Did You Hear About Us’ during the application process, select ‘Employee Referral’ and enter your contact's Kyndryl email address.