Service Design Manager - On-site Octopus RTG

Service Design Manager (On-site, Abu Dhabi) – 5 months contract

Location:

Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

We are seeking an experienced and strategic Service Design Manager to join our Experience Design team. In this leadership role you will drive the design and transformation of end-to-end services that seamlessly connect digital, physical, and human touchpoints. You will lead service design initiatives, mentor team members, and partner with clients and stakeholders to deliver innovative, customer‑centric solutions that create measurable business impact.

• Lead and manage service design engagements across multiple client projects and industries.
• Define and drive service design strategies that align customer needs with business objectives.
• Conduct and oversee qualitative and quantitative research to identify customer needs, pain points, behaviors, and opportunities.
• Develop and validate service blueprints, customer journey maps, ecosystem maps, operating models, and experience principles.
• Facilitate executive‑level workshops, co‑creation sessions, and stakeholder alignment activities.
• Identify service gaps, operational inefficiencies, and innovation opportunities across customer journeys and organizational processes.
• Lead the prototyping and testing of service concepts to validate assumptions and optimize experiences.
• Collaborate with business consultants, researchers, UX/UI designers, process designers, and technology teams to ensure successful implementation.
• Define success metrics, KPIs, and measurement frameworks to monitor service performance and continuous improvement.
• Mentor and coach junior service designers, contributing to capability building and service design best practices.
• Advocate for human‑centered design methodologies and foster a customer‑centric culture within client organizations and project teams.

• Bachelor's degree in Service Design, Human‑Centered Design, Interaction Design, Design Strategy, Business Design, or a related field.
• 7+ years of experience in Service Design, Customer Experience (CX), Design Strategy, or related disciplines.
• Proven track record of leading complex service design programs within large organizations.
• Extensive experience developing service blueprints, journey maps, ecosystem maps, and operating models.
• Strong stakeholder management and facilitation skills, with experience engaging senior executives and decision‑makers.
• Deep understanding of customer experience design, service innovation, design thinking, and business transformation.
• Experience translating customer insights into strategic recommendations and business outcomes.
• Proficiency in tools such as Miro, Figma, Smaply, or similar service design platforms.
• Excellent communication, storytelling, and presentation skills.
• Arabic language proficiency is preferred.

• Experience working with clients in the telecommunications and/or financial services sectors.
• Experience managing teams, mentoring designers, or leading service design capability development.
• Familiarity with business process design, operating model design, and organizational transformation initiatives.