Sr. Manager, Design Insights & Member Experience

Overview

As the Senior Manager, Design Insights & Member Experience, you are astrategic design leader responsible for applying the core principles of Design Thinking and Service Designdirectly to the member experience innovation pipeline. Your mandate is two-fold: to strategically frame complex problems and to tactically validate and refine the usability and desirability of design concepts across digital and physical touchpoints.

Reporting to the Director or VP of Member Experience & Innovation, you will drive thepractical execution of Human-Centered Design (HCD). This role is distinguished by itsheavy design focus—it partners with the central Consumer Insights team for broad context but owns the deep dive into design-specific research, journey mapping, and concept testingto ensure a high-quality, resonant member experience.

This role follows a hybrid schedule and requires regular, in-person work at our Hampton, NH or future Boston, MA office. Our hybrid model is M/T/W in office and TH/F are optional work-from-home. Candidates must reside within commuting distance of one of these locations. Fully remote work is not available for this role.

Strategic Design & Design Thinking Leadership

Apply foundational design strategy skills to scope, define, and manage innovation projects:

• Strategic Framing & Problem Definition:
  
  Utilize Design Thinking methodologies to strategically frame complex member problems, define opportunity spaces, andestablishthe research agenda for experience innovation projects.
• Service Design Tools:
  
  Lead the development of comprehensivecurrent-state and future-state service blueprint sand detailed journey maps to articulate the strategic intent, user experience, and operational dependencies of new service models.
• External Partner Leadership:
  
  Lead and manage external research or design consulting firmson specific, high-priority projects, owning the project'sinsightsdirection,methodology, and final deliverable quality.
• Workshop Facilitation:
  
  Plan and lead high-impactdesign thinking workshops and ideation sessions with cross-functional partners and franchisees to collaboratively generate and align on strategic solutions.

Tactical Design Validation & Experience Testing

Lead hands-on, evaluative research to ensure successful design execution. This is thecore tactical outputof the role:

• Evaluative Design Testing:
  
  Design and execute rapid, iterative testing methodologies (e.g., usability testing, A/B testing, concept testing) onspecificwireframes, digital prototypes, visual designs, and physical mockupsto gather actionable feedback on design feasibility and user flow.
• In-Gym Pilot Testing:
  
  Conductcontextual inquiries, observations, and interviewsdirectly within clubs to rigorously test and evaluate the real-world operational and member experience of pilot programs (e.g., new layouts, self-service kiosks, operational processes).
• Actionable Recommendations:
  
  Translate qualitative and quantitative testing data intoclear, prioritized design recommendations that directly inform the next iteration cycle for designers and product managers.

Collaboration & Partnership

Ensure seamless integration of design strategy and insights into the execution workflow:

• Design Partnership:
  
  Act as the primary research and insights partner to the Experience Design and Product teams, ensuring design decisions are continuously informed by validated member behavior.
• Insights Integration:
  
  Partner with the central
  
  Consumer Insightsteam toleveragefoundational market context, using those strategic insights to inform the focus and scope of project-specific tactical design research.
• Franchise Alignment:
  
  Collaborate with operational and franchise partners to ensurenew designs and service models areoperationallyviableand scalableacross the Planet Fitness system.

• Bachelor’s degree in a related field such as Service Design, Strategic Design, User Experience Design, or a closely related discipline
• 5-7+ years of experience in a design research, service design, or strategic consulting role, demonstrating mastery of Design Thinking and Human-Centered Design (HCD) principles
• Strong foundational knowledge in strategic design, complemented…