Design Manager - Service Design & User Experience (UX)

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Your Work Shapes the World at Caterpillar Inc.

When you join Caterpillar, you're joining a global team who cares not just about the work we do – but also about each other.  We are the makers, problem solvers, and future world builders who are creating stronger, more sustainable communities. We don't just talk about progress and innovation here – we make it happen, with our customers, where we work and live. Together, we are building a better world, so we can all enjoy living in it.

Role Overview

We are seeking an experienced Design Manager to lead our Shared Services & Experience Operations team, responsible for driving service design strategy, journey architecture, design operations, governance, accessibility compliance, and experience measurement across the enterprise.

This role combines people leadership, organizational leadership, and operational excellence, with accountability for building and leading multidisciplinary teams focused on delivering exceptional customer and employee experiences.

The ideal candidate brings deep expertise in Service Design, Design Thinking, UX Design, Customer Experience, Design Operations, Accessibility, and Experience Measurement, along with a proven ability to influence strategic decisions, scale design capabilities, and lead high-performing teams.

This role will partner closely with Product Management, Engineering, UX Design, Research, Customer Experience, and Business stakeholders to establish scalable processes, governance frameworks, and experience-driven outcomes that align with business objectives.

What You'll Do

Service Design & Journey Architecture

• Define and drive the organization’s Service Design strategy and practices.
• Lead the design and optimization of end-to-end customer and employee journeys across digital, physical, and human touchpoints.
• Develop and maintain:
  • Customer Journey Maps
  • Service Blueprints
  • Ecosystem Maps
  • Experience Frameworks
• Facilitate Design Thinking workshops and cross-functional discovery initiatives.
• Identify service gaps, pain points, and transformation opportunities across the customer lifecycle.
• Drive customer-centric innovation through human-centered design methodologies.

Shared Services & Experience Operations Leadership

• Build, lead, and develop teams responsible for:

• • Service Design
  • Journey Architecture
  • Design Operations
  • Experience Operations
  • Accessibility Governance
  • Experience Insights & Metrics

• Establish operating models, processes, and governance frameworks that support experience teams at scale.
• Define team objectives, capacity planning, resource allocation, and operational priorities.
• Foster a culture of innovation, collaboration, continuous improvement, and customer-centric thinking.

Design Operations & Experience Operations

• Establish scalable processes, workflows, and standards across Design and Research organizations.
• Drive improvements in design efficiency, consistency, and team effectiveness.
• Manage tooling, workflow optimization, documentation, and operational processes.
• Lead adoption of AI-enabled workflows and productivity practices within Design Operations.
• Enable effective collaboration across Product, Engineering, UX, Research, and Business teams.

Governance & Accessibility

• Establish and govern enterprise-wide accessibility standards and practices.
• Drive WCAG compliance initiatives across products and platforms.
• Create governance frameworks to ensure experience quality, consistency, and compliance.
• Facilitate design reviews and governance forums across multiple teams.
• Partner with UX, Engineering, and Product teams to ensure accessibility and usability standards are consistently applied.

Experience Insights & Measurement

• Establish frameworks for measuring customer and employee experiences.
• Define and track:

• • Customer Satisfaction Metrics
  • Experience KPIs
  • Service Adoption Metrics
  • Journey Performance Metrics
  • Accessibility Metrics

• Develop dashboards, scorecards, and reporting mechanisms to provide actionable insights.
• Leverage customer feedback, analytics, and research findings to drive continuous improvement.
• Enable data-driven experience decisions across the organization.

Cross-Functional Leadership & Strategy

• Partner with:

• • Product Management
  • Engineering Leadership
  • UX & Research Teams
  • Customer Experience Teams
  • Business Stakeholders

• Align experience initiatives with business goals and organizational priorities.
• Influence executive decision-making through customer insights and experience data.
• Lead strategic initiatives focused on customer experience transformation and operational excellence.
• Drive organizational adoption of Design Thinking and customer-centered practices.

People Leadership & Talent Development

• Hire, develop, and retain high-performing design and operations talent.
• Establish career growth plans and mentorship programs.
• Coach and develop leaders within Service Design, Design Operations, and Experience Operations functions.
• Build organizational capability and maturity across customer experience disciplines.
• Promote a culture of inclusion, learning, accountability, and innovation.

Qualifications

• 12+ years of experience in Service Design, UX Design, Customer Experience, Design Operations, or related fields.
• 3+ years of experience managing multidisciplinary teams.
• Proven experience leading Service Design and customer experience transformation initiatives.
• Deep expertise in:

• • Service Design
  • Design Thinking
  • UX Design
  • Customer Journey Mapping
  • Service Blueprinting
  • Human-Centered Design

• Experience establishing governance frameworks, operational processes, and measurement systems.
• Strong facilitation, stakeholder management, and leadership skills.
• Excellent communication, storytelling, and executive presentation capabilities.

Technical & Functional Competencies

Service Design & Experience Strategy

• Service Blueprinting
• Customer Journey Mapping
• Ecosystem Mapping
• Systems Thinking
• Human-Centered Design
• Design Thinking

Design Operations & Experience Operations

• Design Operations
• Research Operations
• Workflow Optimization
• Operating Model Design
• Resource Planning
• Process Improvement

Governance & Accessibility

• WCAG Accessibility Standards
• Accessibility Compliance
• Experience Governance
• Design Quality Reviews
• Design Standards & Policies

Experience Insights & Measurement

• Customer Experience Metrics
• Journey Analytics
• Voice of Customer (VoC)
• Experience Dashboards
• KPI Definition & Reporting
• Continuous Improvement Frameworks

Leadership

• Organizational Leadership
• Team Development
• Talent Management
• Change Management
• Stakeholder Management
• Strategic Planning

Nice to Have

• Experience leading enterprise-wide customer experience transformation initiatives.
• Familiarity with Design Systems and Design Governance models.
• Experience with AI-powered design, research, or operational workflows.
• Certifications in:

• • Service Design
  • Design Thinking
  • Human-Centered Design
  • Customer Experience

• Experience working within global product and engineering organizations.

Success in This Role Looks Like

• Service Design becomes a strategic organizational capability.
• Experience Operations and Shared Services functions operate efficiently and at scale.
• Accessibility and governance standards are consistently adopted across products and platforms.
• Customer and employee experience decisions are driven by measurable insights and data.
• Design teams operate with modern, AI-enabled processes and tools.
• Experience metrics demonstrate measurable improvements in satisfaction, adoption, and effectiveness.
• A strong pipeline of talent and leadership is developed within the organization.

Posting Dates:

Caterpillar is an Equal Opportunity Employer.  Qualified applicants of any age are encouraged to apply

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