Design Strategist - Senior Associate

At Fannie Mae, futures are made. The inspiring work we do makes an affordable home a reality and a difference in the lives of Americans. Every day offers compelling opportunities to impact the future of the housing industry while being part of an inclusive team thriving in an energizing environment. Here, you will help lead our industry forward and make your career.

We are looking for a passionate self-starter to join our Customer Experience Design team as a Senior Design Strategist. Our mission is to provide access to reliable, mortgage financing in all markets. As our newest designer you will grow the ranks of strategists and researchers at the forefront of design here at Fannie Mae. From conducting user research activities to designing a workshop curriculum, to leading the workshop and synthesizing findings, you thrive at driving the process to solve for complex problems. You have experience utilizing customer journey mapping and the service design blueprinting process to develop insights around customer needs, expectations, pain points and opportunities. Your user research experience runs deep and includes the ability to conduct empathy interviews, ethnographic observation, workflow analysis and contextual inquiry of users. You have strong verbal and nonverbal communication skills and have experience working with a diverse set of stakeholders, thriving at managing group conflict, encouraging group creativity, and fostering inclusiveness. 

THE IMPACT YOU WILL MAKE
The Senor Design Strategist-Senior Associate role will offer you the flexibility to make each day your own, while working alongside people who care so that you can deliver on the following responsibilities:

• Independently lead user research engagements including interviews, ethnographic observation, workflow analysis, and contextual inquiry of customers.
• Use service design principles (frontstage, backstage, etc.) and tools (personas, customer journey maps, service blueprinting, etc.) to identify misalignments between business goals and customer experience.
• Create detailed journey mapping and user flow documentation for ecosystem interactions through digital and other channels.
• Utilize customer journey mapping and service design blueprinting processes to develop insights about customer needs, expectations, pain points and opportunities.
• Develop profiles of various customer archetypes and personas to guide the evolution of experiences.
• Plan and execute all the activities leading up to the workshop and facilitate it.
• Synthesize the information gained through workshop activities and generate findings reports/recommendations on how to improve the customer experience.
• Proactively build partnerships with key stakeholders to strengthen trust and collaboration.  Collaborate cross-functionally (i.e., with product management, researchers, developers, and design teams) to identify process pain points and areas for improvement.
• Provide regular reporting to leadership on the progress and impact of your design engagements.
• Serve as an advocate and educator of design; providing translation of design culture and skill sets to stakeholders that have little or no familiarity in working with designers.

THE EXPERIENCE YOU BRING TO THE TEAM

Minimum Required Experiences

• 2 years of design related experience.
• Knowledge and experience utilizing Design Thinking methodology is required.
• Deep familiarity with design research methods and ability to recommend the right method per the situation.
• Prior experience conducting customer interviews and synthesizing research/information.
• Experience with both designing workshop activities and leading workshops is required.
• Proven ability to synthesize findings from workshops and other co-creation sessions.
• Experience partnering with a variety of business stakeholders to solve a wide variety of business problems required.
• Self-motivated to recognize and address areas of uncertainty in complicated spaces.
• Persuasive and able to Influence others and resolve conflict.
• Strong collaborator who can easily work along with people with different functional expertise respectfully and cooperatively towards a common goal.

Desired Experiences

• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent.
• 3+ years of experience in Service Design, Design Thinking and Qualitative Research techniques and methodologies.
• Should be comfortable being the focal point in a room full of senior executives (from both Fannie Mae and our customer companies).
• Confident in driving collaboration between workshop participants.
• Able to approach problems with curiosity, and excitement to learn and grow your skills.

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The future is what you make it to be. Discover compelling opportunities at Fanniemae.com/careers.

Fannie Mae is an Equal Opportunity Employer, which means we are committed to fostering a diverse and inclusive workplace. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, religion, national origin, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, personal appearance, protected veteran status, disability, age, or other legally protected status. For individuals with disabilities who would like to request an accommodation in the application process, email us at [email protected]