Position Details: Design Director-Digital : Design Thinking

Design Director, TCS Interactive 

The opportunity 

This role is for a designer who ships products, not just portfolios. 

TCS Interactive pairs world-class design thinking with enterprise grade engineering. We turn the systems Fortune 100 companies already run—data, AI, commerce, personalization—into digital products and experiences that move markets. Our ambition: products recognized by D&AD, Cannes, and Apple Design Awards for craft. And by the clients who see eight-figure returns. 

We've already shipped for brands like Verizon Fios TV, Virgin Australia, New York Road Runners (the world's biggest running organization and host of the NYC Marathon), and ITV's UK streaming platform—digital products that reach millions. Now we're expanding the design leadership in New York to match the ambition. 

You'll be a senior design leader in our flagship New York Design Studio, working directly with the Executive Design Director to pitch, win, and deliver end-to-end digital product design—apps, platforms, experiences—that set the standard for what enterprise innovation looks like. 

This is a builder role. In the early phase of growing our NYC Studio, you'll spend roughly 70-80% of your time contributing to new business development: pitching, prototyping, winning work. And 20-30% leading delivery on complex engagements. As the studio grows, that ratio inverts: more making, less pitching. You're helping build the book of business you'll eventually run. 

The design landscape has shifted. AI is now the material, not just the tool. The design leaders who will define the next decade understand how to design with AI: products that have intelligence at their core, workflows that use generative tools without losing craft, and experiences that feel human even when they're not. We're looking for someone who's already operating this way. 

What you'll do 

New Business Development (70-80% early, decreasing as studio grows) 

You'll be a critical voice in how we show up in the market. 

Partner with the Executive Design Director to develop pitch concepts, prototypes, presentations and workshops that demonstrate design-led thinking. 

Contribute to new business strategy. Shaping the design narrative, building pitch prototypes, and presenting in the room when it matters. 

Help translate client problems into product opportunities. You understand how CDOs and Heads of Product think, and you can articulate how design solves their business challenges. 

Use AI to visualize faster and explore more possibilities in pitch development: pre-viz, rapid prototyping, concept iteration. 

Build your profile in ways that support the studio's reputation. Write, speak, share work. Your expertise is a credibility signal. 

Lead End-to-End Product Design (20-30% early, increasing as studio grows) 

When we win, you run the work. 

Direct complex digital product engagements: apps, web platforms, service experiences, AI-native products, and connected ecosystems. 

Set the design vision and creative bar for your projects. Ensure every deliverable meets the standard you'd put in your own portfolio. 

Design products with intelligence at their core: conversational interfaces, personalization engines, recommendation systems, agentic workflows. You understand what AI can and can't do, and you design accordingly. 

Lead design reviews, critique, and iteration. Push the team to find the better idea. Create the conditions for breakthrough work. 

Partner with Engineering, Product, and Delivery to ship on time, on quality, on outcome. You know how to navigate complex stakeholder environments. 

Own the craft: interaction design, visual systems, motion, accessibility, responsive behavior. AI accelerates production—it doesn't replace taste. 

Client Partnership 

You're a trusted advisor, not just a vendor. 

Serve as a primary design voice with client stakeholders. Presenting in steering committees, leading design reviews, and building relationships with VPs and Heads of Product. 

Translate client business challenges into design opportunities. You understand that enterprise clients operate with real constraints—compliance requirements, legacy system integration, stakeholder complexity—and you see those constraints as design problems to solve, not obstacles to resent. 

Earn trust through craft and strategic thinking. Clients should want you in the room because you make the work better and their jobs easier. 

Build & Mentor the Team 

You attract talent and raise the bar. 

Mentor and develop Product Designers and UX leads on your projects. Your feedback is specific, actionable, and makes people better. 

Contribute to hiring. Sourcing candidates, reviewing portfolios, conducting interviews. Your network and judgment help build the team. 

Help establish the rituals, standards, and design systems that define how the studio operates. 

Create a culture of rigor, craft, and creative ambition. Where people do their best work and grow their careers. 

Shape 

What you've done 

10+ years in digital product design, with 5+ years leading design on complex engagements at agencies, consultancies, or in-house product teams that ship. 

Portfolio of shipped products at scale Apps, platforms, digital experiences that reached millions of users and moved business metrics. Show work that changed outcomes, not just won awards. 

Pitch experience. You've contributed to winning new business—building prototypes, presenting concepts, helping close deals. You know how to make design the differentiator. 

Led design teams. You've mentored designers, run design reviews, and created the conditions for great work. People you've developed have gone on to do great things. 

Client-facing credibility. You've presented to senior stakeholders—VPs, CDOs, Heads of Product—and earned their trust through your craft and strategic thinking. 

Enterprise fluency. You've designed within the realities of enterprise—compliance reviews, legal approvals, legacy system integration, multi-stakeholder alignment—and delivered work that didn't just win awards but actually shipped. 

AI fluency. You've shipped at least one product with AI at its core. Not just used AI tools, but designed experiences where intelligence was a feature. You have a point of view on what AI changes for design and what it doesn't. 

What sets you apart: 

You've shipped innovative, first-of-kind products—not just incremental improvements. 

You've designed AI-native products: conversational UX, personalization systems, generative interfaces, agentic experiences. 

You use AI in your design process—pre-viz, prototyping, production—and you know when to ship AI output and when to hand off to craft-critical finishing. 

Your work has been recognized—D&AD Pencils, Cannes Lions, Apple Design Awards, Fast Company Innovation by Design, Webby Awards—or equivalent recognition that required surviving rigorous peer review, not just a submission fee. 

You've worked across categories: fintech, retail, healthcare, B2B, consumer tech. 

You understand systems, not just surfaces: design systems, design operations, research integration. 

You'll thrive here if: 

You're a maker who gets energy from shipping great products, not just concepting them. 

You've designed and shipped products for complex, regulated industries—finance, healthcare, enterprise. 

You believe design should drive business outcomes, not just look good in the portfolio. 

You've contributed to pitches where design was the differentiator. You know how to build a prototype that wins a room. 

You can translate between business language and design language. And make both stakeholders feel heard. 

You've navigated enterprise constraints—compliance, security, accessibility, legacy integration—without losing the thread of great design. 

You've grown designers in challenging environments where you didn't have all the resources you wanted. 

You see AI as creative leverage, not threat. And you're already using it to move faster, explore more, and ship better. 

You want to build something, not maintain something. 

You want to be in the room, not on the screen. This role is on-site in NYC. We're building a studio culture, not a Slack channel. 

What TCS Interactive brings 

Scale without the startup risk. TCS is a $30B company with 600,000+ professionals. You get enterprise resources, global delivery capability, and access to 1,200+ Fortune 500 client relationships—without the uncertainty of a startup. Engineering depth most agencies can't touch. We don't hand off to a partner for build. We have thousands of engineers who can execute what you design—AI, personalization, commerce, at global scale. 

Location: New York, NY Onsite 

Salary Range: $176,800-$225,000 a year 

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