Design Lead
About ATÖLYE
ATÖLYE is a community-powered creative services organization. Through strategy and design, we help organizations tackle complex challenges and create lasting impact.
Our teams of strategists, designers, and community builders work with a range of impact-focused partners including companies, academic institutions, NGOs, and governments.
At the same time, ATÖLYE identifies as a “community.” Our members, who are designers, thought leaders, and experts, get to collaborate with ATÖLYE on the projects we take on. Our community is also our source of inspiration and learning; aspiring to connect, learn, and grow around purpose-driven work.
Our work focuses on designing transformational journeys across scales and disciplines. For each challenge, we craft a unique approach that and lean on the power of co-design; aiming to uncover the needs and aspirations that drive change. ATÖLYE’s design offering spans the innovation cycle; igniting change, envisioning desirable futures, building transformative experiences, and growing through resilient teams and communities.
In 2019, ATÖLYE joined kyu (kyu.com), a collective of the leading creative organizations in the world whose purpose is to be a source of creativity that propels the economy and society forward. Also among the collective are leading organizations such as BEworks, C2, Gehl, Godfrey Dadich, IDEO, Kepler, Public Digital, RedPeak, Sid Lee, and SYPartners.
Our “Guiding Principles”
We curate diligently so we can better co-create.
We make informed decisions about the people we invite in, the projects we work on, and the organizations we collaborate with. They come in different shapes, sizes, and colors but they share one important trait: An insatiable desire to better themselves and the communities that surround them.
We live, work, and learn in a constant state of flow.
Our system has ill-defined boundaries by design, which allows for a steady flow of people, ideas, and perspectives. Our processes expand and contract to adapt to situations as needed, meaning we are always pushing the limits of our permeability—across geographies, projects, and industries.
We grow individually to mature as a whole.
We are committed to nourishing the notion of a “growth mindset” in a holistic way. We are invested in the development of individuals and organizations by co-creating the necessary tools, methods, and environments that allow us to continuously shift and grow together.
About the ATÖLYE Community
We are a community-centric organization. This means that our approach spearheads community-centered thinking in design and gravitates around the notion of an individual’s journey in relation to a community.
Every ATÖLYE team member, by default, is an ATÖLYE community member. Once you are a team member, you will be part of the ATÖLYE Community that consists of creative individuals and teams who aspire to connect, learn, and grow around purpose-driven work while having the opportunity to participate in community events, rituals, and social activities.
About the job - Design Lead
We are looking for a Design Lead to lead our future strategic design projects.
At ATÖLYE, project leads spearhead the project leadership triangle alongside project managers and project directors. They focus on driving the project team, the client conversations, and the output production toward the desired long-term impact.
Our methodology approach is fluid and transdisciplinary, drawing from the foundations of service design, facilitation, and strategy to amplify the value for humans, businesses, and the planet. We’re looking for seasoned strategic designers who can balance the skills of empathy and deep user/beneficiary understanding with strategic thinking and clear communication.
As a Design Lead at ATÖLYE, you will support the planning, delivery, and execution of client projects to achieve outcomes using the full range of design research and strategic design skill sets, tools, and mindsets. You will collaborate across disciplines to create successful user experiences via research, synthesis, ideation, prototyping, and testing.
Responsibilities
Engagement:
Carrying out the client engagement processes of strategic design-related projects
Developing project approaches and proposals, creating the project plan and ensuring they are presented effectively.
Identifying the stakeholders to be involved throughout.
Project Leadership:
Leading projects at ATÖLYE within the domains of Design Strategy and Experience Design, with potential secondary streams on Business Design, Learning Design, Community Design, and Architectural Design.
Ensuring the project is realized in the promised time, with the agreed scope and outputs, at ATÖLYE quality.
Leading any of the main strategic design project activities alongside team members, namely: qualitative and/or quantitative user research, benchmark research, market gap analysis, synthesis, ideation, prototyping, user tests, strategic narration, and development of client-facing presentations.
Overseeing the legal and financial processes with external stakeholders, the project manager, and the project director.
Ensuring the necessary decisions and actions are taken during the project to maximize its impact.
Receiving feedback from relevant stakeholders at the end of the project.
Team Leadership:
Coaching team members
Participating in talent-related processes such as recruitment of future team members and screening and sustaining the engagement of collaborators for our community.
Thought Leadership:
Developing strategies and creating plans to increase the visibility of ATOLYE’s portfolios
Contributing to ATÖLYE's expertise and productivity in strategic design consultancy.
Requirements
Academic education in one or more fields of design, preferably Service Design, Strategic Design, or User Experience Design.
Experience with consultancy-based work and carrying forward client relationships including presentations, updates, and negotiation discussions.
Experience with leading strategic design projects in the Middle East, better if acquainted with client management and working culture in the public sector
Proficient English Speaking and Writing Skills.
Good written fluency in strategic narratives of projects/storytelling capabilities.
Experience in a leadership position with coaching and mentoring skills
What Do We Offer?
An inspiring and dynamic workspace as part of an interdisciplinary community
The opportunity to work on strategic projects with leading institutions in Middle-East, Turkey, and beyond
A transdisciplinary workflow that promotes constant learning
Involvement in the strategic development of the practice, people, and business
Apply Form
A Note Regarding Job Location
ATÖLYE has two hubs in Istanbul and Dubai that houses its core team and its community. However, since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, ATÖLYE has adopted a hybrid way of working where team members can choose to work remotely and visit the ATÖLYE spaces when their physical presence is necessary. Meanwhile, we regularly organize in-person events and gatherings for our team and community in order to foster physical interactions.
Non-Discrimination Policy
Throughout the entire job application process, ATÖLYE does not discriminate against individuals directly or indirectly based on language, race, color, gender, sexual orientation, pregnancy, parenthood, childcare, age, health status, disability, political opinion, philosophical belief, religion and sect, or similar reasons. ATÖLYE provides suitable working conditions obligating employees to behave equally among teammates and complies with the principle of equality which is embedded in its organizational policy.