Director, Digital Product Delivery

Highland is looking for a Director of Digital Product Delivery who brings a distinct perspective to creating digital products that unlock new opportunities for human flourishing.

Highland is a digital product and innovation consultancy based in Chicago. We research, design, and build digital products and experiences for mission-driven organizations and customer-centric companies in healthcare, education, financial services, and beyond.

We often refer to what we design as Experiences that Matter: digital products and experiences that make the world a better place to live in. Our mission is rooted in Human Flourishinginspired by research conducted at Harvard Universitys Institute for Quantitative Social Science. We design our work to help human beings flourish. The world is full of innovative products that make life worse for real humans. We work with organizations that see humans as more than just consumers, and seek to make lives better in ways big and small. And we organize ourselves so we can flourish too, committing to a sustainable workload and pursuing work with meaning and purpose.

The continued growth of our work in Design Research, Innovation, and Digital Strategy has brought Highland to an inflection point. Our early stage research, strategy, and innovation work has more than tripled in the last two years. This growth in our exploratory, upstream work is creating increased opportunity to deliver on the value of these insights through build and launch. We believe in the power of end-to-end design of new digital products and platforms using an integrated approach with consistent team members from research, design, and development, all coherently focused on user behaviors and needs. As the Director of Digital Product Delivery, youll shape our digital team and practice to deliver on the promise of this approach for our clients.

Here is what we think is true of the person who becomes this Director:

Practitioner Expertise

• You embrace and model multidisciplinary experience, both through your own efforts and in guiding others.
• You have been instrumental in shaping and building new digital products that meet customer needs and align to organizational goals.
• You integrate design research, UX research, and usability research into launching new products and services.
• You collaborate with researchers, designers, and developers in aligning around the product opportunity and business strategy.
• You understand and speak to business outcomes, and have shaped human-centered products where you were accountable for specific business objectives like revenue, customer acquisition, incremental profitability, etc.
• You have direct experience with full stops and hard pivots, and are able to take action when concepts and products arent working.

Client Leadership

• You advise and consult with executives on product strategy, early stage innovation, and product development.
• Youre focused on the end goal as well as the right next step.
• You seek frank, honest conversations with executives and team members alike.
• Youre a clear and compelling communicator, regardless of medium.

Practice & Process Leadership

• You can lead, develop, and grow a team of product managers and software engineers.
• You lift up the natural leadership you see in others and position them for individual and team success.
• Youre able to oversee quality across multiple digital product delivery engagements, keeping a pulse on teams, client relationships, and work product.
• Youre always curious for a better way, continually assessing and improving digital product development practices with product and user-centric thinking.
• You can collaborate with other leaders to integrate research, design, and development into cross-functional teams.
• You can collaborate with the Software Development Manager to set technical direction as the practice grows.
• You constantly seek diverse perspective, bringing people in for feedback and critique throughout projects and initiatives.

Business Development

• You offer guidance and insight to technical and non-technical leaders considering digital product development.
• You understand how to approach scoping, estimation, and pricing, and can develop team members to do so well.
• Youre literate in the business dynamics of a consultancy, including rate, margin, and overall profitability.
• You enjoy expanding your professional reach through writing, presentations, events, and personal connections.

The values we live by:

• People First: What we make and how we work should make it a little bit better to be alive: for us, our clients, and their customers.
• Be Curious: The big picture is everyone's responsibility. There is always more to learn. We are generous in teaching what we know.
• Be Open: We respond to problems with solutions, not blame. Vulnerability, while risky, leads to trust and understanding. We're accountable to our clients and to each other. Even when things aren't going well.
• Give a Damn: Our client's goals are our goals. We do work we can be proud of. Quality is non-negotiable.

Compensation

• Full-time salary, performance based bonus, and benefits based on current market value.

Our Commitment to Diversity and Inclusion

Highland is committed to creating a just, equitable workplace, and is actively seeking candidates who can bring the value of diverse lived experiences to this position. We look for candidates who have a high level of demonstrated comfort with cultural competency; women, people of color, people with disabilities, and people who identify as LGBTQ are encouraged to apply.