Principal Design Strategist

Principal Design Strategist

Expected Travel: 50% (global)

What you’ll do:

The position plays a critical role in both shaping and delivering innovative solutions. This role blends hands-on design excellence with the ability to engage directly with customers to uncover needs, spark ideas, and co-create transformative outcomes. It’s ideal for a seasoned design professional who thrives at the intersection of strategy and execution, equally comfortable crafting exceptional experiences and guiding stakeholders through collaborative processes.

What you bring:

You combine a rich background in design with a natural ability to connect deeply with customers and teams alike. Your curiosity drives you to explore user needs beyond the obvious, and your facilitation skills help unlock collective creativity during workshops and discovery sessions. You’re comfortable navigating ambiguity and shifting priorities, always keeping a clear focus on delivering meaningful and responsible experiences. Your communication is both clear and compelling, enabling you to translate complex ideas into stories that resonate across diverse audiences. Equipped with a strong toolkit of design and prototyping methods, you can move swiftly from concept to iteration, balancing innovation with practical impact

Expectations and tasks:

• Lead the creation of scalable, human-centered solutions that address both user needs and business goals.

• Plan, moderate, and synthesize discovery sessions with customers to uncover needs, challenges, and opportunities.

• Design and lead workshops that inspire collaboration, align stakeholders, and generate actionable insights.

• Translate concepts into prototypes, iterating quickly based on feedback from customers, users, and internal stakeholders.

• Partner closely with Product, Engineering, Data Scientists, and Research teams to ensure solutions are feasible, ethical, and aligned with objectives.

• Present work and ideas in ways that inspire action and communicate vision clearly to both technical and non-technical audiences.

• Recommend and implement ways to improve design processes, collaboration methods, and workshop practices.

About You:

• 10+ years in experience, product, or service design, with a strong portfolio demonstrating both strategic and hands-on work.

• Mastery of planning and facilitation of workshops, design sprints, and customer discovery sessions.

• Deep understanding of user-centered methodologies, systems thinking, and design research practices.

• Exceptional verbal, written, and visual communication abilities, including the ability to distill complex concepts into clear narratives.

• Skilled at working across disciplines and geographies, building strong relationships with both internal and external stakeholders.

• Proficiency in design and prototyping tools with the ability to bring ideas to life quickly.

• Comfort in navigating ambiguity and adjusting to shifting priorities while maintaining momentum toward outcomes.

• Commitment to designing solutions that are accessible, responsible, and impactful.

• Ability to travel internationally ~50%

About the Team:

We’re a diverse, global group of designers, strategists, and innovators who share a passion for creating meaningful experiences at SAP. Our team thrives on collaboration, curiosity, and a healthy dose of humor. We value different perspectives, embrace experimentation, and support each other in pushing creative boundaries. Whether we’re working together in person or connecting across time zones, we believe great ideas can come from anywhere and we make sure to have fun bringing them to life.