Innovation Designer
Are you passionate about using design and citizen-centered engagement to address civic challenges? Are you a relentless change-maker? The office of Accountability, Performance, and Innovation (API) is hiring a full time Innovation Designer to come work for the City of Syracuse.
About the role
As Innovation Designer for the City of Syracuse, you will be pulled into high priority innovation projects for the organization, bringing a citizen-centered perspective and a participatory action research with a toolkit of co-creation, research, data synthesis, idea generation, prototyping, and testing.
In other words you will question the status quo, push groups of stakeholders to better understand user needs, manage and facilitate stakeholder discussions, and identify and recommend solutions that creatively meet citizen needs.
Some of the day-to-day responsibilities for this role you will include:
Employing design thinking-based approaches to identify the root causes of civic challenges and explore the perspectives of residents, government employees, and other community stakeholders
Communicating project progress to a variety of stakeholders with different background and expertise
Interviewing employees to understand city operations
Conducting in-depth research with city residents and build co-creation processes that deeply understand the root of complex social challenges
Managing partnerships with internal and external stakeholders
Facilitating design sessions internally and externally with residents and senior government leaders
Maintaining high standards of quality while managing the correct execution of projects
Generating a creative mix of practical and bold ideas that measurably improve residents’ lives
Testing and prototyping ideas with stakeholders and end-users to ensure new programs, experiences, polices, programs, and products generate successful impact
Articulating the value of public sector innovation and be the evangelist for human-centered design in a local government setting
Create data visualizations to communicate information and data to stakeholders and the public
Illustrate team concepts by designing materials with art and copy
What we are looking for
Successful applicants will…
Display a sense of curiosity and constantly question assumptions
Have the ability to communicate effectively with people from different fields of expertise and different comfort levels in using different types of quantitative and qualitative data
Have an understanding of graphic design principles
Have experience with empirical data and statistics, and developing data-based recommendations for systems change
Take complex multi-faceted policy challenges and quickly break them down into more manageable problem statements
Be adaptable to a fast-changing working environment
Be adept at working across disciplines
Believe in the potential of city government to implement creative new ideas that make the world a better place
Be patient in teaching others about the design process
Be passionate about the power of design and its ability to make a difference in local communities
Be comfortable managing multiple stakeholders’ expectations
Be able to manage their time effectively across multiple parallel projects with different time expectations
Desired educational qualifications and experience…
Bachelor’s degree in design, economics, public policy, public administration, social sciences, government or related fields.
Prior experience and/or training in user-centered design and other design-thinking tools and methodologies.
Prior experience managing multiple stakeholders
Strong written and verbal communication skills
Previous public sector experience is desirable, but not required.
About API
If you join our team, you will be working alongside a group of innovators and change makers that are striving to make the City of Syracuse more effective and equitable for residents by catalyzing the city government to be more responsive, experimental and informed by evidence. Our functional expertise lies in areas such as project management, design thinking, data analytics, geospatial analysis, and more.
Additional information
This role is full-time.
You must have authorization to work in the United States.
The team is currently working under a hybrid model of remote and in-person work. However, if you do not live in Syracuse, City regulations require that you must relocate to the City after starting the position.
Any questions should be submitted to the Chief Innovation & Data Officer at NDiaz@syr.gov