CX / Service Designer

📍 Job Overview

Job Title: CX / Service Designer

Company: Brainlake Advertising LLC

Location: Abu Dhabi, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

Job Type: CONTRACTOR

Category: Customer Experience / Service Design

Date Posted: 2026-09-18

Experience Level: Senior (8+ years)

Remote Status: On-site

🚀 Role Summary

• Design and evolve end-to-end customer and service experiences by analyzing current states and architecting future-state models across digital and physical channels.

• Conduct in-depth user research and stakeholder interviews to uncover customer needs, business objectives, operational constraints, and pain points, informing strategic design decisions.

• Facilitate impactful workshops with clients and cross-functional teams for discovery, co-creation, ideation, and prioritization, translating complex challenges into clear, actionable solutions.

• Develop comprehensive visual artifacts including customer journey maps, empathy maps, experience maps, and detailed service blueprints that connect frontstage interactions with backstage processes, people, and systems.

• Drive continuous improvement by identifying inefficiencies, gaps, and opportunities within existing services and business processes, ensuring alignment with user needs and business goals.

📝 Enhancement Note: This role is positioned as a senior, hands-on individual contributor within an advertising agency context, requiring a blend of strategic design thinking, deep user empathy, and practical process design expertise. The emphasis on both digital and physical touchpoints, coupled with AI tool integration, suggests a forward-thinking approach to service design.

📈 Primary Responsibilities

• Conduct comprehensive user research, stakeholder interviews, and operational analysis to deeply understand customer needs, behaviors, business objectives, and existing service challenges.

• Analyze current-state (as-is) services and business processes to identify friction points, inefficiencies, gaps, and opportunities for enhancement, documenting findings through visual mapping.

• Design and map future-state (to-be) customer journeys and service experiences that effectively address identified customer needs and business goals across all touchpoints.

• Develop detailed service blueprints that clearly articulate the connections between frontstage customer interactions and backstage operational components, including people, processes, systems, and technology dependencies.

• Plan, structure, and confidently lead client and stakeholder workshops, including discovery sessions, journey mapping exercises, co-creation activities, ideation sprints, and future-state design sessions.

• Facilitate dynamic workshop discussions, effectively manage diverse stakeholder perspectives, and translate workshop outputs into actionable insights, clear decisions, and defined next steps for project progression.

• Translate intricate business and operational workflows into easily understandable and actionable visual process maps and service models, ensuring clarity and alignment across teams.

• Collaborate closely with UX designers, researchers, business analysts, product teams, and other specialists to ensure seamless translation of service concepts into tangible, deliverable experiences.

• Validate proposed customer journeys and service concepts through user testing and stakeholder feedback loops to ensure efficacy and user-centricity.

• Define and articulate clear recommendations and strategic opportunities that effectively guide subsequent product development, UX design, operational adjustments, or technology implementation decisions.

• Document and present research findings, journey maps, service blueprints, process analyses, service concepts, and strategic recommendations with clarity and impact to senior stakeholders and clients.

📝 Enhancement Note: The responsibilities highlight a strong emphasis on both strategic design and tactical execution, requiring the candidate to be comfortable moving between high-level conceptualization and detailed process mapping. The explicit mention of AI tools suggests an expectation for leveraging technology to enhance efficiency and innovation in research synthesis, ideation, and documentation.

🎓 Skills & Qualifications

Education: Bachelor's degree in Design, Human-Computer Interaction, Business, Psychology, or a related field is typically expected for this level of experience; a Master's degree or equivalent practical experience may be advantageous.

Experience: A minimum of 8 years of direct, hands-on experience in Service Design, Customer Experience (CX) design, or a closely related discipline is a fundamental requirement.

Required Skills:

• Minimum 8 years of hands-on experience in Service Design, Customer Experience (CX), or a related field.

• Proven expertise in mapping complex, end-to-end customer journeys across both digital and physical touchpoints.

• Strong experience creating critical service design artifacts: journey maps, service blueprints, experience maps, and process flows.

• Demonstrated ability to map both current-state (as-is) and future-state (to-be) services and business processes.

• Advanced workshop facilitation skills, with demonstrated confidence to independently plan and lead sessions involving clients, senior stakeholders, and cross-functional teams.

• Proven experience facilitating a variety of workshop types, including discovery, journey mapping, co-creation, ideation, and prioritization sessions.

• Solid understanding of the interconnectedness between customer experience, people, processes, operations, systems, and technology.

• Experience conducting or actively collaborating with customer and stakeholder research initiatives.

• Ability to effectively uncover and synthesize customer needs, pain points, behavioral insights, and opportunities for service improvement.

• Strong analytical and problem-solving capabilities, with a demonstrated ability to interpret and make sense of complex service ecosystems and business environments.

• Skill in simplifying complex systems, processes, and user experiences into clear, coherent, and actionable visual outputs.

• High proficiency with modern service design, research, mapping, prototyping, and collaboration tools, including but not limited to Figma, FigJam, Miro, and Lucidchart.

• Up-to-date knowledge of the latest digital and AI-powered tools relevant to research, synthesis, journey mapping, service design, visualization, and prototyping.

• Ability to effectively leverage AI tools to accelerate research synthesis, analysis, ideation, documentation, and service design activities, while maintaining critical human judgment and quality control.

• Demonstrated curiosity and a proactive willingness to explore and adopt new tools and methods that enhance the speed and quality of the design process.

• Excellent presentation, storytelling, and stakeholder communication skills, with the ability to articulate complex ideas clearly and persuasively.

• Capacity to work collaboratively within multidisciplinary teams while also demonstrating the ability to independently own and drive workstreams.

• Strong organizational skills and the ability to effectively manage multiple priorities and adapt to changing project requirements. Preferred Skills:

• Arabic language proficiency is a significant advantage for client interactions in the Abu Dhabi region.

• Experience working within an advertising agency or consulting environment, understanding client-driven project dynamics.

• Familiarity with agile methodologies and their application in service design and CX initiatives.

• Experience with prototyping tools beyond basic mapping, such as InVision, Adobe XD, or similar.

📝 Enhancement Note: The experience requirement is clearly defined as senior, with an emphasis on practical, hands-on application of service design principles and tools. The explicit mention of AI tool proficiency indicates a requirement for candidates to be adaptable and forward-thinking in their approach to design. Arabic language skills are noted as a plus, suggesting potential client interactions in the local market.

📊 Process & Systems Portfolio Requirements

Portfolio Essentials:

• Showcase a minimum of 3-5 comprehensive case studies demonstrating end-to-end service design projects from discovery to concept validation.

• Each case study should clearly articulate the problem statement, research methodology, key insights, design process, and tangible outcomes or recommendations.

• Include visual examples of customer journey maps, service blueprints, experience maps, and process flows developed for past projects.

• Demonstrate experience in translating complex business challenges into user-centered service solutions with clear impact.

• Highlight your role and specific contributions within team-based projects, as well as instances where you led initiatives independently. Process Documentation:

• Evidence of ability to document current-state (as-is) processes and map future-state (to-be) service models, clearly illustrating operational flows and stakeholder touchpoints.

• Examples of how you have translated complex service interactions into clear, digestible visual documentation for diverse audiences.

• Documentation showcasing the application of Design Thinking or similar methodologies in structuring and executing service design projects.

• Demonstrations of how you have used tools (including AI) to accelerate the documentation and synthesis of research and design artifacts.

📝 Enhancement Note: A strong portfolio is critical for this role, serving as the primary evidence of the candidate's practical skills in service design, journey mapping, service blueprinting, and workshop facilitation. The emphasis is on demonstrating the ability to translate complex problems into actionable, visually documented solutions and to articulate the impact of these solutions.

💵 Compensation & Benefits

Salary Range: Based on industry benchmarks for Senior Service Designers/CX Designers with 8+ years of experience in Abu Dhabi, the estimated salary range is AED 20,000 - AED 30,000 per month. This estimate considers the cost of living, demand for specialized design skills in the UAE market, and the contractor employment type.

Benefits:

• As a contractor, benefits may vary and are typically negotiated on a per-project basis. Potential benefits could include:

• Competitive project-based compensation.

• Potential for contract extension or conversion to full-time employment.

• Opportunities to work with a diverse range of clients and industries.

• Exposure to cutting-edge design tools and methodologies, including AI applications.

• Professional development through challenging projects and client interactions.

Working Hours: Standard working hours are typically 40 hours per week, with flexibility often available depending on project demands and client needs. On-site work is expected.

📝 Enhancement Note: Salary is estimated based on market research for similar roles in Abu Dhabi, considering the specified experience level and the nature of contracting work in the region. Benefits are described generally for a contractor role, with the understanding that specific terms would be negotiated.

🎯 Team & Company Context

🏢 Company Culture

Industry: Advertising & Marketing. Brainlake Advertising LLC operates within the dynamic advertising and marketing sector, focusing on creating impactful campaigns and brand experiences. This context means the role will likely involve working on diverse client projects with tight deadlines and a strong emphasis on creativity and strategic communication.

Company Size: Specific company size is not provided, but as an LLC, it could range from a small boutique agency to a mid-sized firm. For operations professionals, this often means a more agile environment with direct access to leadership and potentially broader responsibilities.

Founded: Founding date is not specified, but the company's presence and focus on CX/Service Design suggest a modern agency approach, possibly evolving to meet contemporary client demands for integrated customer experiences.

Team Structure:

• The CX/Service Designer will likely be part of a broader creative or strategy team, collaborating with UX designers, researchers, copywriters, art directors, and account managers.

• Reporting structure will depend on the agency's organization, but often involves reporting to a Head of Strategy, Creative Director, or Lead Service Designer.

• Cross-functional collaboration is key, requiring seamless integration with client teams and internal specialists to deliver holistic solutions. Methodology:

• Data-driven insights and user-centric approaches are foundational to CX and Service Design.

• Emphasis on Design Thinking principles, iterative design, and agile project management to adapt to client needs and market dynamics.

• Utilization of modern design and collaboration tools, including AI-powered applications, to enhance efficiency and innovation in research, synthesis, ideation, and documentation.

Company Website: https://www.brainlake.com/

📝 Enhancement Note: The context of an advertising agency implies a fast-paced, client-focused environment where creative problem-solving and strategic thinking are paramount. The role of a CX/Service Designer is crucial in helping clients understand and improve their customer interactions to achieve marketing and business objectives.

📈 Career & Growth Analysis

Operations Career Level: This role is clearly defined as a Senior CX / Service Designer, indicating a high level of autonomy and expertise. Professionals at this level are expected to lead complex projects, mentor junior team members, and contribute significantly to strategic client recommendations. The scope involves designing entire service ecosystems rather than isolated user interfaces.

Reporting Structure: The Senior CX/Service Designer will likely report to a Creative Director, Head of Strategy, or a similar leadership role within the agency. They will collaborate closely with various internal departments (creative, account management, digital) and directly with clients.

Operations Impact: The impact of this role is direct and significant. By improving customer and service experiences, the designer influences client satisfaction, brand perception, customer loyalty, operational efficiency, and ultimately, client business outcomes. This role bridges the gap between user needs and business strategy within the advertising context.

Growth Opportunities:

• Specialization: Deepen expertise in specific industries or advanced service design methodologies (e.g., service innovation, digital transformation, AI integration in services).

• Leadership: Transition into a Lead Service Designer or Head of CX role, managing a team of designers and overseeing the strategic direction of CX initiatives for clients.

• Consulting: Develop a reputation as a subject matter expert, leading client workshops and delivering high-impact strategic recommendations that drive business growth.

• Methodology Development: Contribute to the agency's service design frameworks, tools, and best practices, potentially influencing how clients approach customer experience.

📝 Enhancement Note: The "Senior" designation suggests a pathway for career advancement into leadership or specialized consulting roles. The growth opportunities are tied to developing strategic influence and expanding the agency's service design capabilities.

🌐 Work Environment

Office Type: The role is explicitly on-site, indicating a traditional office setting within an advertising agency. This environment is typically dynamic, collaborative, and fast-paced, designed to foster creativity and client interaction.

Office Location(s): Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. This location offers a vibrant business environment within a major economic hub.

Workspace Context:

• The workspace is expected to be collaborative, with opportunities for informal brainstorming and formal project meetings.

• Access to modern design and collaboration tools (Figma, Miro, Lucidchart, AI tools) will be essential for daily tasks.

• The environment will likely encourage interaction with diverse teams (creative, strategy, account management) and direct client engagement, both on-site and potentially at client locations.

Work Schedule: A standard 40-hour work week is typical, but advertising and client service roles often require flexibility to meet project deadlines and client demands, which may include occasional extended hours or weekend work depending on project phases.

📝 Enhancement Note: The on-site requirement emphasizes the importance of in-person collaboration, client interaction, and immersion in the agency's creative culture. The workspace is designed to facilitate the blend of individual focus and team synergy needed for complex design projects.

📄 Application & Portfolio Review Process

Interview Process:

• Initial Screening: A review of CV and portfolio to assess alignment with experience requirements, particularly in service design, journey mapping, and workshop facilitation.

• Portfolio Presentation & Discussion: A dedicated session where candidates present key case studies from their portfolio, discussing their process, insights, challenges, and outcomes. Expect questions on how you handle complexity, stakeholder management, and translate research into design.

• Skills Assessment/Workshop Simulation: A potential practical exercise or simulated workshop to evaluate your facilitation skills, ability to synthesize information, and design thinking approach in real-time. This might involve analyzing a problem and proposing initial design directions.

• Behavioral & Cultural Fit Interview: Discussion focused on collaboration style, problem-solving approach, adaptability, and how you align with Brainlake Advertising's culture and client-focused methodology. Arabic language skills may be assessed here if relevant.

• Final Interview: May involve senior leadership to discuss strategic fit, long-term vision, and final decision-making.

Portfolio Review Tips:

• Curate Strategically: Select 3-5 of your strongest, most relevant case studies. Prioritize projects that showcase end-to-end service design, complex problem-solving, and significant impact.

• Tell a Story: Structure each case study as a narrative: the challenge, your approach (research, ideation, design), the key deliverables (maps, blueprints), and the results/recommendations.

• Showcase Process: Clearly illustrate your thought process, how you used research to inform design, and how you facilitated collaboration. Include visual examples of journey maps, service blueprints, and process flows.

• Highlight Impact: Quantify outcomes where possible (e.g., improved efficiency, increased customer satisfaction metrics, cost savings). If quantitative data isn't available, articulate the qualitative impact and strategic recommendations.

• Demonstrate Tool Proficiency: Include examples of your work created with tools like Figma, Miro, Lucidchart, and mention how you leverage AI tools to enhance your design process.

• Be Prepared for Questions: Anticipate questions about your decision-making, how you handle conflicting stakeholder feedback, and your approach to complex, ambiguous problems.

Challenge Preparation:

• Understand the Agency Context: Research Brainlake Advertising's clients and typical project types to tailor your approach.

• Practice Facilitation: Rehearse leading a short, hypothetical workshop session. Focus on clear communication, active listening, and guiding participants towards a defined outcome.

• Prepare for Problem-Solving: Be ready to analyze a given business scenario, identify key user and operational challenges, and propose initial service design concepts or process improvements.

• Articulate Strategy: Practice explaining your strategic rationale behind design choices and how they align with business objectives.

📝 Enhancement Note: The interview process is designed to thoroughly assess both technical design skills and the ability to operate effectively in a client-facing, agency environment. The portfolio is central, and candidates should prepare to articulate their process and impact with clarity and confidence.

🛠 Tools & Technology Stack

Primary Tools:

• Design & Collaboration: Figma, FigJam (for collaborative design, whiteboarding, and ideation), Miro (for advanced whiteboarding, journey mapping, and workshop facilitation), Lucidchart (for process mapping and service blueprints).

• Prototyping: While not explicitly stated, familiarity with prototyping tools like InVision, Adobe XD, or similar may be beneficial for visualizing service interactions.

• AI Tools: Expectation to utilize AI for accelerating research synthesis, analysis, ideation, documentation, and potentially other design-related tasks. Specific tools may vary, but an openness to adopting new AI technologies is key.

Analytics & Reporting:

• While not a primary focus for this role, an understanding of how design choices impact key performance indicators (KPIs) tracked through analytics platforms (e.g., Google Analytics, Adobe Analytics) is valuable.

• Ability to interpret data and insights from user research and analytics to inform service design decisions. CRM & Automation:

• Familiarity with CRM systems (e.g., Salesforce, HubSpot) and marketing automation platforms is advantageous to understand how customer data and automated processes influence customer journeys.

• Understanding of how backend systems and operational workflows (potentially managed via CRM or other business process tools) support frontstage customer interactions.

📝 Enhancement Note: Proficiency in modern digital design and collaboration tools is a baseline requirement. The specific inclusion of AI tools indicates a need for candidates to be current with emerging technologies that enhance design efficiency and effectiveness.

👥 Team Culture & Values

Operations Values:

• User-Centricity: A deep commitment to understanding and advocating for the customer experience in all design decisions and process improvements.

• Collaboration: A strong belief in the power of teamwork, valuing input from diverse perspectives (clients, internal teams, users) to achieve the best outcomes.

• Innovation & Curiosity: A drive to explore new tools, methodologies (especially AI), and approaches to continuously improve service design practices and deliver novel solutions.

• Impact & Effectiveness: A focus on designing services that are not only user-friendly but also achieve tangible business objectives and create measurable value for clients.

• Clarity & Simplicity: The ability to distill complex issues into clear, understandable concepts and actionable plans, ensuring alignment and buy-in.

Collaboration Style:

• Cross-Functional Integration: Seamlessly working with creative teams, account managers, strategists, and client stakeholders to ensure holistic and cohesive service solutions.

• Facilitative Leadership: Guiding groups through design processes, encouraging participation, managing diverse opinions, and driving towards consensus and actionable outcomes.

• Knowledge Sharing: Openness to sharing insights, learnings, and best practices, fostering a culture of continuous learning and collective improvement within the agency.

📝 Enhancement Note: The culture at an advertising agency like Brainlake emphasizes creativity, client satisfaction, and agile execution. The values are geared towards delivering impactful, user-centered solutions through collaborative and innovative means.

⚡ Challenges & Growth Opportunities

Challenges:

• Balancing Client Demands with User Needs: Navigating client objectives that may sometimes conflict with optimal user experience, requiring strong negotiation and communication skills.

• Translating Strategy into Tangible Solutions: Bridging the gap between high-level strategic goals and the detailed operational processes and customer interactions required for successful implementation.

• Adapting to Diverse Industries & Projects: Quickly understanding and designing for a wide range of client businesses, each with unique customer bases and operational complexities.

• Integrating AI Effectively: Staying abreast of and effectively integrating new AI tools and capabilities into the service design workflow without compromising human judgment or quality.

Learning & Development Opportunities:

• Advanced Design Methodologies: Opportunities to learn and apply cutting-edge service design frameworks, innovation techniques, and user research methods.

• AI in Design: Continuous learning and experimentation with AI tools to enhance research synthesis, ideation, content generation, and process automation within design projects.

• Client Strategy: Gaining deeper insights into client business strategies, marketing objectives, and operational challenges across various industries.

• Leadership Skills: Developing facilitation, stakeholder management, and presentation skills to take on more senior roles and lead client engagements.

📝 Enhancement Note: The role presents challenges inherent to agency work, including managing client expectations and adapting to diverse projects. However, these challenges are balanced by significant growth opportunities in advanced design techniques, AI integration, and strategic client leadership.

💡 Interview Preparation

Strategy Questions:

• "Describe a complex service you've designed from end-to-end. What were the key challenges, your process, and the impact of your design?" (Focus on journey maps, service blueprints, and stakeholder management).

• "How do you approach identifying and prioritizing opportunities for service improvement within an existing system or process?" (Highlight your analytical skills, research methods, and prioritization frameworks).

• "Imagine you're facilitating a workshop with conflicting stakeholder opinions on a new service concept. How would you manage the discussion and drive towards a consensus?" (Demonstrate facilitation techniques, conflict resolution, and strategic thinking).

• "How do you integrate user research insights into your service design process, and how do you ensure those insights are actionable for backend operations?" (Showcase your ability to connect frontstage and backstage elements). Company & Culture Questions:

• "What interests you about Brainlake Advertising and our approach to CX/Service Design?" (Research the company's website, recent work, and any stated values).

• "How do you envision leveraging AI tools in your service design work to improve efficiency and outcomes for our clients?" (Prepare specific examples of AI application in research, ideation, or documentation).

• "Describe a time you had to adapt your design process or recommendations based on operational constraints or technical limitations." (Highlight your adaptability and problem-solving skills).

• "How do you ensure your service designs align with broader marketing and business objectives?" (Focus on strategic alignment and ROI). Portfolio Presentation Strategy:

• Structure Your Narrative: For each case study, clearly define the problem, your role, the process, the solutions (showcasing maps/blueprints), and the outcomes. Use a consistent template.

• Visualize Your Process: Don't just show the final artifacts; show the journey of how you got there – sketches, early concepts, research synthesis highlights.

• Articulate Your 'Why': Be prepared to explain the rationale behind your design decisions and how they addressed specific user needs or business goals.

• Highlight Collaboration: Emphasize how you worked with teams and stakeholders, especially in workshop settings.

• Prepare for Q&A: Anticipate detailed questions about your methodology, decision-making, and the impact of your work. Have specific examples ready.

📝 Enhancement Note: Interview preparation should focus on demonstrating a senior-level understanding of service design principles, practical application through case studies, strong facilitation skills, and an awareness of modern tools, including AI. Being able to articulate impact and align design with business objectives is crucial.

📌 Application Steps

To apply for this operations position:

• Submit your CV and portfolio directly to careers@brainlake.com.

• Portfolio Customization: Ensure your portfolio prominently features case studies showcasing end-to-end service design, journey mapping, service blueprints, and workshop facilitation. Tailor the presentation to highlight projects relevant to advertising or client-facing services.

• Resume Optimization: Clearly highlight your 8+ years of experience in Service Design/CX, specific skills in mapping and facilitation, and proficiency with tools like Figma, Miro, and AI. Use keywords from the job description.

• Interview Preparation Practice: Rehearse presenting your portfolio case studies, focusing on clear storytelling, articulating your process, and demonstrating the impact of your work. Practice answering strategy and behavioral questions.

• Company Research: Thoroughly review Brainlake Advertising's website, recent campaigns, and client portfolio to understand their style, target industries, and how your CX/Service Design expertise can add value to their offerings.

⚠️ Important Notice: This enhanced job description includes AI-generated insights and operations industry-standard assumptions. All details should be verified directly with the hiring organization before making application decisions.

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