Customer Experience Designer Principal

📍 Job Overview

Job Title: Customer Experience Designer Principal Company: AIA Location: Makati, Philippines Job Type: Full-Time Category: Customer Experience / Service Design / Marketing Operations Date Posted: 2026-01-06 Experience Level: Mid-Senior Level (2-5 years) Remote Status: On-site

🚀 Role Summary

• Drive the transformation of customer and distributor experiences by embedding Human-Centered Design (HCD) principles across AIA Philippines.
• Lead the design and reimagining of customer and distributor journeys, translating deep customer and distributor insights into actionable solutions that enhance engagement and satisfaction.
• Ensure all key initiatives and touchpoints align with the company's Desired Customer Experience Framework, maintaining a consistent and high-quality customer journey.
• Act as a key advocate for the customer and distributor voice, collaborating with Customer Experience partners to translate feedback into concrete, impactful actions and service improvements.
• Foster a culture of HCD by promoting its adoption and building a Community of Practice within AIA Philippines.

📝 Enhancement Note: While the job title is "Customer Experience Designer Principal," the responsibilities and experience requirements suggest a role that bridges design, strategy, and operations within the customer experience domain. The emphasis on translating insights into solutions, ensuring framework compliance, and driving action planning aligns with operationalizing customer experience strategies, making it relevant for professionals in GTM, RevOps, or CX Ops roles who focus on customer journey optimization and stakeholder alignment.

📈 Primary Responsibilities

• Human-Centered Design Leadership:
  • Utilize HCD principles to guide business stakeholders in delivering customer-first journeys by designing customer experience and journey maps for critical business initiatives and touchpoints.
  • Collaborate with project teams and "tribes" to influence end-user interface designs, operating principles, and process designs, prioritizing customer and distributor expectations from the outset of new platform, system, process, service, and product development.
  • Lead customer journey mapping and design exercises for various business stakeholders, ensuring a comprehensive understanding of user needs and pain points.
  • Champion HCD methodologies internally, actively working to establish and grow an AIA Philippines HCD Community of Practice to foster a shared understanding and application of design thinking.
• Customer Listening & Action Planning:
  • Partner with the Insights Team to analyze learnings from surveys and studies, distilling them into actionable outcomes and strategic recommendations.
  • Lead ideation and co-creation workshops to generate innovative solutions derived from customer and/or distributor research findings.
  • Develop and test prototypes and service blueprints with customers, distributors, and other end-users to validate design concepts and gather iterative feedback.
• Customer Experience Governance & Optimization:
  • Own and maintain customer journey maps across all customer and distributor life stages, ensuring they are current, accurate, and strategically actionable.
  • Integrate journey maps into business planning and project development processes to ensure they effectively guide decision-making and strategic prioritization.
  • Collaborate with Customer Experience and Strategy Officers to track the implementation of action items, ensuring they are completed within established timelines and align with the defined journey objectives.

📝 Enhancement Note: The responsibilities highlight a strategic operational role focused on process design, stakeholder management, and continuous improvement within the customer experience domain. The emphasis on translating insights into actionable plans, developing prototypes, and governing journey maps points towards a need for strong project management, process optimization, and cross-functional collaboration skills, which are core to Revenue Operations and Sales Operations functions focused on customer lifecycle management.

🎓 Skills & Qualifications

Education:

• Bachelor’s degree in Design, Service Design, User Experience (UX), Human-Centered Design (HCD), or a closely related discipline.

Experience:

• A minimum of 3 years of progressive experience in service design, experience design, UX, or innovation roles.
• Demonstrated experience within the insurance or healthcare sectors is a significant advantage.

Required Skills:

• Human-Centered Design (HCD): Deep understanding and practical application of HCD principles to solve complex business and customer problems.
• Customer Experience Design: Proven ability to design and optimize end-to-end customer journeys that drive satisfaction and loyalty.
• Journey Mapping & Blueprinting: Expertise in creating detailed customer and distributor journey maps and service blueprints to visualize interactions and identify friction points.
• Prototyping & Wireframing: Proficiency in developing prototypes and wireframes to test and iterate on design concepts effectively.
• Customer Research Interpretation: Ability to effectively interpret findings from customer research, surveys, and feedback mechanisms to inform design strategies.
• Facilitation & Workshop Leadership: Strong skills in facilitating workshops, co-creation sessions, and ideation exercises with diverse stakeholder groups.
• Storytelling & Communication: Excellent verbal and written communication skills, with the ability to articulate complex design concepts and insights compellingly to various audiences.
• Collaboration & Stakeholder Management: Proven ability to collaborate effectively with cross-functional teams, business units, and leadership to drive alignment and adoption of CX initiatives.
• Creative Problem-Solving: A creative mindset coupled with a pragmatic approach to balancing innovation with business feasibility and operational constraints.

Preferred Skills:

• Visualization Tools Proficiency: Familiarity and preferred experience with journey mapping and visualization tools such as Miro, Figma, or similar platforms.
• Service Design Frameworks: Knowledge of various service design frameworks and methodologies beyond core HCD.
• Innovation Methodologies: Experience with design thinking, agile development, or other innovation frameworks.
• Data Analysis for CX: Ability to leverage quantitative and qualitative data to identify CX opportunities and measure impact.

📝 Enhancement Note: The qualifications emphasize a blend of design thinking, strategic planning, and operational execution. For operations professionals, skills in translating insights into actionable plans, managing cross-functional projects, and utilizing data for decision-making are highly transferable and should be highlighted. The mention of specific tools like Miro and Figma suggests a need for practical, hands-on experience with common CX design and collaboration platforms.

📊 Process & Systems Portfolio Requirements

Portfolio Essentials:

• Customer Journey Maps: Showcase at least two comprehensive customer journey maps you have developed, illustrating distinct user segments, pain points, opportunities, and proposed solutions.
• Service Blueprints: Include examples of service blueprints that detail the front-stage and back-stage processes, employee actions, and technology enablers required to deliver a seamless customer experience.
• Prototypes & Wireframes: Present a selection of interactive prototypes or detailed wireframes for digital interfaces or service touchpoints, demonstrating your ability to translate user needs into tangible design concepts.
• Case Studies of Impact: Provide a detailed case study of a key initiative where your design contributions led to measurable improvements in customer satisfaction, operational efficiency, or business outcomes. Quantify results where possible.

Process Documentation:

• Workflow Design Documentation: Examples of how you have documented and optimized customer workflows, illustrating your ability to map complex processes and identify areas for improvement and automation.
• HCD Process Implementation: Evidence of how you have introduced or embedded HCD methodologies within project lifecycles or team processes, including any frameworks or templates you developed.
• User Research Synthesis: Samples of how you have synthesized customer research findings into actionable design recommendations and strategic inputs for product or service development.

📝 Enhancement Note: For operations candidates, framing portfolio pieces around process optimization, efficiency gains, and measurable business impact will be crucial. Highlighting how designs translate into operational improvements, reduce friction, or enhance conversion rates will resonate strongly. Demonstrating the ability to document and standardize processes based on HCD principles is also key.

💵 Compensation & Benefits

Salary Range:

• Based on industry benchmarks for a Principal-level Customer Experience Designer in the Philippines with 3-5 years of experience, the estimated annual salary range is PHP 1,200,000 - PHP 1,800,000. This range can vary based on the candidate's specific qualifications, depth of experience, and negotiation.

Benefits:

• Comprehensive health insurance coverage, including medical, dental, and vision.
• Life insurance and personal accident coverage.
• Retirement savings plan with company matching contributions.
• Paid time off (vacation leave, sick leave, holidays) in accordance with Philippine labor laws.
• Opportunities for professional development, training, and certifications in customer experience and design.
• Employee assistance program (EAP) for wellness and counseling support.
• Potential for performance-based bonuses or incentives.
• Access to AIA's group-wide employee benefits and programs.

Working Hours:

• Standard full-time working hours are approximately 40 hours per week, typically Monday to Friday.
• While the role is on-site, AIA may offer flexibility in specific working arrangements where operational needs permit, encouraging a work-life balance.

📝 Enhancement Note: The salary range is an estimate based on publicly available data for similar roles in the Philippines and the specified experience level. It's important to note that actual compensation can be influenced by various factors including the candidate's negotiation skills, precise experience, and the company's internal compensation structure. The benefits listed are standard for large corporations in the Philippines and are tailored to attract and retain talent in professional roles.

🎯 Team & Company Context

🏢 Company Culture

Industry: Financial Services (Insurance & Healthcare) Company Size: AIA is a large, multinational corporation with tens of thousands of employees globally. Within the Philippines, AIA is a significant player with a substantial workforce dedicated to serving its customer base. This scale offers stability and resources, while the emphasis on a "healthier, more sustainable future" suggests a forward-thinking and purpose-driven culture.

Founded: AIA was founded in 1919, bringing a long history of experience and evolution in the financial services sector. This legacy provides a foundation of stability and expertise, while the company's current ambition to help a billion people live "Healthier, Longer, Better Lives" by 2030 indicates a strong focus on innovation and future growth.

Team Structure:

• The Customer Experience Designer Principal will likely be part of a broader Marketing, Distribution & Partnership team, or a dedicated Customer Experience department.
• This role will report to a CX Manager or Head of Customer Experience, with potential dotted-line reporting to project leads or business unit heads for specific initiatives.
• Collaboration will be extensive, involving cross-functional teams such as Product Development, Marketing, IT, Operations, Sales, and Customer Service to ensure a cohesive and integrated customer experience.

Methodology:

• Data-Driven Insights: Emphasis on leveraging customer research, surveys, and analytics to understand customer needs and pain points, informing design decisions.
• Human-Centered Design: A core methodology for all CX initiatives, ensuring that solutions are designed from the perspective of the customer and distributor.
• Agile & Iterative Development: Likely adoption of agile principles for project execution, allowing for flexibility, rapid prototyping, and iterative refinement of solutions.
• Cross-Functional Collaboration: A structured approach to working with various departments to ensure alignment, buy-in, and successful implementation of CX strategies.

Company Website: https://www.aia.com.ph/

📝 Enhancement Note: The company's mission and size suggest a dynamic environment where a CX Designer Principal can influence significant change and have a broad impact. The emphasis on a purpose-driven mission ("Healthier, Longer, Better Lives") is a key cultural differentiator that experienced professionals should align with. The structure implies a need for strong influence and collaboration skills to navigate a large organization.

📈 Career & Growth Analysis

Operations Career Level:

• This role is positioned at a Principal level, indicating a senior contributor with significant expertise and the ability to lead complex design initiatives independently. It requires not just design execution but also strategic thinking, influence, and the ability to mentor others.

Reporting Structure:

• The Principal Designer will likely report to a Manager or Director of Customer Experience or Design. They will collaborate closely with CX Officers, Strategy Officers, and various business unit leaders, acting as a key advisor on experience design.

Operations Impact:

• The primary impact of this role is on enhancing customer and distributor satisfaction, loyalty, and retention through superior experience design. This directly contributes to AIA's business objectives by driving customer lifetime value, improving operational efficiency through streamlined journeys, and strengthening brand perception. By embedding HCD, the role supports the company's mission of enabling "Healthier, Longer, Better Lives."

Growth Opportunities:

• Leadership in CX Strategy: Opportunity to take on more strategic leadership roles within the CX function, potentially managing a team or leading larger transformation programs.
• Specialization Development: Deepen expertise in specific areas of CX design, such as digital experience, service innovation, or customer journey analytics.
• Cross-Functional Mobility: Potential to move into related roles in product management, marketing strategy, or business transformation, leveraging a strong understanding of customer needs and business processes.
• Mentorship & Community Building: Opportunity to mentor junior designers and contribute significantly to building AIA's internal HCD capabilities and Community of Practice.

📝 Enhancement Note: For operations professionals, this role offers a pathway to lead customer-centric operational strategies. The "Principal" title signifies a level where strategic input is expected, aligning well with senior operations roles focused on GTM strategy and customer lifecycle optimization. The growth opportunities highlight a clear career trajectory within a large, established organization.

🌐 Work Environment

Office Type:

• On-site role within AIA Philippines' Head Office. This suggests a professional corporate environment designed for collaboration, innovation, and focused work.

Office Location(s):

• Makati, Philippines – a prime business district known for its accessibility and modern infrastructure, facilitating easy commutes for employees.

Workspace Context:

• Collaborative Spaces: The office is expected to feature modern collaborative spaces, meeting rooms, and potentially dedicated design thinking labs to support workshops, brainstorming sessions, and team interactions.
• Technology & Tools: Access to necessary technology, including high-performance workstations, relevant software licences (e.g., Miro, Figma), and robust network infrastructure to support design and collaboration tools.
• Team Integration: Opportunities for regular face-to-face interaction with the CX team, business stakeholders, and other departments, fostering a strong sense of teamwork and shared purpose.

Work Schedule:

• Predominantly Monday to Friday, aligning with standard business hours. While the core schedule is fixed for an on-site role, there may be opportunities for some flexibility in start/end times, subject to team and business needs, to support efficient workflow management and work-life integration.

📝 Enhancement Note: The on-site requirement in a major business hub like Makati implies a professional and structured work environment. For operations professionals accustomed to structured environments, this setting is typical. The emphasis on collaborative spaces suggests a culture that values teamwork and interactive problem-solving, which is beneficial for operationalizing complex CX initiatives.

📄 Application & Portfolio Review Process

Interview Process:

• Initial Screening: A review of your resume and portfolio to assess alignment with the role's requirements and experience.
• Hiring Manager Interview: A discussion focusing on your background, experience with HCD, journey mapping, and your approach to CX design challenges. This may include behavioral questions.
• Design/Portfolio Review: A dedicated session where you will present your portfolio, walking through key projects, your design process, and the impact of your work. Expect in-depth questions about your methodology, problem-solving approach, and how you translated insights into solutions.
• Cross-Functional Stakeholder Interview: An interview with representatives from business units or project teams you would collaborate with. This assesses your collaboration skills, ability to influence, and understanding of business context.
• Final Interview: Potentially with a senior leader (e.g., Head of CX, Marketing Director) to assess strategic fit, cultural alignment, and overall potential contribution.

Portfolio Review Tips:

• Curate Strategically: Select 3-4 of your strongest projects that best demonstrate your expertise in HCD, journey mapping, and tangible impact. Tailor your selection to the requirements of this role.
• Tell a Story: For each project, clearly articulate the problem, your role, the process you followed, the challenges you faced, the solutions you designed, and the measurable outcomes. Focus on the "why" and "how."
• Quantify Impact: Wherever possible, use data and metrics to demonstrate the success of your designs. This could include improvements in customer satisfaction scores, conversion rates, process efficiency, or cost reduction.
• Showcase Process: Detail your HCD methodology, research techniques, ideation process, prototyping approach, and how you incorporated feedback. This is crucial for demonstrating your operational thinking.
• Be Prepared for Questions: Anticipate questions about your decision-making process, how you handle conflicting stakeholder feedback, and how you balance innovation with business constraints.

Challenge Preparation:

• Scenario-Based Questions: Be ready for hypothetical scenarios related to designing customer journeys for AIA's products or services, or addressing specific CX pain points within the insurance/financial services industry.
• Process Improvement Task: You might be asked to outline how you would approach improving a specific customer touchpoint or process using HCD principles.
• Stakeholder Alignment: Prepare to discuss how you would gain buy-in and manage expectations from different departments (e.g., Sales, IT, Compliance) for a new CX initiative.

📝 Enhancement Note: For operations professionals, framing portfolio presentations around process improvements, efficiency gains, and measurable business outcomes will be key. Highlight how your design thinking translates into streamlined operations, reduced customer friction, and improved business performance. Emphasize your ability to collaborate with various departments to implement these designs operationally.

🛠 Tools & Technology Stack

Primary Tools:

• Journey Mapping & Collaboration: Miro, Figma, Lucidchart, Mural (Experience with at least one of these is preferred for visualization and collaborative design).
• Prototyping & Wireframing: Figma, Adobe XD, Sketch, InVision (Proficiency in creating interactive prototypes and wireframes).
• Design Software: Adobe Creative Suite (Photoshop, Illustrator) may be useful for asset creation.

Analytics & Reporting:

• Customer Feedback Platforms: Tools like SurveyMonkey, Qualtrics, or internal feedback systems for gathering and analyzing customer insights.
• Analytics Tools: Familiarity with web analytics (e.g., Google Analytics) or CX analytics platforms to understand user behavior and journey progression.
• Reporting Dashboards: Experience with creating or interpreting reports and dashboards that visualize CX metrics and performance.

CRM & Automation:

• CRM Systems: Understanding of how customer journeys interact with CRM systems (e.g., Salesforce, Microsoft Dynamics) is beneficial, though not explicitly required for direct management.
• Automation Concepts: Awareness of workflow automation principles that can support optimized customer journeys.

📝 Enhancement Note: While the role is design-focused, a strong understanding of how these design tools integrate with operational systems like CRMs and analytics platforms is a significant advantage. Operations professionals should highlight their experience in leveraging data from these systems to inform design and their ability to collaborate with teams that manage these tools.

👥 Team Culture & Values

Operations Values:

• Customer Centricity: A deep-seated commitment to understanding and prioritizing customer needs in all decisions and actions. This translates to designing experiences that are intuitive, valuable, and delightful for AIA's customers and distributors.
• Collaboration & Partnership: A belief in the power of working together across departments and with external partners to achieve shared goals. This role requires strong collaboration to embed HCD principles and drive action planning.
• Innovation & Continuous Improvement: A drive to constantly seek new and better ways of working, iterating on designs, and improving processes to enhance customer experience and business outcomes.
• Purpose-Driven Impact: A dedication to AIA's mission of helping people live "Healthier, Longer, Better Lives," infusing a sense of purpose into the work and striving for positive societal impact.
• Data-Informed Decision Making: A commitment to using customer insights and data to guide strategy and measure the effectiveness of CX initiatives.

Collaboration Style:

• Cross-Functional Integration: Proactive engagement with various business units (Sales, Marketing, IT, Operations, Compliance) to ensure CX designs are feasible, aligned with business objectives, and effectively implemented.
• Open Feedback Loops: Encouraging a culture where feedback on designs and processes is openly shared and acted upon, fostering continuous improvement.
• Knowledge Sharing: Actively participating in and contributing to the HCD Community of Practice, sharing best practices, learnings, and facilitating workshops to elevate the collective CX capability within AIA Philippines.

📝 Enhancement Note: The emphasis on purpose-driven impact and collaboration is crucial. For operations professionals, aligning with these values means demonstrating how their work contributes to the company's mission and how they effectively partner with different teams to execute strategies that enhance the customer lifecycle.

⚡ Challenges & Growth Opportunities

Challenges:

• Navigating a Large Organization: Influencing and driving change across multiple departments and stakeholder groups within a large, established corporation can be complex. Requires strong stakeholder management and communication skills.
• Balancing Innovation with Feasibility: Translating innovative design ideas into practical, compliant, and budget-conscious solutions within the financial services industry requires careful consideration of business constraints and regulatory requirements.
• Embedding HCD Culture: Shifting mindsets and embedding HCD as a core practice across different business units, especially those with established processes, requires persistent effort, education, and demonstration of value.
• Measuring CX Impact: Clearly articulating and quantifying the ROI of CX design initiatives to secure ongoing investment and demonstrate success can be challenging.

Learning & Development Opportunities:

• Advanced CX & Design Certifications: Opportunities to pursue specialized certifications in Service Design, UX, or Customer Experience Management.
• Industry Conferences & Workshops: Participation in leading CX and design events to stay abreast of industry trends and best practices.
• Leadership Development Programs: Access to AIA's internal leadership training to hone skills in strategy, team management, and influence.
• Cross-Departmental Exposure: Gaining deeper understanding of other business functions through project collaboration, broadening overall business acumen.

📝 Enhancement Note: Operations professionals can leverage these challenges as opportunities to showcase their problem-solving skills and strategic thinking. For instance, demonstrating how they would tackle organizational resistance to change or how they would build a business case for CX investments aligns directly with operational leadership capabilities.

💡 Interview Preparation

Strategy Questions:

• "Describe a time you used Human-Centered Design principles to solve a complex customer problem. What was your process, and what was the outcome?" (Focus on your methodology, problem-solving, and measurable impact.)
• "How would you approach mapping and improving the customer journey for AIA's new [specific product, e.g., health insurance policy enrollment]?" (Demonstrate your strategic thinking, process mapping skills, and understanding of the insurance context.)
• "How do you balance the need for innovative customer experiences with business feasibility, regulatory compliance, and operational constraints?" (Showcase your pragmatic approach and understanding of operational realities.)

Company & Culture Questions:

• "What do you know about AIA's mission to help people live Healthier, Longer, Better Lives, and how would your work as a CX Designer Principal contribute to this?" (Research AIA's mission and values; connect your role to their purpose.)
• "How would you foster a Human-Centered Design Community of Practice within AIA Philippines?" (Highlight your initiative, leadership potential, and passion for spreading HCD.)
• "Describe your experience working with diverse stakeholders (e.g., Sales, IT, Compliance). How do you ensure alignment and buy-in for CX initiatives?" (Emphasize your collaboration, communication, and influence skills.)

Portfolio Presentation Strategy:

• Structure Your Narrative: For each project, use a clear structure: Problem -> Your Role -> Process -> Solution -> Impact (quantified).
• Highlight Operationalization: Emphasize how your designs translate into actionable steps for business units and operations teams. Discuss any implementation considerations or challenges you foresaw.
• Showcase Data & Metrics: Present data that supports your design decisions and demonstrates the success of your solutions. If quantitative data is limited, use qualitative insights and user feedback effectively.
• Be Ready for Deep Dives: Anticipate detailed questions about your design choices, tools used, and how you handled specific challenges. Show your depth of understanding.

📝 Enhancement Note: Operations candidates should tailor their answers to highlight their ability to implement and operationalize designs, their understanding of process efficiency, and their data-driven decision-making. When discussing portfolio projects, focus on the "operational impact" and how the design led to tangible improvements in business processes or customer interactions from an operational standpoint.

📌 Application Steps

To apply for this Customer Experience Designer Principal position:

• Submit your application through the AIA Careers portal via the provided link.
• Tailor Your Resume: Ensure your resume clearly highlights your experience in Human-Centered Design, journey mapping, service design, and any relevant industry experience (insurance/healthcare). Use keywords from the job description.
• Prepare Your Portfolio: Curate a strong portfolio showcasing 3-4 key projects that demonstrate your design process, HCD expertise, and measurable impact. Focus on projects that align with the responsibilities outlined.
• Practice Your Narrative: Rehearse your portfolio presentation, focusing on clearly articulating the problem, your process, the solution, and the quantifiable results. Be ready to discuss how your designs impact operations and customer journeys.
• Research AIA: Familiarize yourself with AIA Philippines' mission, values, products, and recent initiatives. Understand their commitment to "Healthier, Longer, Better Lives" and how CX contributes to this.

⚠️ 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.