Do you want to be part of our innovative and entrepreneurial team?

Do you thrive in an entrepreneurial environment and enjoy working in a team atmosphere? Are you an “outside the box” thinker who strives to implement continuous improvements? Do you take a strategic approach to your work? Do you enjoy a fast-paced culture where your opinions are valued and respected? Do you enjoy building partnerships to solve mutually beneficial challenges?

Mitacs is a national not-for-profit that helps industry and non-profit partners solve strategic challenges by leveraging Canada’s world-class post-secondary talent and a global network of industry, academic, and government partnerships. Through these collaborations, Mitacs helps business and community partners succeed, improves students’ on-the-job skills development, and strengthens Canada’s world-class innovation ecosystem. At Mitacs, we strive to develop the next generation of innovators with vital research and business skills. In partnership with domestic and international companies, governments, and academia, we support a new economy using Canada’s most valuable resource – its people.

To get a better understanding of Mitacs and read more about our values, please visit our .

ABOUT THE ROLE

Mitacs is looking for a dynamic and results-driven individual to fill the role of Service Design Specialist. In this position, you will leverage analytical expertise and client-centric strategies to implement new client-centric practices, support in optimizing processes, and uncover business insights. Working collaboratively across teams, you will play a pivotal role in driving data-informed decisions and delivering seamless, impactful experiences for our clients. This role focuses on designing holistic service interactions across touchpoints of a whole customer experience (external end-to-end, front and back-end) and works cross-functionally to solve client/user challenges. This role will also support delivering the services (online and offline) based on the insight gained by user research and business strategists.

Full time temporary 24 months

ROLES & RESPONSIBILITIES

Service Design and Implementation

• Apply human-centered design principles to support innovative and intuitive granting (and other) solutions for prospective and repeat clients.
• Support the development of frameworks best suited to service delivery needs (e.g., customer/persona/user journeys, service blueprints, ecosystem maps).
• In collaboration with the lead Service Design Advisor, actively design end-to-end service experiences, considering both front-stage (customer-facing) and back-stage (operational) aspects of services.
• As needed, work with industry experts to elevate our service design methods and outcomes to reach our ideal future state.
• Implement design vision, strategy, principles, process, and systems that will guide the development of Mitacs services
• Collaborate closely with cross-functional teams, including designers, product managers, operational efficiency advisors and business stakeholders to translate user insights into actionable design recommendations and strategies, as well as ensure seamless integration of user-centered design principles.
• Understanding the broader user’s journey with an online product, and define and create content that is accessible, understandable, actionable, and engaging across touchpoints to shape experiences that transform customers into advocates.
• Monitoring performance metrics to assess current design features and implement improvements continuously.
• Playing a role in evolving and iterating the design system by supporting discussions around proposed updates and trade-offs and participating in feedback opportunities.

Project management/coordination 

• Ensure appropriate coordination of needs across projects to meet operational objectives and report, track accordingly
• Support change and communications plans in collaboration with the transformation management office
• Ensure effective communication of project progress, results, and risks through relevant channels

Maintaining best practices 

• Stay updated on the latest trends, best practices, and emerging technologies in human-centered design and performance tracking of service design.
• Socialize and continuously incorporate management of experience philosophy into all service offerings and programmatic design discussions across the organization.
• Share knowledge and data insights with the team, contributing to the continuous improvement of design processes and methodologies.

Skills

• At least 2 years of experience as a service designer (or similar role) designing and improving products, services, and business models
• Experience in the following practices: design thinking, user research, journey mapping, persona building, usability testing and prototype building, accessibility testing, data-driven design
• Embraces the importance of continuous, rapid testing, improvements, and learning
• Experience in a fast-paced environment, demonstrating agility and flexibility
• Ensure focused practices around effective user experience, end-to-end
• Strong facilitation skills including verbal and written communication skills
• Project management/coordination experience is an asset

• Service Design Certification is an asset
• Lean Six Sigma is an asset
• Knowledge of written and spoken English is required in this role as you will interact with colleagues, clients, and stakeholders located across Canada

Hiring Range: $63,920 – $75,905

Hiring and Salary Range Transparency 

Typically, employees are hired, transferred, or promoted within the salary range, specifically between the minimum and midpoint in the hiring range.

The salary range refers to the range of base salaries for a given position, encompassing the minimum and maximum amounts. The midpoint of the range is positioned approximately halfway between the minimum and maximum, indicating a fully qualified employee with comprehensive job knowledge and experience for the role.

Only in rare and exceptional circumstances, where a candidate has the experience, skills, and expertise that far exceed those required for the position, would we consider paying above the hiring range for this role.

Equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) and decolonization are core values at Mitacs: . We believe a diverse workforce comprised of individuals with different ideas, strengths, interests, and backgrounds (e.g., gender identities and expressions, Indigeneity, race, abilities, sexual orientation, and other identities) are crucial to our success. We welcome everyone to apply and encourage you to connect with us if you require accommodations during the recruitment process.