Design Strategist

Design Strategist 

at Relish Works

Chicago | Full Time 

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We are Relish Works, an innovation hub focused on the future of the foodservice industry. Relish Works operates as an independent start-up working with a top wholesale food distributor to identify growth opportunities and create user-centered solutions for the industry.

We are a group of passionate practitioners looking to add a Design Strategist to our Chicago-based innovation studio.

About the role:

The Design Strategist will conduct research, uncover insights, and develop frameworks for new strategies, businesses and service offerings in the foodservice industry. You will collaborate on interdisciplinary project teams of strategic thinkers and doers who have skills, experience and expertise across user research, experience design, business strategy, and project management. 

This role is best for someone who is both a strategic, creative thinker and a resourceful, self-driven doer, with experience engaging executive teams in developing new growth strategies and business models, and a deep curiosity in applying their skills to solving many different types of strategic and creative problems. 

Your day to day could be a combination of any of the following: 

• Conducting primary and secondary research to identify new growth opportunities in the food service industry
• Synthesizing and communicating research findings through compelling and engaging formats
• Creating frameworks to structure the thinking behind new concepts
• Developing new growth strategies and execution roadmaps for the wholesale food distribution business
• Collaborating with talent and leveraging resources and expertise across Relish functional areas (innovation, ventures, investments)
• Opportunity to mentor junior strategists and interns

You should apply if you have:

• A bachelor's degree or foreign equivalent degree
• 3-5 years of experience in human centered design and innovation (cross-industry consulting experience preferred)
• Ability to frame problems and engage with an executive level audience
• Excellent facilitation and verbal communication skills 
• Strong written and visual communication skills
• Comfort with ambiguity and ability to thrive in a self-directed culture
• Openness to learn from diverse perspectives and collaborate on multidisciplinary teams
• Motivation to solve end-user challenges, meet stakeholder needs, and deliver on business goals
• Desire to work on a lot of different types and sizes of projects 
• Aspiration to work in a startup environment where we move fast
• Willingness to ask questions
• A learner mindset - you are always interested in expanding your knowledge and perspective 

You will thrive if you align with our values:

• Our team is inclusive, passionate, resourceful, and dependable. We are a team of problem solvers who have super powers in strategy, research, design, and communication. We prioritize collaboration in our work and expect our team members to feel accountability for all parts of the business, not just their discipline.

This role is based out of Chicago - our offices are located in River North. You must be in the Chicago/Chicagoland area, or planning to relocate to the Chicago/Chicagoland area, to be considered for this position.