Position Summary:

At the forefront of innovation for award winning brands, IDEO leads the development of a wide range of initiatives-transforming ideas into compelling product and service experiences. Launching new companies and products, renewing or shifting brands as well as envisioning new scenarios, IDEO's work is multi-channel and multi-discipline with a strong strategic anchor. IDEO designs products, services, environments, processes, and digital experiences for organizations seeking new ways to provide value for their customers.

IDEO Chicago is looking for a passionate and talented individual to provide strategic, business, and fiscal leadership, while overseeing, managing, and developing profitable client relationships for our Service Design Practice.

The relationship manager will collaborate with practice leadership and IDEO design teams to develop and manage client relationships. We expect successful relationship managers to contribute to business development efforts for the practice.

Key Activities:

Responsibilities include: * Cultivate and strengthen client relationships, both existing and prospective, as appropriate * Partner with senior-level client representatives and engagement managers to gain an in-depth understanding of needs, (both client and IDEO), and provide strategic consultation where helpful * Be able to create client roadmaps - to strategically outline the work we are going to do together with our clients * Maintain dozens of active client relationships * Interface across IDEO to connect clients to appropriate IDEO resources * Seek and identify opportunities to grow revenue within the client base, seeking cross-practice/discipline opportunities wherever possible * Serve as the advocate for and voice of the client within IDEO * Provide tactical support and problem resolution for escalated client services issues * Collaborate with leadership team members of Service Design and other parts of the company, to create long-range Client Services strategy * Utilize prior experience, competitive intelligence and best practices to continually improve offerings and strengthen client loyalty toward IDEO and its evolving client practices, disciplines and business services offering * Bridge gap between the IDEO content and the clients’ business * Articulate the value of design to business and the product development process to our clients * Help the client to think about business in new ways * Deliver the highest level of client satisfaction while meeting or exceeding practice financial goals * Develop and manage active pipeline of opportunities and assigned annual revenue targets * Inspire individuals and design teams to deliver exceptional client service while maintaining IDEO standard of highest creative and technical client solutions * Act as mentor and role model to people in the Chicago office * Support legal contract negotiations and resourcing dialogs for projects * Participate in professional communities for lead generation outside of IDEO

Additional Skills Required:

Our work environment appeals to self-directed, flexible team players who have great interpersonal skills, learn quickly, work smart, and are comfortable with working under pressure in multi-disciplinary teams.