Own experience direction by setting the design point of view on an engagement, defining experience principles and goals, and holding the work to them from framing through delivery; Organize systems around behavior: model how work actually gets done across users, systems, and touchpoints, identify where value concentrates, and use that to define what the system should be; Make the future tangible by bringing prototypes, demos, and simulations upstream so clients can evaluate a direction while it is still cheap to change, calibrating fidelity to the decision at hand; Carry work from concept to pilot, moving ideas through sketches, wireframes, and proofs of concept into piloting and execution, and staying involved as real-world feedback reshapes the design; Lead client decision-making by facilitating working sessions and presenting to executive audiences clearly and directly, using narrative and concrete artifacts to move decisions forward; Build and lead the team: manage and develop designers, set clear expectations, give direct feedback, and own delivery end-to-end so complexity resolves at your level rather than escalating; Advance the Experience practice by contributing to internal methods, patterns, and external points of view, and help define what Experience Design at Proto is as the department grows. 10+ years of experience in experience design, service design, interaction design, or systems design within innovation, consultancy, product, or venture-building contexts; Undergraduate and/or graduate degree in design, human-centered computing, psychology, engineering, or a related field; Proven ability to own complex projects from early framing through delivery, with a portfolio showing systems-level judgment and depth of thinking, not just surface polish; Fluency in journey mapping, interaction modeling, service blueprints, prototyping, and usability evaluation combined with an understanding of technical constraints, tradeoffs, and system behavior; Experience turning ambiguous, high-stakes problems into structured design direction that informs product, investment, or organizational decisions; Proven ability to lead senior stakeholders through uncertainty, and to make design decisions legible to people who are not designers; Experience managing and developing designers, with evidence that people got measurably better working for you; Operational resilience, including the ability to maintain quality under pressure, manage multiple workstreams, and work through periods of intensity and change; Good judgment and low ego.