Experience Design CoE Lead

Line of Service

Internal Firm Services

Industry/Sector

Not Applicable

Specialism

IFS - Information Technology (IT)

Management Level

Senior Manager

Job Description & Summary

At PwC, reporting to the Products & Experiences (P&E) Leader, the Experience Design CoE Lead is responsible for leading the Service Design, User Experience, User Experience Research, User Interface and Visual Design functions within PwC Canada’s Design Center of Excellence (CoE). This role is accountable not only for the overall quality and impact of design delivery, but for evolving how design is practiced, enabled, and scaled across PwC Canada to meet the changing needs of the firm, its clients, and its technology landscape.

A core focus of the role is redefining the relationship between design and its clients while modernizing the CoE’s practices and operating model. The Experience Design CoE Lead is accountable for transforming the CoE into a deeply client-centric, advisory-led organization, where design professionals are trusted partners with a strong understanding of customer needs, business context, and delivery constraints. This includes driving the adoption of new design approaches, methodologies, and technologies — including generative AI for the purpose of Rapid Prototyping — to improve insight generation, accelerate delivery, and increase the strategic value design brings to product and technology initiatives. The role ensures design talent is embedded and aligned effectively with product, engineering, and other P&T counterparts, enabling design to influence decisions earlier and more meaningfully across the lifecycle of work.

As a people and practice leader, the Experience Design CoE Lead builds a culture that balances innovation with accountability. This includes setting clear expectations for craft excellence, technical capability, and client impact; continuously evolving skills, roles, and ways of working to support the future of design; and having direct, constructive conversations where performance or capability gaps exist. Success in this role is defined by measurable shifts in how design is practiced, experienced, and consumed across PwC Canada — from a primarily delivery-oriented function to a modern, technology-enabled, strategic partner that drives meaningful business value.

Meaningful work you’ll be part of 

As an Experience Design CoE Lead at the Senior Manager level, you’ll work as part of a team of problem solvers, helping to solve business issues, deliver high quality client service and operational efficiency. Responsibilities include but are not limited to: 

• Lead the transformation of the Experience Design COE by redefining its role, operating model, and value proposition to support a more client-centric, advisory-driven, and outcomes-focused design capability within P&T.  

• Drive the evolution of design practices, methodologies, and ways of working, ensuring the COE adopts modern, fit-for-purpose approaches that improve speed, quality, and alignment with product and technology delivery.  

• Enable Design-to-code delivery with a focus on rapid prototyping for quickly creating and testing interactive designs to get feedback early and often. 

• Provide strategic oversight for delivering high‑quality, customer‑centric design solutions across the Experience Design COE, ensuring consistency, rigor, and measurable impact 

• Ensure design outcomes are grounded in deep user and client insight, informed by research, and aligned to clear success metrics and business objectives 

• Establish and uphold standards for experience quality, usability, accessibility, and coherence across interfaces, journeys, touchpoints, and services 

• Oversee research, testing, and validation practices to inform decisions, reduce delivery risk, and drive evidence‑based improvement 

• Govern the evolution and use of shared assets such as design systems, patterns, and guidelines, balancing brand alignment with delivery flexibility 

• Enable seamless collaboration between design, product, engineering, and delivery teams to ensure design intent is feasible and realized end‑to‑end 

• Lead and develop a multidisciplinary design team, setting clear expectations, coaching performance, and fostering a culture of accountability and continuous learning 

Experiences and skills you’ll use to solve 

• Extensive experience in design, product, business, or IT portfolio roles, including people leadership experience 

• Deep understanding of experience design across service design, UX, UI, visual design, and research to deliver end‑to‑end experiences 

• Hands‑on experience creating design artifacts such as wireframes, personas, customer journeys, mockups, and high‑fidelity prototypes 

• Strong knowledge of accessibility and inclusive design standards, including WCAG 2.0 

• Experience with qualitative and quantitative user research methods, including interviews, workshops, and rapid prototyping 

• Proficiency with industry‑standard tools and platforms (e.g., Figma, Sketch, Adobe XD, Miro, Mural, Jira, Azure DevOps) and Agile methodologies 

• Solid grounding in human‑centered and customer‑centered design methodologies from discovery through iteration 

• Understanding of how generative AI and emerging technologies can enhance design research, ideation, and delivery workflows 

• Experience designing and evolving operating models, including intake, prioritization, resourcing, and engagement processes 

• Strong leadership, problem‑solving, and communication skills, with the ability to collaborate cross‑functionally and engage senior stakeholders 

• PwC Canada is committed to cultivating an inclusive, hybrid work environment. Exact expectations for your team can be discussed with your interviewer 

This position ensures continuity and upholds our standards of excellence following the departure of a valued team member. 

The salary range for this position is $137,600 - $187,600. The posted salary range represents the expected hiring range for PwC locations in major city centres. Given our national recruiting approach, ranges may vary for positions in other locations. At PwC Canada, base salary is determined by your skills, experience, qualifications and work location. In addition to base salary, eligible employees may have opportunities to participate in variable incentive pay programs which are designed to reward individual and firm-wide achievements. We are committed to offering competitive compensation and adhere to all relevant pay transparency legislation. During the hiring process, our Talent Acquisition team will provide details about our comprehensive total rewards package. 

Why you’ll love PwC 

We’re inspiring and empowering our people to change the world. Powered by the latest technology, you’ll be a part of diverse teams helping public and private clients build trust and deliver sustained outcomes. This meaningful work, and our continuous development environment, will take your career to the next level. We reward your impact, and support your wellbeing, through a competitive compensation package, inclusive benefits and flexibility programs that will help you thrive in work and life. Learn more about our Application Process and Total Rewards Package at: https://jobs-ca.pwc.com/ca/en/life-at-pwc 

PwC Canada acknowledges that we work and live across Turtle Island, on the land that is now known as Canada, which are the lands of the ancestral, treaty and unceded territories of the First Nations, Métis and Inuit Peoples. We recognize the systemic racism, colonialism and oppression that Indigenous Peoples have experienced and still go through, and we commit to allyship and solidarity.

Education (if blank, degree and/or field of study not specified)

Degrees/Field of Study required:

Degrees/Field of Study preferred:

Certifications (if blank, certifications not specified)

Required Skills

Optional Skills

Accepting Feedback, Accepting Feedback, Active Listening, Agile Methodology, Analytical Thinking, Business Case Development, Business Process Modeling, Coaching and Feedback, Communication, Competitive Analysis, Creativity, Customer Needs Analysis, Customer Relationship Management, Customer Satisfaction, Digitization, Embracing Change, Emotional Regulation, Empathy, Inclusion, Influence, Intellectual Curiosity, Learning Agility, Marketing Management, Market Research, Market Trends {+ 25 more}

Desired Languages (If blank, desired languages not specified)

Travel Requirements

Not Specified

Available for Work Visa Sponsorship?

No

Government Clearance Required?

No

Job Posting End Date

We’re committed to providing accommodation throughout the application, interview, and employment process. If you require accommodation to be at your best, please let us know during the application process.

The use of artificial intelligence (AI) in recruiting is just getting started, so we know you have questions about how and why we use it. At certain points during our recruiting process, we rely on AI to improve your experience. This could be during resume review or curating personalized job recommendations, asking you clarifying questions via a chatbot or during our interview scheduling to improve your experience. Our use of AI helps ensure we combat bias by evaluating candidates equally and fairly, without seeing identity information, such as your name, or gender for example). AI also helps us better predict successful hires by reviewing all applicants for a role and the relationship between your skills, experience and likely success at PwC Canada. While AI supports parts of our recruitment process, final hiring decisions always involve human review. For more information about our use and protection of your data, please refer to our Privacy Policy (https://www.pwc.com/ca/en/privacy-policy.html).

Nous tenons à répondre à vos besoins tout au long du processus de demande d’emploi, d’entrevue et d’embauche. Si vous avez besoin de mesures d’adaptation pour être parfaitement à l’aise, faites-le-nous savoir à l’étape de la demande d’emploi.

L’utilisation de l’intelligence artificielle (IA) dans le domaine du recrutement en est à ses balbutiements. Nous savons que vous pourriez vous demander comment et pourquoi nous y avons recours. À certains stades de notre processus de recrutement, nous comptons sur l’IA pour améliorer votre expérience. Par exemple, pendant l’examen du curriculum vitæ ou l’élaboration d’une liste de recommandations personnalisées, un agent conversationnel pourrait vous demander des précisions ou fixer avec vous un rendez-vous pour l’entrevue. L’IA nous aide à mieux lutter contre les préjugés, car l’évaluation des candidats se fait de façon juste et équitable, sans que les informations d’identification comme le nom ou le sexe soient connues. Elle nous permet également de mieux repérer les bons candidats pour un poste et d’évaluer le lien entre leurs compétences, leur expérience et leurs chances de réussir chez PwC Canada. Bien que l’IA facilite certaines étapes de notre processus de recrutement, les décisions finales d’embauche sont toujours prises par des personnes. Pour en savoir plus sur l’utilisation et la protection de vos données personnelles, consultez notre politique sur la protection des renseignements confidentiels (https://www.pwc.com/ca/fr/privacy-policy.html).