Service Design Manager - On-site Abu Dhabi - Octopus by RTG (5 months contract)

Role Overview

Service Design Manager position with Octopus by RTG, a division of Robusta Technology Group, based on-site in Abu Dhabi on a 5-month contract.

Company Overview

Octopus by RTG is part of Robusta Technology Group (RTG), a leading tech group with a decade of experience and a successful track record of delivering over 300 projects across Europe, the Middle East, and North America. Octopus specializes in rapidly assembling remote and onsite global tech teams fully aligned with client culture and practices. Octopus and Robusta build a bridge between Europe and Africa, creating tailored hub solutions to connect companies with top talent across the globe.

Role Purpose

Drive the design and transformation of end-to-end services that seamlessly connect digital, physical, and human touchpoints. Lead service design initiatives, mentor team members, and partner with clients and stakeholders to deliver innovative, customer-centric solutions that create measurable business impact.

Key Responsibilities

Service Design Leadership

• Lead and manage service design engagements across multiple client projects and industries.
• Define and drive service design strategies that align customer needs with business objectives.

Research & Insights

• Conduct and oversee qualitative and quantitative research to identify customer needs, pain points, behaviors, and opportunities.
• Identify service gaps, operational inefficiencies, and innovation opportunities across customer journeys and organizational processes.

Service Design Delivery

• Develop and validate service blueprints, customer journey maps, ecosystem maps, operating models, and experience principles.
• Lead the prototyping and testing of service concepts to validate assumptions and optimize experiences.

Stakeholder Engagement

• Facilitate executive-level workshops, co-creation sessions, and stakeholder alignment activities.
• Collaborate with business consultants, researchers, UX/UI designers, process designers, and technology teams to ensure successful implementation.

Performance & Continuous Improvement

• Define success metrics, KPIs, and measurement frameworks to monitor service performance and continuous improvement.

Capability Building

• Mentor and coach junior service designers, contributing to capability building and service design best practices.
• Advocate for human-centered design methodologies and foster a customer-centric culture within client organizations and project teams.

Qualifications & Experience

• Bachelor's degree in Service Design, Human-Centered Design, Interaction Design, Design Strategy, Business Design, or a related field.
• 7+ years of experience in Service Design, Customer Experience (CX), Design Strategy, or related disciplines.
• Proven track record of leading complex service design programs within large organizations.
• Extensive experience developing service blueprints, journey maps, ecosystem maps, and operating models.
• Deep understanding of customer experience design, service innovation, design thinking, and business transformation.
• Experience translating customer insights into strategic recommendations and business outcomes.
• Experience working with clients in the telecommunications and/or financial services sectors (preferred).
• Experience managing teams, mentoring designers, or leading service design capability development (preferred).
• Familiarity with business process design, operating model design, and organizational transformation initiatives (preferred).

Skills & Competencies

• Strong stakeholder management and facilitation skills, with experience engaging senior executives and decision-makers.
• Proficiency in tools such as Miro, Figma, Smaply, or similar service design platforms.
• Excellent communication, storytelling, and presentation skills.
• Arabic language proficiency (preferred).

Additional Information

• Contract type: 5 months, on-site in Abu Dhabi.