Principal Consultant - Advisory

AHEAD builds platforms for digital business. By weaving together advances in cloud infrastructure, automation and analytics, and software delivery, we help enterprises deliver on the promise of digital transformation.   At AHEAD, we prioritize creating a culture of belonging, where all perspectives and voices are represented, valued, respected, and heard. We create spaces to empower everyone to speak up, make change, and drive the culture at AHEAD.    We are an equal opportunity employer, and do not discriminate based on an individual's race, national origin, color, gender, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, religion, age, disability, marital status, or any other protected characteristic under applicable law, whether actual or perceived.    We embrace all candidates that will contribute to the diversification and enrichment of ideas and perspectives at AHEAD. Responsibilities

Client Delivery:

· Facilitate sections of strategy, roadmap, design, and planning workshops

· Lead multidisciplinary project teams (advisory, product, design, data, and engineering) in the delivery of consulting service offerings

· Lead Experience Design engagements end to end, from user research and discovery through interaction design, prototyping, usability validation, and developer handoff

· Shape product and experience strategy alongside client and delivery teams, translating business needs into clear requirements, specifications, and design direction that engineering teams can build against.

· Lead the conception and incubation of new products, platforms, and accelerators from concept to market, including early go-to-market, and guide clients in replacing legacy systems with modern, scalable solutions.

· Guide the definition and design of AI-enabled and agentic solutions, applying human-centered and responsible-AI principles, including human-in-the-loop controls, evaluation, and governance

· Lead technical project teams in the delivery of consulting service offerings

· Drive and manage the objectives, requirements gathering, project tasks/milestone, project status, dependencies, and timelines, to ensure engagements are delivered successfully and on time while meeting the business objectives

· Breaks down the problem into manageable segments, identifies the factors that affect the problem and decides how to approach the project

· Define outcome-based success measures for assigned workstreams and track them alongside traditional delivery metrics such as scope, schedule, and budget

· Partner with data and AI teams to apply enterprise data and emerging approaches, such as agentic and human-centered AI, to design solutions that are trusted, usable, and tied to business outcomes

Business Development:

· Support business development pursuits through client discovery meetings that help qualify opportunities and allow the ideation of a strawman proposal

· Scope, position, and sell Experience Design services, including design system, accessibility, and AI experience engagements, as part of broader transformation programs

· Develop and promote relationships with customers and present technical solutions to C Level Executives- and facilitate to drive consensus and action — including addressing difficult client conversations and engaging senior stakeholders to reach meaningful outcomes

· Identify follow-on /expansion opportunities, co-author points of view and market-facing content, and represent AHEAD’s offerings with the same rigor and consistency they bring to client delivery.

· Assess a client’s current technology footprint to identify and prioritize value-creation opportunities that inform the broader business case.

· Build and maintain basic business-case components (cost/benefit, ROI/TCO inputs) that connect delivery outcomes to the client’s commercial and strategic priorities

Practice Development & Thought Leadership:

· Development and enhancement of AHEAD Advisory services offerings, including consulting offerings and deployment services

· Build and lead an Experience Design capability, including a Center of Excellence model, design governance, and shared standards across client product teams.

· Develop repeatable Experience Design offerings and accelerators, such as design system starter kits, accessibility assessments, and AI experience frameworks

· Grow client relationships and the practice by turning focused, tactical engagements into long-term, multi-initiative programs, and by helping build the people, standards, and offerings needed to scale the capability.

· Maintain a broad knowledge and understanding of the current and anticipated future state of the IT marketplace including IT trends, technologies, and standards

· Mentor team members

Qualifications

· 8+ years of relevant experience in experience design, product, or digital transformation consulting, with at least 5 years leading client engagements, including leading design or multidisciplinary teams

· Hands-on experience designing agentic and agent-to-UI interactions, context engines, and agent builder platforms.

· Experience taking products or platforms from concept to market, including early go-to-market, and replacing legacy systems or established incumbents.

· Hands-on comfort working with enterprise data and emerging AI approaches, such as agentic and human-centered AI, to translate business needs into clear designs and requirements.

· Graduate degree in Engineering, Computer Science, Mathematics, or a related discipline

· Ability to break down complex, ambiguous problems into structured, actionable workstreams

· Familiarity with Agile methodologies and SDLC

· Demonstrated experience leading Experience Design or UX teams and driving design quality, standards, and craft across multiple engagements.

· Client relationship management, including setting and managing expectations and serving as a credible, trusted advisor to client executive and C-suite stakeholders.

· Demonstrated business acumen, with the ability to understand client industries, operating models, and strategic priorities.

· Executive presence and polished presentation skills, with the ability to present deliverables directly to client executive management.

· Excellent verbal and written communication skills, with strong interpersonal and active-listening ability across diverse personalities and audiences

· Preferred: Experience designing for complex, data-heavy, or regulated workflows, including analytics and operational platforms

Why AHEAD:   Through our daily work and internal groups like Moving Women AHEAD and RISE AHEAD, we value and benefit from diversity of people, ideas, experience, and everything in between.   We fuel growth by stacking our office with top-notch technologies in a multi-million-dollar lab, by encouraging cross department training and development, sponsoring certifications and credentials for continued learning.   India Employment Benefits include:  Comprehensive health insurance coverage for employees, with options to extend coverage to dependents Paid time off and company holidays, along with additional leave benefits as per policy Flexible work arrangements, supporting work-life balance Learning and development opportunities to support continuous growth and upskilling Employee wellness initiatives and programs focused on physical and mental well-being Retirement and statutory benefits in line with India regulations Inclusive and people-first culture, with a strong focus on collaboration and ownership