Creative Technology Lead

In a nutshell

IDEO Chicago is looking for a Creative Technology Lead who is passionate about using technology to imagine and create products, services, and experiences that people love.

You’ll sit at the intersection of design and technology, using software, AI, hardware, and emerging tools as a creative material for exploration, invention, and making. This is a hands-on role for someone who lets the challenge at hand guide the technology they use: a curious maker who learns quickly, experiments fearlessly, and is as interested in what a technology means as in how it works.

You might prototype an AI-powered product experience one week, build an interactive physical prototype the next, and explore an entirely new tool or medium after that. Through it all, you’ll stay focused on the humans involved — using technology in service of people’s needs rather than as an end in itself.

Once you are here, you will…

Bring a technologist’s perspective to help clients and interdisciplinary teams navigate the intersection of what is desirable and newly possible. You may be leading a team and project or joining a team as a contributing member.
Rapidly prototype products, services, and experiences using software, AI, hardware, physical computing, and whatever other tools the problem demands, or that you dream up!
Explore emerging technologies and translate their capabilities, limitations, and implications into meaningful opportunities for people and organizations
Inspire teams through making — introducing new tools, unconventional approaches, and experiments that expand how we design and what solutions are possible
Contribute to the evolution of IDEO’s design practice, exploring how new technologies are changing the relationships between design, prototyping, development, and delivery
Participate in IDEO’s broader emerging technology community alongside other designers, engineers, data scientists, and more.

We're looking for someone with

A strong track record of experimenting, prototyping, and building with a broad range of technologies, including products or experiences where AI plays a meaningful role
Experience shipping real products and an understanding of what it takes to get technology-enabled ideas to market.
Fluency in software and digital prototyping, with the ability to move from sketches and prototypes to proofs of concept and functioning experiences
A demonstrated curiosity to acquire new skills, learn new tools, and explore emerging technologies
The ability to hold rigor and imagination at the same time: enough technical understanding to recognize real constraints, and enough creative curiosity to explore things that have not been built before

It's a bonus if you

Work across both software and hardware, including electronics, sensors, physical computing, fabrication, robotics, or connected products
Have experience in consulting, innovation, R&D, creative technology, or other environments where the problems and tools change frequently
Have thoughtful perspectives about how AI is changing software design, based on hands-on experience
Have a habit of building things simply because you are curious to find out whether they can be built

Some IDEO projects to check out

Duck, Duck, Duck
American Express Pay it Plan it
Moooi Piro
Kooth Soluna
Ethiqly

Why is this role important for IDEO's work?

The technology landscape is changing quickly. AI is a powerful force, but it is far from the only one changing what is possible, easy, and commercially viable. At the same time, the boundaries between design, prototyping, development, and delivery are shifting.

We believe Creative Technologists have an important role to play in that change: staying curious about what is becoming possible, making those possibilities tangible, and helping teams imagine better things to build.

What does IDEO offer you?

IDEO is a place where you can solve diverse, complex challenges for our clients and their organizations, alongside thoughtful, intelligent individuals who lead with curiosity, empathy, and humility. We intentionally craft moments that allow our community to pause, create, and connect. We encourage our community to bring their whole selves to work, respect the need for work-life balance, and allow for autonomy in the design process and your career.