EY Arena Experience Designer (Supervising Associate/Assistant Director) - Riyadh

Role Purpose

This is a unique opportunity to help shape a leading Arabic-first, AI-enabled experience design capability across Saudi Arabia and the wider GCC.

The Assistant Director / Senior Manager, Experience & Design Strategy will lead the design and delivery of impactful experiences across physical, digital, immersive, and experiential environments. This is a hands-on design leadership role requiring an individual who combines strategic thinking, creative excellence, and execution capability.

The successful candidate will personally create high-quality design outputs while leading the development of innovation experiences, executive workshops, immersive environments, digital products, strategic communications, and client activations. They will work across graphic design, experience design, UX/UI, service design, spatial design, immersive storytelling, motion design, and executive communication design.

A critical requirement is the ability to conceptualize and design natively in both Arabic and English, creating original Arabic-first experiences, content, interfaces, and narratives tailored to Saudi Arabian and GCC audiences.

Key Responsibilities

Experience Strategy & Innovation

• Translate business challenges and innovation opportunities into compelling experience strategies and design solutions.
• Design end-to-end experiences across physical, digital, immersive, and hybrid environments.
• Apply human-centered design, service design, and design thinking methodologies.
• Leverage AI, emerging technologies, and innovative design approaches to create differentiated experiences and client value.

Multidisciplinary Design Delivery

• Personally create and oversee design outputs across:
• Graphic and visual design
• Brand storytelling and communication design
• Executive presentations and board-level storytelling
• Workshop design and visualization
• UX/UI and interactive prototyping
• Product and service design
• Motion graphics and video content
• Event, exhibition, and activation design
• Spatial and environmental design
• Immersive and interactive experiences
• Igloo Vision and 360° environments
• Arabic-First Experience Design
• Create original design concepts and experiences directly in Arabic and English.
• Apply advanced Arabic typography, visual hierarchy, and RTL design principles.
• Design bilingual experiences, interfaces, presentations, and communications.
• Ensure cultural, linguistic, and visual relevance for Saudi Arabian and GCC audiences.
• Candidates whose experience is limited to translating English content into Arabic will not be considered.

Leadership & Stakeholder Engagement

• Provide creative direction and maintain design quality across multiple initiatives.
• Engage confidently with C-suite executives, senior leaders, clients, and external partners.
• Present recommendations with clarity, credibility, and commercial awareness.
• Build design capability, mentor team members, and contribute to the evolution of experience design practices.

Required Experience

• 8-12+ years of experience in multidisciplinary design, experience design, creative direction, innovation, or related fields.
• Proven portfolio demonstrating end-to-end ownership from concept through execution.
• Experience designing across digital, physical, experiential, and immersive mediums.
• Experience within consulting, innovation, design agencies, customer experience, or enterprise environments.
• Experience working directly with senior executives and client stakeholders.
• Strong understanding of AI-enabled experiences, emerging technologies, and digital innovation.
• Professional fluency in Arabic and English with demonstrated Arabic-first design capability.

Education

• Bachelor's or Master's degree in a design-related discipline, including:
• Graphic Design, Visual Communication, Experience Design, Interaction Design, UX/UI Design, Product Design, Service Design, Digital Media, Motion Design, Spatial or Environmental Design, Architecture or Interior Architecture, Industrial Design
• Equivalent professional experience supported by an exceptional portfolio will also be considered.

Technical Skills

• Advanced proficiency in: Adobe Creative Suite, Figma and FigJam, Miro, Lucid, Microsoft PowerPoint and communication design tools, UX/UI and prototyping platforms, AI-assisted design and content creation tools
• Preferred experience with: Igloo Vision environments, AR/VR/XR and immersive technologies, Unity, Unreal Engine, Blender, SketchUp, Cinema 4D, or similar platforms
• Leadership Competencies: Strategic Thinking, Creative Excellence, Executive Presence
• Client Centricity, Cultural Intelligence, Commercial Acumen, Collaboration & Influence, Innovation Mindset, Delivery Excellence, Talent Development.

Portfolio Requirement (Mandatory)

• Candidates must provide a portfolio demonstrating hands-on design capability across multiple mediums, including digital, physical, immersive, experiential, and bilingual (Arabic/English) experiences.
• An exceptional portfolio demonstrating original Arabic-first design capability, executive storytelling, and experience design across multiple mediums is a mandatory requirement for this role.