Variant Stavanger

We are growing the team in Variant Stavanger, and we are looking for experienced designers who want to work close to clients, technology, and business.

At Variant, design is not only about screens, flows, or making things look good. It is about understanding what actually needs to change, how people work, where technology can create value, and how new products, services, and ways of working can become real.

We start with the problem, not the technology. Sometimes the answer is a digital product. Sometimes it is a service, a platform, a better process, or helping the client make better decisions with the data and tools they already have.

This role is for people who like when the problems are a bit unclear and complex. You can move between strategy and execution, business needs and user needs, systems and details. You can sit close to the client, understand their domain, frame opportunities, lead the design work, and help a multidisciplinary team move from unclear to concrete.

What you will do

You will lead design work in client projects, often in complex domains where the challenge is not fully defined from the start.

You will help clients understand users, work processes, services, data, and decision processes. You turn insight into direction, direction into concepts, and concepts into solutions that can be built, tested, and improved.

You will work closely with developers, data engineers, product people, domain experts, and client stakeholders. The important part is not only to design the solution, but to help the team understand why it matters and how it can create value.

You will also work as an advisor. That means asking good questions, challenging assumptions, facilitating shared understanding, and helping clients make clearer choices. Not from the outside, but side by side with the people doing the work.

We believe good design means

Understanding the business, not only the user interface.

Working closely with technology and business, so design is not something added at the end, but part of how we understand problems, shape solutions, and create real value.

Making complex things easier to understand, decide on, and act on.

Creating early tangibility through storytelling, sketches, prototypes, service blueprints, user journeys, concepts, and clear visual communication.

Helping clients change how work actually gets done, not only what appears on the screen.

Being curious about AI, data, and new technology without losing the human perspective.

Who we are looking for

We are looking for people with solid experience in service design, product design, interaction design, strategic design, or a related design discipline.

You have probably worked for several years with complex client problems, digital products, services, or transformation work. You may come from consultancy, a product environment, a design studio, or a larger organisation. What matters most is that you can lead design work with confidence, curiosity, and quality.

You are comfortable with ambiguity and know how to create structure when things are unclear.

You can plan and facilitate workshops, run interviews, synthesize insight, frame opportunities, create concepts, prototype solutions, and explain design choices in a clear way.

You can lead design activities in multidisciplinary teams and help others do better work.

You have strong visual and verbal communication skills, and you can make complex material understandable for both specialists and decision makers.

You understand that design is also about business value, adoption, change, and execution.

AI and new ways of working

We expect you to be curious about AI and willing to use it actively in your own work.

That does not mean chasing every new tool. It is more about understanding how AI can support research, synthesis, prototyping, communication, concept development, and delivery. It is also about knowing when AI is useful, when it is not, and how it can be used in a responsible way.

You should also be able to help clients explore where AI can create real value in their business. Not as a buzzword, but as part of how decisions are made, processes are improved, services are delivered, and people work.

You might be a good fit if you

Like working with complex domains and real operational challenges.

Enjoy being close to the client and learning how their business actually works.

Can move from strategy to detail without losing the bigger picture.

Are confident enough to challenge, but generous enough to bring people with you.

Care about craft, quality, and clarity.

Believe that design, technology, data, and AI should work together to create meaningful change.

Want to help build a strong local design and technology environment in Stavanger.

Why Variant Stavanger?

We are building a local environment with experienced people who care about the craft, the client, and each other.

We work across design, technology, data, AI, and business development. Our ambition is not only to deliver projects, but to help clients build better capabilities and make better decisions.

For us, design has a central role in this. Design helps us frame the right problems, make opportunities concrete, create shared understanding, and turn ideas into real value.

Still not sure who Variant is?

Variant is the sum of the people who work here.

In Stavanger, we are building a growing professional environment with a strong connection to the energy sector, among others through large actors like Aker BP, Aker Solutions, and Equinor. We have come together to build a company, a concept, and a philosophy we believe in ourselves, with ambitious plans for further growth.

We choose to work as consultants because it allows us to use our craft across many exciting domains and problem spaces. The consultant role gives us demanding, but meaningful challenges. It creates drive, learning, and ownership in the work we do.

Variant is a proud sustainable company. For us, that means people should thrive, have space, and work under good conditions. We do not believe in overtime as a default. We believe in healthy working conditions, trust, and people who care about their craft.

Variant is a company by and for people who like to learn. People who take responsibility for their own workday, and who are generous with each other. We take openness seriously, and Variant is built with transparency as a foundation.

Variant is also located in Trondheim, Oslo, Bergen, Stockholm, Gothenburg, and Linköping. In total, we are more than 100 people. We want to build strong local belonging in each city, while also using the opportunities that come from being part of a larger professional community.

The process from here

We would like to get to know you through an informal conversation, preferably followed by a more in-depth professional conversation.

We also appreciate if you can provide three references from previous projects or employments, so both we and future clients can get a good picture of how you work.

Questions about the role?

Feel free to contact:

Yann Smith-Kielland
Chief Design Officer, Variant Stavanger
ysk@variant.no
+47 951 36 462

Apply through the button below, or contact us directly if you have any questions before applying.