Design Leadership Jobs in Australia
Find your next Design Leadership role at companies that value creative talent
Showing 43 jobs
Head of Design
🇦🇺 Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Nando's Australia & New Zealand 🇦🇺 Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Lead the design of new restaurant builds, refurbishments, and innovation projects across Australia and New Zealand. Manage external architects and design partners while ensuring brand consistency and commercial success.
DESIGN MANAGER STORY BRIDGE RENEWAL PROGRAM
🇦🇺 Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
Brisbane City Council 🇦🇺 Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
The Design Manager will lead the design management function for the Story Bridge Renewal Program, overseeing multidisciplinary consultants and coordinating design development. They are responsible for planning, monitoring design delivery, facilitating reviews, and managing technical interfaces to ensure fit-for-purpose outcomes.
Design Manager - Power
🇦🇺 Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Beca 🇦🇺 Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
The Design Manager will oversee the planning, coordination, and delivery of design phases across a portfolio of energy projects. They are responsible for leading multi-disciplinary teams, managing design programs and budgets, and ensuring technical robustness through design assurance activities.
Head of Design
🇦🇺 Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Elmo Software 🇦🇺 Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
The Head of Design is responsible for leading the product design discipline, managing the design team, and ensuring high-quality usability and accessibility across all products. They will oversee the design system, manage budgets, and drive AI-native design practices in collaboration with product and engineering teams.
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Design Manager | Transport Infrastructure
🇦🇺 Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Systra 🇦🇺 Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
The Design Manager will deliver transport infrastructure design packages from concept to construction while managing scope, budget, and resources. They will coordinate multidisciplinary teams and collaborate with stakeholders to ensure high-quality, buildable outcomes.
Design Manager
🇦🇺 Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Bmd Group 🇦🇺 Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Lead the development, coordination, and assurance of multidisciplinary design solutions for a major transport infrastructure project from tender to completion. Manage design governance, stakeholder relationships, and ensure outcomes are safe, compliant, and buildable.
Senior Design Manager
🇦🇺 Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
Resourceful Recruitment 🇦🇺 Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
Lead and manage the design aspects of commercial construction projects from concept through to completion. Coordinate with clients, architects, and engineers to ensure design solutions are functional, compliant, and meet project requirements.
Design Manager
🇦🇺 Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Redpath Partners 🇦🇺 Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
The Design Manager leads the design development and coordination of hospitality capital works programs, including refurbishments and new developments. They manage external consultants and contractors to ensure projects are delivered within budget, timeline, and brand standards.
Design Manager (Data Centres)
🇦🇺 Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Kapitol 🇦🇺 Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
The Design Manager will lead and coordinate all design activities from development through to construction delivery, ensuring high-quality and compliant outcomes. They will bridge the gap between design, digital engineering, and construction teams to manage risks and optimize project performance.
Design Manager
🇦🇺 Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Talent Butler 🇦🇺 Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
The Design Manager will lead the design process for high-rise residential projects from concept through to construction and delivery. They are responsible for coordinating architects, engineers, and consultants while ensuring projects meet quality, budget, and commercial objectives.
Head of Design
🇦🇺 Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Alpha60 🇦🇺 Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
The Head of Design will lead the creative direction and hands-on development of seasonal collections, ensuring they align with the brand's identity and commercial goals. This role involves managing the design team, overseeing the entire production process from sketches to final fittings, and collaborating across departments to deliver cohesive ranges.
Senior Design Manager - Onshore Wind
🇦🇺 Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Beca 🇦🇺 Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Lead the design and delivery of onshore wind projects from early-stage development through to construction and commissioning. Coordinate multidisciplinary teams while building trusted client relationships and managing project governance and commercial performance.
Head Of Design
🇦🇺 Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Meshki 🇦🇺 Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
The Head of Design will define and protect the brand's product handwriting while leading the design team to create commercially successful and creatively distinctive collections. They will partner with cross-functional teams to ensure product consistency, fit, and alignment with overall brand vision and commercial objectives.
Design Manager
🇦🇺 Perth, Western Australia, Australia
Bechtel Corporation 🇦🇺 Perth, Western Australia, Australia
The Design Manager will lead a team to interpret, organize, and coordinate the engineering technical aspects of complex infrastructure projects. They are responsible for ensuring design compliance, managing technical risks, and facilitating communication between stakeholders and contractors.
Design Manager
🇦🇺 Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
Niche Talent. 🇦🇺 Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
The Design Manager will lead and manage external consultants and multidisciplinary design teams throughout the full project lifecycle. They are responsible for ensuring designs meet regulatory compliance, budget requirements, and construction standards while driving project quality and efficiency.
About Design Leadership careers
Design leaders in 2026 set the strategic vision for design organizations navigating an AI-saturated market. This role requires a balance of craft expertise and high-level business acumen to advocate for design's value at the executive level.
Effective leaders foster a culture of technical agency, establishing systems that allow human creativity and machine efficiency to coexist.
Companies like Stripe and Airbnb seek VPs and Directors of Design who can scale teams and align design strategy with long-term business objectives.
We feature senior leadership positions including Design Directors, Heads of Design, VP of Design, Chief Design Officers, and design team leads at companies like Meta, Google, Airbnb, Stripe, and fast-growing AI companies like OpenAI and Anthropic. These roles span product design, brand, and cross-functional design organizations.
Many companies offer remote design leadership roles, including distributed-first companies like Notion, Linear, GitLab, and Vercel. AI companies like Midjourney and Anthropic also hire remote design leaders. Some companies prefer hybrid arrangements for VP+ positions.
Most positions require 8–15+ years of design experience with 3–5+ years managing teams. Strong candidates demonstrate strategic thinking, team building, stakeholder management, and a track record of shipping successful products at companies like Figma, Spotify, Netflix, or emerging AI startups. Browse leadership portfolios to see how experienced designers showcase their impact.
Design leadership salaries are highly competitive: Design Directors earn $160k–$240k, VPs of Design $220k–$350k+, and CDOs at major companies can exceed $400k with significant equity packages. AI companies like OpenAI, Anthropic, and Databricks often offer premium total compensation. Consult our salary guide for detailed breakdowns.