Design Leadership Jobs in Australia
Find your next Design Leadership role at companies that value creative talent
Showing 59 jobs
Design Manager - Ports
🇦🇺 Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Aecom 🇦🇺 Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Lead the design management and end-to-end delivery of ports, maritime, and coastal infrastructure projects, taking responsibility for work packages, scope, schedules, technical outcomes, and commercial coordination. Serve as a key client contact, coordinate multidisciplinary teams across regions, and support the growth of AECOM’s Ports & Maritime capability through technical leadership and mentoring.
Design Manager, Engineering (Australia)
🇦🇺 Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Stack Infrastructure 🇦🇺 Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Manage engineering design consultants, vendors, deliverables, and design reviews throughout project delivery, ensuring project requirements and schedules are met. Support procurement, customer design implementation, technical decision-making, and cost-saving initiatives in collaboration with the Design Director and project teams.
Design Manager, Engineering (Australia)
🇦🇺 Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Stack Infrastructure Apac 🇦🇺 Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
The Design Manager will oversee engineering and design processes for data center projects, including managing consultants, vendors, and project deliverables. They will also provide technical guidance, support procurement initiatives, and ensure all designs meet company requirements and cost-saving objectives.
Senior Design Manager
🇦🇺 Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Downer 🇦🇺 Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Lead multidisciplinary engineering design delivery for high-voltage transmission, substation, renewable energy, and battery storage projects throughout the project lifecycle. Manage design teams, consultants, technical governance, risks, reviews, stakeholder relationships, and engineering support through procurement, construction, commissioning, and handover.
Senior Design Manager
🇦🇺 Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Downer 🇦🇺 Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
The Senior Design Manager will lead and coordinate multidisciplinary engineering design services across major power transmission, substation, and renewable energy projects. They are responsible for overseeing design delivery throughout the project lifecycle, ensuring compliance, safety, and alignment with commercial objectives.
Principal Design Manager
🇦🇺 Cordelia, Queensland, Australia
Jacobs 🇦🇺 Cordelia, Queensland, Australia
Lead the design delivery of major transport infrastructure projects across bus rapid transit, roads and highways, and rail, coordinating with commercial, project management, and technical teams. Strengthen client relationships, support business development and project wins, represent Jacobs in the market, and mentor teams while promoting collaboration, knowledge sharing, and safety.
Technical Design Manager - Bridges, Structures + Ports
🇦🇺 Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Aecom 🇦🇺 Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Lead the design delivery of major infrastructure projects including bridges and marine structures while managing scope, program, and quality. Act as the primary interface between design, construction, and client teams to ensure integrated and constructible solutions.
Design Manager
🇦🇺 Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
Zerra Dc 🇦🇺 Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
Lead electrical design management and quality assurance for Western Downs Digital Park, including design reviews, technical audits, and resolution of design discrepancies and interface risks. Coordinate electrical design with multidisciplinary teams, consultants, contractors, and suppliers, while supporting technical decisions and improving resilience, constructability, and whole-of-life value.
Design Manager
🇦🇺 Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
Zerra Dc 🇦🇺 Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
Lead mechanical design management and quality assurance for Western Downs Digital Park, including cooling architecture, heat-rejection strategy, and mechanical plant configuration for high-density data centre environments. Coordinate mechanical design with other disciplines and guide solutions through design reviews, constructability, commissioning, integrated systems testing, and operational handover.
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.
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 (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.
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
🇦🇺 Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
Besix Watpac 🇦🇺 Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
Lead and manage consultants to deliver high-quality design documentation that complies with project briefs and regulatory standards. Collaborate with construction teams and subcontractors to review design constructability and drive delivery efficiencies.
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.