Design Leadership Jobs in United Kingdom
Find your next Design Leadership role at companies that value creative talent
Showing 116 jobs
Architectural Design Manager
🇬🇧 City of London, London, United Kingdom
Stack Infrastructure Emea 🇬🇧 City of London, London, United Kingdom
Act as the architectural subject matter expert for hyperscale data centre projects, overseeing the full lifecycle from site due diligence to construction and handover. Review and challenge designs from external consultants to ensure compliance with technical standards, regulatory obligations, and operational requirements.
Design Manager
🇬🇧 Cradley Heath, Cradley Heath Bus Station, B64 7AR, United Kingdom
Jb Products (dudley) Ltd 🇬🇧 Cradley Heath, Cradley Heath Bus Station, B64 7AR, United Kingdom
Lead and mentor a design and CAD team while overseeing complex sheet metal fabrication projects from concept to manufacture. Act as the primary technical bridge between the factory, clients, and construction sites to ensure accurate and cost-effective designs.
Design Manager
🇬🇧 City of London, London, United Kingdom
Hdr 🇬🇧 City of London, London, United Kingdom
The Design Manager will lead and coordinate multi-discipline design delivery teams to ensure projects are completed safely, on time, and within budget. They are responsible for managing design programmes, client communication, and ensuring technical compliance throughout the project lifecycle.
Design Manager
🇬🇧 Oxford, Oxfordshire, England, United Kingdom
Mercury 🇬🇧 Oxford, Oxfordshire, England, United Kingdom
The Design Manager is responsible for leading the engineering and design team to ensure projects are delivered safely, on time, and within budget. They will manage all aspects of design coordination, interface with clients, and oversee adherence to project specifications and Mercury procedures.
Senior Design Manager
🇬🇧 Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, England, United Kingdom
Mace 🇬🇧 Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, England, United Kingdom
The Senior Design Manager will lead and assure multidisciplinary design teams across a portfolio of water and wastewater projects. They are responsible for ensuring design solutions meet client requirements, regulatory obligations, and safety standards throughout the project lifecycle.
Trainee Design Manager
🇬🇧 Boughton, West Northamptonshire, England, United Kingdom
Sweet Projects 🇬🇧 Boughton, West Northamptonshire, England, United Kingdom
The Trainee Design Manager supports the coordination and delivery of design activities throughout the project lifecycle, working under the guidance of senior management. Responsibilities include assisting with design reviews, monitoring project progress, managing information schedules, and fostering collaboration between designers, consultants, and subcontractors.
Design Manager or Senior Design Manager - Norway (Stargate Norway - Narvik)
🇬🇧 City of London, London, United Kingdom
Nscale 🇬🇧 City of London, London, United Kingdom
The Design Manager will oversee the design process for the Stargate Norway initiative, ensuring facilities meet world-class technical standards for AI compute. They will collaborate with construction, cost management, and engineering teams to manage design packages, permitting, and project delivery.
Senior Design Manager
🇬🇧 Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, England, United Kingdom
Mace 🇬🇧 Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, England, United Kingdom
The Senior Design Manager will provide technical leadership and governance for a £50m annual programme of water and wastewater infrastructure projects. They are responsible for managing multidisciplinary design teams, ensuring design assurance, and overseeing compliance with safety and regulatory standards throughout the project lifecycle.
Design Manager
🇬🇧 Leeds, England, United Kingdom
Aecom 🇬🇧 Leeds, England, United Kingdom
The Design Manager will lead design management projects, oversee sub-consultant contracts, and manage financial processes including invoicing and cash flow. They will also support team leadership, mentor junior staff, and ensure all design outputs meet quality and contractual standards.
Design Manager
🇬🇧 Wakefield, England, United Kingdom
Ccl Facades 🇬🇧 Wakefield, England, United Kingdom
Manage the design process from pre-construction through to delivery, ensuring technical compliance and commercial viability. Coordinate internal and external design teams, consultants, and subcontractors to resolve technical issues and ensure buildability.
Design Manager
🇬🇧 United Kingdom
Sisk 🇬🇧 United Kingdom
The Design Manager coordinates the design process for construction projects to ensure compliance, buildability, and cost-effectiveness. They manage consultant inputs, monitor design documentation, and address interface issues to meet project requirements.
Design Manager (Data Centres)
🇬🇧 City of Edinburgh, Scotland, United Kingdom
Black & White Engineering 🇬🇧 City of Edinburgh, Scotland, United Kingdom
You will lead the design process for complex engineering projects by coordinating multidisciplinary teams and managing project deliverables. Additionally, you will ensure project objectives are met through proactive risk management, stakeholder engagement, and adherence to quality standards.
Design Manager
🇬🇧 Swindon, SN1 1JZ, United Kingdom
Beard 🇬🇧 Swindon, SN1 1JZ, United Kingdom
The Design Manager will oversee the design process from pre-construction through to the construction phase for projects up to £12m. Responsibilities include planning project aspects, identifying challenges, and ensuring effective communication with all stakeholders.
Design Manager
🇬🇧 Oxford, Oxfordshire, England, United Kingdom
Mclaughlin & Harvey Ltd 🇬🇧 Oxford, Oxfordshire, England, United Kingdom
The Design Manager is responsible for managing design teams and processes to ensure construction deliverables meet project requirements, quality standards, and timelines. They will lead design coordination, manage consultant teams, and ensure compliance with health, safety, and legislative standards throughout the project lifecycle.
Secure By Design Manager
🇬🇧 Warrington, England, United Kingdom
Great British Energy - Nuclear 🇬🇧 Warrington, England, United Kingdom
The Secure By Design Manager is responsible for managing the development and delivery of physical security policies, standards, and design assurance across critical national infrastructure. They provide authoritative advice to ensure assets and programs are governed in line with national security obligations and protective security risk management principles.
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.