Programme Lead - Capability

About the role

This role sits within the Programmes Team led by the Chief Design Officer and has responsibility for developing and overseeing the delivery of programmes which build the design capability of commissioning organisations, ideally at a sector scale. Working with commissioners ensures that we are creating the demand for design and Design for Planet skills which is a critical part of our Theory of Change as well as becoming a material source of income over time.

Commissioning organisations can include national infrastructure bodies, regional and local government, and major businesses across Industrial Strategy sectors. A large majority of our work in this space sits across the Built Environment, Placemaking, Housing and Infrastructure due to the Design Council’s heritage, expertise and networks.

Reporting to the Head of Programmes, this is a critical role in ensuring the success of Design Council’s ambition to grow and diversify overall revenue, create lighter touch and passive income streams and develop new and lasting partnerships and funding relationships related to commissioners and capability.

The role will also have line management responsibility.

Key responsibilities

• Leading the organisation’s approach to a commercial, scalable and profitable capability building programme for commissioners, under the banner of Design Academy, including:
  • Research into the Value of Design for that sector
  • Developing best Practice for that sector (e.g. patterns, principles or guidance)
  • Establishing Design Governance & Leadership across the sector: e.g. Design Champions and Design Review
  • Embedding design skills across the sector through bespoke organizational training or mass-market online courses. (Design Academy)

Overseeing the development of Regional Design Growth Hubs, working with other Programme Leads to draw in designer skills, econometric research and innovation components.

• Responsible for developing commercial ‘paid project’ capability programmes with individuals and/or partners (organization, sectors or regions). Working with our Fundraising & Partnerships Lead on further programmes which have the potential to attract sponsorship or partner funding (e.g. champions or alumni networks). 
• Expanding our Design Review programme, broadening our offer to include support for Design Champions (a legal requirement within the Built Environment) as well as capability building. 
• Working with the Head of Programmes and other Programme Leads to ensure that capability aligns with and contributes to the overall Design Council skills mission to upskill 1 million designers and non-designers in green design by 2030. Ensuring programmes are designed with clear M&E structures to capture this impact.
• Be actively engaged and visible in external networks with potential funders around public sector design capability and pedagogy. Find ways to embed key sectorial design areas within the capability programmes including place and the built environment, business product/service innovation and public sector service design as well as ensuring they interlink with the other Theory of Change pillars of skills, innovation and research.
• Leading the business planning, budget and resource management for capability programmes ensuring that planned activities can be achieved within current financial and resourcing constraints and that they remain strategically aligned with the overall organisation’s objectives.
• Developing thought leadership, representing DC at events in relation to capability building in the context of place, business and public sector.

About you

The role requires a driven, self-motivated professional, with solid and demonstrated project / programme management experience and an understanding of and connected with the design and education ecosystem. 
You have an entrepreneurial mindset, seeking out opportunities to fund the development of the programme, and working in partnership to deliver it.
You must be excellent at building and nurturing relationships, with a wide range of external stakeholders, and effectively collaborate internally across the organisation.
You thrive on developing people and empowering them to deliver and grow. You are passionate about our Design for Planet and Green Design Skills missions and demonstrate an ability to think strategically as well as commercially and work collaboratively. 

You will also be:

• An excellent communicator 
• Be able to be diplomatic, able to act with confidence and integrity in all situations while influencing others
• Be excellent at synthesising diverse perspectives into clear, concise and accessible communication
• Empathetic, pragmatic and adaptable, with a solutions-mindset 
• Proactive, hands on and willing to roll up your sleeves and get stuck in 
• Confident working at different levels within an organisation 
• Willing and able to take a risk-based approach to making decisions 
• Curious and open to new ideas and ways of working 
• A team player but also comfortable working on your own 
• Resilient and comfortable with navigating and leading through change  
• Aware of some of the challenges and rewards of working in the not-for-profit sector 
• Passionate about Design for Planet

Skills and experience

• At least 5 years’ experience in a project / programme management environment
• Experience of the place and built environment world, but able and keen to work across all commissioner sectors.
• Experience in developing and implementing learning and capability building programmes, and ideally understanding of learning experience design  
• Understanding and demonstrated experience of routes to market and building partnerships to embed learning frameworks within a variety of settings
• Experience in translating professional practice into frameworks, toolkits and methods that others can easily understand and action and upskilling people to use them
• Strong relationship management skills and experience in working with a large group of diverse stakeholders to research and agree a collective way forward
• Understanding of design thinking and systemic design and be able to communicate the value of design to others
• Experience of testing and scaling new products and services
• Effective at fostering relationships with both public and private sector organisations at regional and national level to deliver impact and value to build long term partnerships
• Demonstratable commercial acumen and understanding of competitive landscape in the development of new products and services
• Experience of developing compelling business case and pitching to new clients

 

If you think this is the role for you and you would like to join us, please submit your CV and a covering letter by 9 February 2026. Please email Ishbel Allotey, our Head of People if you have any questions about the role: recruitment@designcouncil.org.uk

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