Head of Design Operations

JOB TITLE: Head of Design Operations

LOCATION: Edinburgh / Leeds / Halifax / Manchester / Bristol / London
SALARY: London £124,653 - £146,650 / Non-London £104,992 - £123,520

HOURS: Full-Time

WORKING PATTERN: Our work style is hybrid, which involves spending at least two days per week, or 40% of our time in the office.

About this opportunity

The services we design are integral to our customers’ lives, and this role focuses on their entire experience—at every stage, across all touchpoints. You’ll be part of a team designing from concept through to production, shaping how we engage and build relationships with customers, support their needs, and deliver the right products.
 

Design Operations is the central function within Experience Design that enables our Design Directors and platform-embedded squads to work effectively. Its mission: improve design quality, increase productivity, grow design capability, and maximise design’s impact.
 

As Head of Design Operations, you’ll champion design thinking and a design-led culture, blending creativity with programme disciplines such as strategy, standards, continuous improvement, business architecture, and technology. This is a leadership role that requires deep design expertise and the ability to influence investment in customer-centric design.

What you’ll do:

• Establish and evolve a centre of design delivery, creating cohesive ways of working across design disciplines, embedding them into delivery.

• Drive leadership understanding and organisational capability in customer-centric design.

• Build a world-class design practice and environment within the Group, growing a great culture and attracting and retaining market-leading talent.

• Ensure effective reuse of design assets that are fit for purpose, consistent, and aligned with design standards across all divisions.

• Keep the team at the forefront of design methodology, principles, and technology—deploying advanced tools and methods to deliver cutting-edge capabilities.

• Collaborate with business stakeholders and directors to resolve design and delivery challenges quickly, protecting design quality while enabling rapid delivery.

• Develop strong relationships across Group businesses, strategy, risk, and Brands Marketing & Experience to influence future design direction

Key skills and experience:

• Leadership: Proven ability to lead teams solving complex problems and translate strategic intent into scaled solutions.

• Design Delivery Expertise: Track record of establishing and driving effective Design Management practices.

• Design Systems: experience of managing and scaling effective design systems

• Measurement: employs approaches that ensure design teams can evidence their impact

• Credibility: Experience in complex markets and organisations.

• Drive: Resilience, self-awareness, and a passion for exceeding expectations while inspiring your team.

• Problem-solving: Strategic and innovative mindset with the ability to influence across design disciplines.

• Influence: Strong presence in executive forums and ability to communicate effectively with stakeholders at all levels.

• Digital & Tech: Understanding of digital and financial services, with a vision for where the industry is heading.

We’re looking for someone who:

• Has 5+ years of scaled design operations leadership experience.

• Can navigate large organisations’ platforms, channels, and codebases to shape sustainable strategies.

• Advocates for accessibility and inclusivity in design and code.

• Has a continuous improvement mindset.

• Can manage multiple deliveries simultaneously.

• Has experience building and leading multi-disciplinary teams in an agile environment.

• Inspires confidence, creates the right conditions for collaboration, and builds strong networks across the organisation.

About Working For Us

Our focus is to ensure we're inclusive every day, building an organisation that reflects modern society and celebrates diversity in all its forms. We want our people to feel that they belong and can be their best, regardless of background, identity or culture.
 

We were one of the first major organisations to set goals on diversity in senior roles, create a menopause health package, and a dedicated Working with Cancer initiative. And it’s why we especially welcome applications from under-represented groups.

We’re disability confident. So if you’d like reasonable adjustments to be made to our recruitment processes, just let us know.

We also offer a wide-ranging benefits package, which includes:

• A generous pension contribution of up to 15%

• An annual performance-related bonus

• Share schemes including free shares

• Benefits you can adapt to your lifestyle, such as discounted shopping

• 30 days’ holiday, with bank holidays on top

• A range of wellbeing initiatives and generous parental leave policies

Ready to start growing with purpose? Apply today and let’s create something extraordinary together!