Design Program Manager

Design Delivery Lead / Design Programme Manager

6-Month Contract

Mostly remote (1 day/week in London)

£400/day Outside

Start: ASAP

A global cybersecurity business protecting hundreds of millions of people online is looking for a Design Delivery contractor to help tighten up how design work gets scoped, prioritised and shipped.

About the client:

They're a well-established name in consumer digital safety, operating at real scale across a broad product portfolio. The design team is in a phase of tightening its ways of working; most of the standards and structure already exist, but adoption and rigour haven't caught up yet.

About the opportunity:

This isn't about building a new operating model from scratch. It's about getting in close to the design team, driving adoption of what's already there, and keeping delivery honest and moving. You'll be working alongside design leadership through a period of evolving delivery norms.

You'll be:

• Joining a specific product area in their portfolio and supporting a programme of work. (This is not about setting up new delivery practices and frameworks from scratch).
• Driving adoption of existing briefs, standards and delivery touchpoints.
• Helping designers scope work realistically, with more honesty around timelines and effort.
• Improving delivery planning, status communication and the overall flow of work.
• Bringing rigour to feedback and iteration conversations (what's actually needed to ship).
• Keeping energy and momentum across longer-running projects through to completion.

About you:

This is a design ops / design delivery / design producer type profile rather than a technical programme manager.

You'll also have a deep understanding of the Product Development Lifecycle. You'll likely have supported design teams rather than purely technical delivery, have a strong grip on scoping and delivery discipline, and be confident enough to challenge weak briefs, unclear feedback and unrealistic timelines.

Agency backgrounds are especially welcome; strong in-house design ops experience with a clear delivery lean also fits well.