Graduate Design Programmes Coordinator 2027

McLaren Automotive Ltd; Bicester; On-site; GBP 28,000 - 36,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

25 days' holiday

Enhanced pension

Discretionary annual bonus

Private medical insurance

Life assurance

Wellbeing initiatives

Experience our cars

Job summary

McLaren Automotive Ltd in Bicester, Oxfordshire, invites applications for a Graduate in Design Programmes. Based in the Design Studio at the Creative Centre, you’ll support the planning, coordination and delivery of automotive design programmes across creative and technical teams to meet quality, timing and objectives.

The role offers hands-on exposure to the design development process, helping you develop programme management, stakeholder coordination and project delivery skills while

Qualifications

• Must have achieved, or be on track to achieve, at least a 2:1 in Design Management, Automotive Design, Product Design, Engineering, Business, Project Management or a related discipline.
• Strong organisational skills and attention to detail.
• Good communication skills across creative and technical teams.

Responsibilities

• Support day-to-day management of automotive design programmes from brief to final delivery.
• Coordinate activities across design disciplines including Exterior, Interior, CMF, CAS, Visualisation, Film and Photography.
• Maintain project plans, timelines and milestones with clear deadlines.
• Organise project meetings, design reviews and presentations with documented actions.
• Work with designers, leaders, modellers and external partners to maintain momentum.
• Assist with developing and managing project briefs and deliverables.

Skills

Programme management

Cross-functional coordination

Stakeholder management

Education

2:1 in Design Management, Automotive Design, Product Design, Engineering, Business, Project Management or related discipline

Tools

PowerPoint

Excel

PM tools

Job description

What to Expect

We are recruiting for a Graduate in Design Programmes to join our world‑class Design team located at McLaren Creative Centre in Bicester, in Oxfordshire. Based within our Design Studio, you will support the planning, coordination and delivery of automotive design programmes, working across creative and technical teams to help ensure projects are delivered to the required quality, timing and objectives.

This role provides broad exposure to the automotive design development process, giving you the opportunity to work across multiple design disciplines while developing your programme management, stakeholder coordination and project delivery skills.

You’ll work closely with designers, design leadership, modellers, visualisation teams and external partners, gaining an understanding of how complex creative programmes are planned, managed and delivered from initial brief through to final delivery.

Please note this is an onsite position

What You’ll Do

During the Graduate Programme, you’ll gain hands‑on experience supporting automotive design programmes and contributing to the effective operation and continuous improvement of the Design Studio.

• Programme Coordination: Support the day‑to‑day management of automotive design programmes from initial brief through to final delivery, helping to ensure projects remain aligned to agreed objectives, quality and timing.
• Cross‑Functional Collaboration: Coordinate activities across design disciplines including Exterior, Interior, CMF, CAS, Visualisation, Film, Photography and Art Direction.
• Project Planning: Maintain project plans, timelines, milestones, actions and key deliverables, ensuring teams have visibility of priorities and deadlines.
• Meetings & Reviews: Organise project meetings, design reviews and presentations, ensuring actions, decisions and next steps are clearly captured and followed up.
• Stakeholder Coordination: Work closely with designers, design leadership, modellers, visualisation teams and external suppliers to coordinate activity and maintain programme momentum.
• Brief Management: Support the development and management of project briefs, helping to ensure teams have clear objectives, deliverables and deadlines.
• Programme Reporting: Monitor programme progress and highlight risks, issues, dependencies and resource requirements to the Programme Lead.
• Presentations & Updates: Support the preparation of project presentations, status reports and programme updates for senior stakeholders.
• Asset Coordination: Assist with coordinating the physical and digital assets required throughout the design development process.
• External Partnerships: Support the management and coordination of external partners, suppliers and creative agencies where required.
• Process Improvement: Contribute to improving programme management processes, tools and ways of working within the Design Studio.
• Design Operations: Develop a strong understanding of automotive design processes, standards and studio workflows, and how different disciplines come together to deliver a vehicle programme.

What You’ll Bring

• You must have achieved, or be on track to achieve, at least a 2:1 in Design Management, Automotive Design, Product Design, Engineering, Business, Project Management or a related discipline.
• A strong interest in automotive design and the creative development process.
• Strong organisational skills and excellent attention to detail.
• Confident communication skills, with the ability to work effectively across creative and technical disciplines.
• The ability to manage multiple tasks, priorities and deadlines in a fast‑paced environment.
• A proactive approach, with the willingness to learn, take ownership and see tasks through to completion.
• Strong presentation and interpersonal skills.
• Good working knowledge of Microsoft Office, particularly PowerPoint and Excel.
• Familiarity with project management tools would be advantageous.
• An understanding of creative and digital design tools and workflows would be beneficial.
• The drive to work collaboratively in a fast‑paced, precision‑focused Design Studio environment.

Personal Attributes

We’re looking for an individual who combines strong organisational and communication skills with curiosity, energy and a genuine interest in automotive design. Desirable traits include:

• Attention to detail – care and precision when managing plans, information, actions and deliverables.
• Continuous improvement thinking – always looking for opportunities to improve processes, tools and ways of working.
• Adaptability – able to move confidently between creative, technical and operational requirements.
• Team collaboration – comfortable working across multiple disciplines and building effective relationships with designers, engineers, leadership and external partners.
• Resilience – able to manage changing priorities, competing deadlines and challenges while maintaining momentum.
• Ownership – proactive in taking responsibility for tasks and ensuring actions are followed through to completion.
• Effective communicator – clear and confident when coordinating activity, presenting information and communicating progress.
• Curiosity – keen to understand the automotive design process and how different creative disciplines contribute to the final product.
• AI proficiency – comfortable using AI tools ethically and effectively to support learning, productivity, innovation, and problem‑solving.
• Passion for automotive design – enthusiastic about vehicles, creative development and working within a high-performance Design Studio.

What We’ll Do for You

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

• 25 days’ holiday, plus bank holidays. Annual buy & sell up to five days
• Enhanced company pension scheme
• Discretionary annual bonus award
• Private medical insurance and health cash plan
• Life assurance benefit
• Benefits you can adapt to your lifestyle, such as discounted shopping
• A range of wellbeing initiatives, such as employee assistance programme and free financial & mortgage advice
• Opportunities to experience our fantastic cars

Qualifying criteria applies.

Who Are We?

No restraints. No limitations. We don’t simply push boundaries. We completely rethink them. McLaren Automotive exists to create breath‑taking performance road cars.

It takes a community to do what we do. A diverse group of people with many areas of expertise, united by their passion to deliver visionary products and set new benchmarks.

McLaren Automotive commits to equal opportunity for all. Diversity, Equality and Inclusion is at the heart of our impact, it drives our innovation and enables us to truly create something special. Join us on our journey.