Senior Experience Design Consultant

National Trust; Swindon; Hybrid; GBP 60,000 - 80,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Pension up to 10%

Free entry to National Trust places

Rental deposit loan scheme

Season ticket loan

EV car lease scheme

Perks at work discounts

Holiday allowance up to 32 days

Flexible working

Employee assistance programme

Free parking

Job summary

National Trust is seeking a Senior Experience Design Consultant to lead the Experience Design practice and shape visitor experiences across the organisation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. Based at our Swindon head office, the role blends strategic oversight with hands-on leadership of cross-disciplinary teams.

You will champion audience-led design, influence strategic priorities and build capability through frameworks and partnerships while ensuring inclusive, commercially sustainable

Qualifications

• Detailed understanding of place-making principles and wellbeing.
• Experience leading audience-led, place-based change.
• Experience using audience insight to influence priorities and property operations.
• Strong communication, presentation and influencing skills.
• Experience influencing at senior levels internally and externally.
• Experience leading across multidisciplinary teams.

Responsibilities

• Champion audience-led, inclusive design-led change across teams.
• Shape long-term visions, investment priorities and business plans using audience insight.
• Provide expert challenge and advice on major projects and programmes.
• Build capability by developing frameworks, tools and partnerships.
• Lead the Experience Design community of practice and grow practitioners.

Skills

Place-making

Audience insights

Stakeholder influence

Communication skills

Multidisciplinary leadership

Job description

Summary

Are you passionate about how people engage with the historic environment and natural world? Are you skilled at leading multi-disciplinary teams to create ambitious plans for places? Do you enjoy thinking strategically about business development in purpose driven operations? We're looking for a Senior Experience Design Consultant to join our Visitor Experience Proposition team and help shape the future of visitor experiences across the National Trust. In this strategic role, you’ll have significant scope to innovate a substantial scale of impact. You'll lead and develop our Experience Design practice, ensuring experiences are audience-led, inclusive, commercially sustainable and rooted in what makes each place distinctive. Working on some of our most significant strategic projects, you'll bring together audience insight, conservation priorities, access, placemaking and commercial considerations to create meaningful experiences that benefit both people and places. You’ll influence how millions of people experience some of the UK's most loved places while helping build capability and best practice across the organisation.

What It's Like To Work Here

Reporting to the Head of Visitor Experience Proposition, you’ll work closely with colleagues across the organisation, including specialists in operations, commercial, communications, fundraising, membership and curation. As part of a collaborative and purpose-driven team, you’ll help turn audience insight into inspiring visitor experiences. You’ll draw on diverse expertise to influence strategic decisions and support long-term plans for change across England, Wales and Northern Ireland. Your contractual location will be our head office in Swindon and there will be an expectation for you to attend the office. However, there is flexibility on where you are based at other times. You’ll be required to work at a National Trust location for 40-60% of your working week. This will be discussed in more detail at interview.

What You'll Be Doing

You’ll champion audience-led, inclusive design-led change, helping teams create more welcoming, relevant and impactful experiences. Using audience insight, evidence and design thinking, you’ll shape long‑term visions, investment priorities and business plans, providing expert challenge and advice on major projects and programmes. You’ll build capability across the organisation by developing frameworks, tools and partnerships that support effective change, while leading the Experience Design community of practice and supporting the growth of practitioners.

Who We're Looking For

• Detailed understanding of the principles of place-making and creating spaces which promote happiness, health and well‑being.
• Experience leading major audience‑led, place‑based change
• Experience using audience insight to significantly influence business priorities and the design and operation of our properties
• Strong communication, presentation and influencing skills.
• Experience influencing at a senior level both internally and externally
• Experience of people leadership across multidisciplinary teams, creating a collaborative, inclusive environment where different perspectives are valued.

The package

The National Trust has the motto ‘For everyone, for ever’ at its heart. We’re working hard to create an inclusive culture, where everyone feels they belong. It’s important that our people reflect and represent the diversity of the communities and audiences we serve. We welcome and value difference, so when we say we’re for everyone, we want everyone to be welcome in our teams too.

• Substantial pension scheme of up to 10% basic salary
• Free entry to National Trust places for you, a guest and your children (under 18)
• Rental deposit loan scheme
• Season ticket loan
• EV car lease scheme (for roles that meet the salary criteria)
• Perks at work discounts such as gym memberships, shopping discount codes, cinema discounts
• Holiday allowance up to 32 days relating to length of service, plus holiday purchase scheme, subject to meeting minimum criteria.
• Flexible working whenever possible
• Employee assistance programme
• Free parking at most Trust places

Click here to find out more about the benefits we offer to support you.

National Trust place

Heelis, Kemble Drive, Swindon, SN2 2NA

Documents

Senior Experience Design Consultant Grade 4.pdf

Requirements

Compliance.Eligibility to Work in the UK

Closing Date

25 October 2026

Interview Date

20 November 2026

Equal Opportunities Statement

The National Trust celebrates diversity and is committed to creating a fair and equal society, free from discrimination. You can read more about our commitment to inclusion and diversity here.

Safeguarding Statement

The National Trust is committed to a safe recruitment processes to help the organisation attract and appoint the right staff/volunteer for the role and responsibilities as set out in the vacancy advert. We will not accept applicants who are not suitable to work with children, young people or adults at risk. If you have any questions around your suitability for this vacancy, please contact the people service centre.