Design Ops Lead: Scale Product & UX Programs

Mastercard; Celbridge; On-site; EUR 90,000 - 120,000; Full time

Job summary

Mastercard is building the next generation of small business experiences. We are seeking a Product Design Program Manager to scale the Global SME CX&D organization, leading the operational rhythm, defining processes, planning frameworks, and cross-functional alignment to deliver high-quality experiences at scale.

You will partner with Product Design, Content Design, User Research, Product Management, Engineering and business stakeholders to ensure initiatives are executed effectively, with clear

Qualifications

• 6+ years of experience in Design Program Management or Design Operations.
• Experience supporting Product Design, UX, or Design Systems within a product organization.
• Proven ability to lead complex, cross-functional initiatives with design, product, engineering and business stakeholders.
• Demonstrated success building scalable operating models, processes, and frameworks that improve team effectiveness and delivery.
• Exceptional stakeholder management, facilitation, and communication skills, with the ability to influence outcomes without direct authority.
• Strong program management expertise, including planning, prioritization, risk management, dependency tracking, and execution within Agile product development environments.

Responsibilities

• Drive planning, execution, and operational excellence across the CX&D organization.
• Partner with Design, Product, Engineering, and business stakeholders to align priorities and deliver strategic initiatives.
• Build scalable processes, tools, and governance models that enable efficient, high-quality design delivery.
• Manage timelines, dependencies, risks, and communications across complex programs.
• Support design system adoption, accessibility initiatives, and design operations best practices.
• Identify opportunities to improve team effectiveness through better workflows, tooling, and AI-powered ways of working.
• Foster an inclusive, collaborative, and high-performing culture through effective team rituals, communication, knowledge sharing, and cross-functional partnerships that amplify the impact of the design organization.
• Establish reporting, metrics, and operational insights that provide visibility into team health, delivery progress, and organizational effectiveness.
• Support capacity planning, prioritization, and resource management across the design organization.

Skills

Stakeholder management

Program management

Agile / SAFe

Cross-functional leadership

Design operations

Communication

Tools

Jira

Figma

Confluence

Miro

Airtable

Smartsheet

Asana

Job description

Mastercard is building the next generation of small business experiences. We are seeking a Product Design Program Manager to scale the Global SME CX&D organization, leading the operational rhythm, defining processes, planning frameworks, and cross-functional alignment to deliver high-quality experiences at scale.

You will partner with Product Design, Content Design, User Research, Product Management, Engineering and business stakeholders to ensure initiatives are executed effectively, with clear