Product Design Operations & Programs Lead

Mastercard; Ashbourne; Hybrid; EUR 90,000 - 120,000; Full time

Job summary

Mastercard is building the next generation of small business experiences. We seek a Product Design Program Manager to drive planning, governance, and operations across the CX&D team, partnering with Design, Product, Engineering, and business stakeholders to deliver high-quality experiences at scale.

You will help establish and evolve operating models, enable design system adoption, and foster a high-performing, inclusive culture that accelerates impactful work for global SMEs.

Qualifications

• 6+ years of experience in Design Program Management, Design Operations, Product Operations, Program Management, or a related field.
• Experience supporting Product Design, UX, User Research, Content Design, or Design Systems teams within a product organization.
• Proven ability to lead complex, cross-functional initiatives involving Design, Product Management, 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.
• Proficiency with collaboration and planning tools such as Jira, Figma, Confluence, Miro, Airtable, Smartsheet, Asana, or similar platforms.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to synthesize complex information and communicate effectively with leadership teams.
• Demonstrated ability to act as a force multiplier for design organizations by improving operational excellence, enabling collaboration, and helping teams focus on high-impact customer work.

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

Design program mgmt

Stakeholder management

Leadership influence

Agile product development

Cross-functional collaboration

Communication

Operating models

Planning and prioritization

Tools

Jira

Figma

Confluence

Miro

Airtable

Smartsheet

Asana

Job description

Mastercard is building the next generation of small business experiences. We seek a Product Design Program Manager to drive planning, governance, and operations across the CX&D team, partnering with Design, Product, Engineering, and business stakeholders to deliver high-quality experiences at scale.

You will help establish and evolve operating models, enable design system adoption, and foster a high-performing, inclusive culture that accelerates impactful work for global SMEs.