Design Lead in Sydney

Location negotiable across NSW (subject to campus availability); Sydney Region preferred due to travel requirements.

Permanent Full Time. $205,590 salary package - includes base salary $181,324 plus employer's contribution to superannuation and annual leave loading.

At TAFE NSW, we are dedicated to life-changing impact. That's why we offer world-class training and education that delivers the skills needed for the jobs of today and tomorrow. Life-changing impact starts with an incredible team that sees their career as an opportunity to transform someone's world. Whether that's inspiring students, supporting each other, or helping our communities and industries flourish.

We live by TAFE NSW values: Customer Focus, Integrity, Collaboration, and Excellence. They define who we are, how we work, and inspire our performance.

We invest in our people. At TAFE NSW, you will discover a diverse, dynamic, and collaborative environment, where you can innovate, create value, and do meaningful work. We provide you with tools, ongoing training and professional development, health and wellbeing programs, and a 35-hour working week with a variety of flexible working options.

About the role: We are looking for an experienced Design Lead to join the team and currently have a permanent full-time role available. Sydney location is preferred as the role requires regular attendance at a weekly team connection day in Ultimo. Other locations may be negotiable; however, the candidate should note that they will be required to attend the weekly connection day in Ultimo and the travel needs to be at their own expense.

The Design Lead is responsible for championing, growing and embedding customer-centred design practices across the organisation. Working closely with the Senior Manager Design and embedded in a cross-functional product team, you will combine strategic design leadership with hands-on delivery to create impactful digital experiences for students and staff.

You will lead product discovery, user research and usability testing to inform product decisions and prioritisation. Facilitating workshops and co-design sessions with users and stakeholders, you will ensure teams are solving the right problems that balance user and business needs and delivering meaningful outcomes for TAFE NSW.

This is a small team with great culture. Everyone pitches in and you will need to be adaptable, on tools and wear different hats. From influencing executives to supporting peers across multiple squads with the evolution of our practice, promoting accessibility, and scaling consistency in the adoption and development of the TAFE NSW Design System.

About you: You are a purpose-led design leader who cares about customers, have good judgement to dig with curiosity, balance strategic thinking with hands-on delivery and highly collaborative in building relationships, influencing stakeholders, and driving outcomes without formal authority. You thrive in complex enterprise environments and deliver.

You will bring:

• Experience leading the design of digital products and services within large and complex organisations.
• Strong capability across discovery, user research, design strategy, prototyping and usability testing.
• Expertise in designing and facilitating workshops, building alignment and influencing diverse stakeholder groups.
• Experience working within agile, cross-functional product teams.
• Digital accessibility, proficiency in design systems and modern design collaboration tools like Figma and Miro.
• Strong communication skills with the ability to explain complex concepts simply and effectively to technical and non-technical audiences.
• Experience using data and analytics to inform decisions, measure outcomes and identify opportunities for improvement.

Highly Regarded:

• Experience leveraging AI tooling and emerging technologies to enhance design outcomes while maintaining strong customer-centred design practices.
• Basic coding literacy and an understanding of front-end development principles.
• Experience working in organisations with developing design maturity and contributing to capability uplift.
• Design degree qualification.

Our commitment to Diversity, Equality, and Inclusion: We are committed to creating a culturally safe and accessible workplace where dignity, trust, respect, and the promotion of diversity and inclusion are valued, so you can safely bring your whole self to work and connect with your community through our many diverse employee networks. If you require an adjustment in the recruitment process, please contact our Talent Acquisition Advisor listed below.

This is a child-related position. Successful candidates must hold a valid NSW Working with Children Check (WWCC) prior to commencing. TAFE NSW will also conduct an Australian National Criminal Record Check on the preferred applicant as part of the pre-employment process.

To be eligible for a position at TAFE NSW, you must be an Australian citizen, a permanent resident of Australia, or a New Zealand citizen with a current New Zealand passport.

A talent pool, valid for 18 months, may be created for this position and used to fill future vacancies.

Considering a move to Regional NSW? The Welcome Experience is a free service offering personalised support to help you settle in, connecting you with local communities, essential services, and lifestyle opportunities.