Design Director (Industrial Design)

About the Role

The Director, Industrial Product Design leads McLaren's design vision beyond the automotive portfolio, creating a cohesive ecosystem of products, spaces, environments, and experiences that reflects the brand's performance, technology, craftsmanship, and sport luxury positioning.

The role encompasses industrial design, product design, apparel, merchandise, lifestyle, accessories, architectural design, spatial design, event design, workplace design, and retail design across McLaren's global brand ecosystem.

Working across Creative, Commercial, Marketing, Retail, Licensing, Partnerships, Events, Facilities, and external design partners, the Director ensures that every product, space, and experience expresses a consistent and distinctive McLaren design language.

What You'll Do

• Define and execute McLaren's global strategy for industrial design and product design beyond the vehicle portfolio.
• Lead the design vision for apparel, merchandise, lifestyle products, accessories, licensed products, collaborations, and special projects.
• Establish design principles, standards, and quality benchmarks across products, materials, graphics, finishes, packaging, and brand expression.
• Oversee the development of products from initial strategy and concept through prototyping, production, and launch.
• Ensure products are desirable, functional, innovative, manufacturable, commercially viable, and aligned with McLaren's brand values.
• Lead the architectural and spatial design vision for branded environments, including retail, showrooms, hospitality, exhibitions, workplaces, offices, and customer experience centres.
• Define design principles for interiors, materials, lighting, furniture, graphics, digital touchpoints, sound, and scent.
• Lead the design direction for events, exhibitions, product launches, activations, hospitality environments, and experiential platforms.
• Ensure consistent and compelling customer experiences across permanent, temporary, pop-up, mobile, and event-based environments.
• Explore new design opportunities across land, sea, and air, including mobility, marine, aviation, travel, hospitality, and lifestyle.
• Identify and lead strategic partnerships, licensing opportunities, collaborations, and new business propositions.
• Translate customer insights, market opportunities, and brand strategy into distinctive and commercially credible design concepts.
• Establish effective design governance, review processes, approval gates, and quality standards across internal teams and external partners.
• Lead, inspire, and develop a multidisciplinary team spanning industrial design, product design, apparel, accessories, colour and materials, architecture, interiors, retail, workplace, and events.
• Build strong relationships with designers, architects, engineers, manufacturers, suppliers, licensees, retailers, contractors, and strategic partners.
• Present design strategies, concepts, and recommendations to senior leadership and relevant governance forums.

What You'll Bring

• Significant senior experience in industrial design, product design, or integrated design leadership.
• Proven experience delivering premium or luxury products from strategy and concept through to production.
• Experience across multiple categories, including lifestyle products, accessories, apparel, merchandise, retail, architecture, interiors, workplaces, or events.
• Strong understanding of product development, materials, manufacturing, prototyping, ergonomics, quality, and design detail.
• Experience translating brand strategy into products, spaces, environments, and customer experiences.
• Demonstrated commercial understanding of licensing, partnerships, retail, product portfolios, and new business development.
• Proven ability to lead multidisciplinary teams and complex programmes across internal and external stakeholders.
• Strong communication, presentation, influencing, and relationship-management skills.
• A clear creative point of view combined with the ability to deliver practical, commercially viable outcomes.
• International experience within luxury, performance, automotive, fashion, lifestyle, technology, architecture, retail, hospitality, or experiential design.

Benefits

• Structured career development framework
• 25 days' holiday, plus bank holiday. 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
• Ability to apply for a sabbatical of up to one year after only two years' service
• Benefits you can adapt to your lifestyle, such as discounted shopping
• Generous parental leave policies
• A range of wellbeing initiatives, such as employee assistance programme and free financial & mortgage advice

About McLaren

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.