The Victoria and Albert Museum is hiring a design team lead to join its team in London.
About the V&A
The V&A is a family of museums dedicated to the power of creativity. Our mission is to champion design and creativity in all its forms, advance cultural knowledge, and inspire makers, creators and innovators everywhere. We share a 5,000-year-old story of creativity through exhibitions, events, educational programmes, digital experiences, conservation, research, and an ever-evolving national collection of over 2.8m objects spanning every creative discipline.
Our design studio has a portfolio of exciting projects including blockbuster exhibitions, temporary gallery displays and major campaigns. The studio is fast-paced, collaborative and hands-on, working iteratively with curators, consultants and collaborators to design distinctive and meaningful experiences for the public.
What we’re looking for
An effective and confident design leader with a background in architecture (or a relevant design discipline) who can jointly inspire, develop and manage a small team.
The Team Lead will jointly lead the V&A Design Studio 3D team, delivering imaginative and high-quality design across exhibitions, galleries, displays, installations, and museum spaces. Working closely with the head of design, and two counterpart design team leads across Graphics and 3D teams you will lead your own set of design projects and team members from scoping through to completion, ensuring they are delivered to the highest design standards, on time and within budget.
We are looking for someone who can:
- foster a culture of creativity, collaboration and professional growth with the ability to provide insightful design critique
- champion and provide expert design advice in all aspects of design across the museum to achieve excellence
- lead across planning, resourcing and design oversight
- directly manage and develop team members
- commission design for the museum, including full range of sub-consultants.
- build networks and engage in wider sector and disciplines
Essential to the role:
- extensive experience developing design projects of different scales through all workstages in architecture and/or exhibition design practice
- a masters degree in architecture or a relevant design discipline (i.e. interior, 3D, spatial, set, exhibition) or equivalent experience
- experience leading across multiple teams and projects in parallel, including set-up and mobilising teams on projects
- track record in design delivery with experience leading project teams, guiding and steering the work of team members to meet briefs, schedules and to exceed client expectation
- proven track record of working with narrative to create engaging experiences
- experience of working to rigorous requirements and with extensive user-groups and stakeholders
- gxperience of commissioning, briefing, advising and managing a range of sub-consultants and contractors
- excellent Vectorworks, Rhino, visualisation and Adobe CC skills (Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign)
- strong technical knowledge with great detailing skills
Desirable for the role:
- experience in the museum or cultural sector
- existing relationships/network with design studios and subconsultants
- organisational planning or liaison, setting up and improving internal systems in teams
The V&A is an equal opportunities employer. We welcome and encourage job applications from people of all backgrounds and would particularly welcome applicants from currently under-represented groups, people with disabilities and people who identify as LGBTQIA+.
The V&A offers a range of employee benefits including 29 days annual leave, pension, family-friendly policies, an interest-free loan for travelcard or bicycle. Free entrance to all the major museums and exhibitions in London as well as many others, benefits platform offering discounts at major retailers. Subsidised staff restaurant and 25% discounts in V&A shops and cafes.
To apply/portfolio
Apply via vam.ac.uk/careers. To submit your portfolio, please include a URL within the personal statement section of your application.
The portfolio should include a selected range of relevant work that demonstrates skills for the role. Your portfolio should be readily available via any well-known file-sharing service/platform until the advertised start date. Please be advised that we cannot accept any links to individual/personal websites, as these are likely to be blocked by our IT security filter.
Please ensure your portfolio is submitted as instructed. Applications without a portfolio, or with one submitted incorrectly, cannot be considered.
Application deadline – 8 March 2026
Interviews – w/c 16 March 2026
Any questions?
Contact our recruitment team at careers@vam.ac.uk
www.vam.ac.uk
