An advanced-level course for senior and rising design leaders ready to address the most common challenges Design Leaders face. Learn how to build your durable design operating system to withstand scale, restructuring, evolution, and growth. Establish mechanisms and high-leverage activities that maintain quality and effectiveness for your teams and for the business. Course Topics + Content Build and activate high-impact teamsApply effective organizational design, strategic planning, and performance measurement Define and optimize your operating systemEstablish rhythms and rituals, shape a positive design culture, streamline processes and workflows, and build a robust reporting and communication strategy Identify the most effective design team structuresLearn how to choose the right team structures for your organization Activate your team’s strengths through organizational designAnticipate common challenges within and across teams and learn strategies for effectively addressing them Create your organization’s ideal design teamTogether, we’ll design and build your design team and organization 7 Live, Interactive Sessions, with timezone-friendly options for most APAC/EMEA/AMER locales - One Welcome Kickoff Session- Three Live, Interactive Learning Sessions including Q&amp;A sessions with guest experts- Two Office Hours / Q+A sessions with Kristin for personalized guidance- One Reflection/Wrap-up Session

Design Your Organization's Operating System 

Course syllabus

Course schedule

Directors+ of Design and Operations leading teams across a portfolio of products and services.

Senior Leaders and Practitioners who are establishing, evolving, and leading a Design Organization or Operations practice.

Operations leaders who want to sharpen skills, learn new approaches and methods, and accelerate their organizations.

Who is this course for

What you’ll get out of this course

You'll learn how to establish mechanisms, routines, and high-leverage activities that maintain and enhance culture, quality, and community as you grow.

Best practices to build infrastructure that scales

<ul><li>Design and structure a high-performing design organization.</li><li>Effectively prioritize and plan work to maximize impact.</li><li>Utilize visual staffing tools to manage resources efficiently.</li><li>Implement accountability measures to maintain high-quality standards.</li></ul>

Build and activate high-impact teams

<ul><li>Establish effective rhythms and rituals that enhance team productivity and alignment.</li><li>Shape a positive design culture that fosters innovation and collaboration.</li><li>Optimize processes and workflows for greater efficiency.</li><li>Develop and implement robust reporting and communications</li></ul>

Define and optimize your operating system

<ul><li>Learn approaches and tactics that address common organizational and team challenges</li><li>Mitigate these challenges via a fixed vs. flexible framework</li><li>Gain new strategies to keep your team focused and thriving</li></ul>

Identify and anticipate the most common team and organizational challenges 

Guest Experience: Experienced leaders will join to share their stories and give examples of how they navigated similar challenges Instructor Experience: You'll learn directly from Kristin's first-hand experience establishing and leading multiple large-scale global design orgs

Access to first-hand experience and guidance customized to your unique situation

Included are multiple, moderated Q&amp;A sessions with Kristin and other industry leaders so that you can get expert advice on your unique challenges and aspirations.

Q&A Sessions with industry experts

Learn best practices to build a durable design organization operating system.

Kristin Skinner


Cohort 04

Executive career frameworks and decision tools to define your path, increase leverage, and make intentional next moves as a design leader.

Chief Design Officer, PayPal

Rachel Kobetz

Chief Design Officer, PayPal


Chief Experience Officer, &GSD

[moved] - Feb 2025

Design Leadership at Scale: Career Strategy is for senior design leaders seeking clarity, leverage, and momentum.This immersive includes 6 hours of live instruction, combining lectures, facilitated breakouts, applied exercises, and two in-depth office hours with Rachel and Kristin focused on your specific career decisions and next moves.Grounded in real executive hiring and leadership experience, the course draws on frameworks used to define senior roles, assess leadership readiness, and hire thousands of designers at global companies. This is not generic career advice—it’s executive-grade career strategy for design leaders operating at scale.Whether you’re advancing within your organization or evaluating what’s next, you’ll leave with a clear, defensible career blueprint.// Course ContentArchitect Your Career<ul><li>Define senior-level leadership paths</li><li>Clarify what differentiates you</li><li>Benchmark your strengths</li><li>Build a forward-looking career strategy</li></ul>Advance Your Impact<ul><li>Identify high-leverage growth areas</li><li>Define success on your terms</li><li>Create a long-range career roadmap</li><li>Make intentional career moves</li></ul>Bonus<ul><li>How senior leaders evaluate roles and companies</li><li>Two live office hours for tailored guidance and Q+A</li></ul>

Shape a design career that provides you growth, development, and success.


Define a clear, defensible career strategy

Assess your leadership readiness at senior levels

Clarify what differentiates you as a design leader

Make intentional, well-calibrated career moves

Build leverage and reduce career drag

Leave with a concrete career blueprint

Ambitious Senior Managers, Directors, and VP-level design leaders&nbsp;in both startups and large technology product companies.

It's ideal for those planning on staying and growing at your current company for the next 3+ years or are thinking of changing companies.

This course is&nbsp;not&nbsp;for aspiring design managers and early-career design managers. It does not focus on the detailed steps of skill-building.

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Kristin Skinner

Chief Experience Officer, Author, Global VP Design

Gagan Biyani

Co-founder of Maven

Learn the nuances of distinguishing yourself and making your mark in a competitive landscape.

How to become an industry standout

Establish relationships with hiring managers, recruiters, and execs that keep you top of mind ahead of role openings.

How to build and leverage your network

Learn how to select the right roles and opportunities that align with your long-term career vision.

How to make informed career moves

How Design Leaders Stand Out in a Competitive Market

Doug Powell

Executive design leader, consultant & coach

Bob Baxley

Writer, Speaker, Advisor –  Former Apple, Pinterest, Yahoo!, ThoughtSpot

Develop strong relationships with partners, stakeholders, and executives through ongoing communication.

Increase your impact through XFN partnerships

Understand cultural dynamics, power players, and how decisions get made.

Build trust and influence across teams

Team across the enterprise and cross the finish line together.

Leverage the power of shared outcomes to drive collaboration

Warm the room for strategic conversations, make your proposals collaborative, and optimize your 1:1s.

Understand how to gain buy-in, approval, and support

How Top Design Leaders Influence At Scale

Learn how to choose the right team structure for your organization

Identify the most effective design team structures

Anticipate common challenges within and across teams

Activate your team’s strengths through organizational design

Create your organization’s ideal design team

Designing Your Design Team

Learn how to establish a strong foundation and organization design framework for your design organization

Identify the qualities of effective design teams, essential for successful creative + operational partnership

Activate your team’s strengths through Creative + Ops

Learn how to assess your team’s effectiveness through Foundation, Output, and Management

AI Fundamentals

Apply AI in your role

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Career development

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AI Fundamentals

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kristin skinner

2 Courses

4 Lightning Lessons