Design Leadership at Scale: Executive
10 Days
·Cohort-based Course
Shape the future of business. Develop the vision, strategy, and influence to make design a critical driver of transformation.
Design Leadership at Scale: Executive
10 Days
·Cohort-based Course
Shape the future of business. Develop the vision, strategy, and influence to make design a critical driver of transformation.
Leadership experience
Course overview
Expand your impact and position design as a competitive advantage.
This advanced course equips senior design leaders to move from tactical design execution to strategic leadership. You will learn how to align design with business strategy, lead cross-functional transformation, and position design as a key driver of innovation and business growth.
What you’ll learn:
1. Shift from tactical to strategic design leadership
Move beyond day-to-day operations by aligning design with broader business objectives and leading with strategic vision to shape company outcomes.
2. Connect design, business, and technology
Master the integration of business priorities, emerging technologies, and experience strategy to drive innovation, while building the fluency to influence C-suite decision-making.
3. Lead organizational change through design
Foster a design-driven culture and lead organizational change by positioning design as a strategic asset. You'll learn to scale your team, build influence, and drive design maturity across the organization.
4. Transform product culture and scale design for growth
Integrate design thinking throughout the product lifecycle to drive continuous innovation. Build scalable operations and systems that support growth while balancing operational efficiency, creativity, and quality in fast-paced environments.
5. Design the future of business
Harness future-leaning capabilities, emerging technologies, and new ways of working to elevate design’s role as a strategic differentiator and build your legacy as a future-ready leader.
Plus: 2 in-depth Office Hours with Rachel for personalized guidance tailored to your specific leadership challenges.
Who is this course for
01
Senior Design Leaders taking on their first executive role. Ready to expand influence and lead design’s integration into business strategy.
02
Senior Design Executives leading large teams and portfolios. Leaders aligning design with business goals and scaling cross-functional teams.
03
Design C-Suite navigating rapid transformation and growth. Leaders using design to drive innovation and lead organizational change.
What you will get out of this course
Accelerate your career
Position yourself as a strategic design leader by mastering business fluency and aligning design with organizational goals. You’ll unlock new opportunities for executive-level roles and influence high-stakes conversations that shape the future of your career.
Amplify your impact
Learn how to connect design to measurable business outcomes, elevating your function as a key driver of business strategy. By demonstrating the tangible impact of your team’s work, you’ll influence priorities, drive innovation, and secure greater investment.
Expand your influence and communication
Build strong relationships across the C-suite, foster cross-functional collaboration, and articulate design’s strategic value effectively. You’ll craft a communication strategy that aligns with business goals and positions design as a critical component in key decisions.
Designed for busy senior design leaders
This intensive two-week course is curated for senior leaders with demanding schedules. Recorded sessions are available for flexibility, allowing you to review key lessons at your convenience.
What’s included
Live sessions
Learn directly from Rachel Kobetz in a real-time, interactive format.
Lifetime access
Go back to course content and recordings whenever you need to.
Community of peers
Stay accountable and share insights with like-minded professionals.
Certificate of completion
Share your new skills with your employer or on LinkedIn.
Maven Guarantee
This course is backed by the Maven Guarantee. Students are eligible for a full refund up until the halfway point of the course.
Course syllabus
7 live sessions • 42 lessons • 19 projects
Week 1
Jan
20
Optional: Design Leadership at Scale – Kickoff Call
Module 1: Establish Strategic Foundations
Jan
20
Live Session: 1
Jan
22
Optional: Office Hours w/ Rachel
Module 2: Drive Vision + Execution
Jan
23
Live Session: 2
Week 2
What students are saying
Meet your instructor
Rachel Kobetz
Chief Design Officer @ PayPal
Rachel Kobetz is a Chief Design executive with expertise driving vision, strategy, and transformation for Fortune 100 companies. She is known for shaping product cultures that humanize technology and connect products with people, making her a sought-after operator, advisor, and thought leader. At PayPal, she leads global design strategy and execution across experiences for consumers, merchants, developers, and employees—reinventing commerce and payments. Previously, she was SVP & Global Head of Design at Expedia, leading its shift into an experience-led organization, and held senior roles at Bank of America, Amazon, and Samsung. Rachel also serves on the Fast Company Executive Board and writes Defining Experience, a newsletter on design leadership, culture, and the future of work.
Join an upcoming cohort
Design Leadership at Scale: Executive
DLSE07 – Q1 2026
$2,600
Dates
Application Deadline
Strategic Design Leadership: Essential Questions for Design Executives
What keeps design executives up at night?
It's rarely the design challenges themselves. More often, it's the broader questions that come with leading design at scale: How do we transform an entire business through design? Build teams that can consistently deliver excellence? Create systems that scale while preserving innovation?
In this piece, I share a framework that helps maintain strategic clarity while building for lasting impact...
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