​Design leadership is evolving. More designers are stepping into leadership roles without clear guidance, navigating a shift from design value to business value, and moving from making work to creating impact through others.

​This workshop explores what it means to lead design today: how to build confidence and clarity, operate effectively within organizational constraints, and develop the leadership skills needed to collaborate both with teams and new technology.

​Workshop Format

• ​One day, two workshops – Each session runs for two hours in small groups of 15 participants.

• ​Hands-on learning – Workshops focus on practical tools, shared insights, and collaborative reflection, encouraging learning from facilitators and peers alike.

• ​Community & Connection – Breaks, snacks, and networking opportunities provide space to connect, exchange ideas, and build supportive relationships.
  

​At its core, this workshop is about confidence, clarity, and collaboration—equipping designers to navigate leadership in complex times, lead with care, and create meaningful impact through their teams and work.

​Workshop 1: 

​Lead with clarity, not chaos.

​You’ve made the leap into leadership. Now it’s time to build what makes great design possible.

​Host: Therese Sharp, UX Lead Manager @ The Boots Group UK

​The role of a design leader isn’t just to deliver work - it’s to build the conditions where great work can happen consistently, sustainably, and joyfully. That means creating clarity, protecting creativity, and shaping the systems your team works inside.

​In this interactive workshop, Therese Sharp will help you move from firefighting to framework-building.

​You’ll walk away with:

• ​Clear next steps to strengthen your team’s creative environment

• ​A personal leadership profile you can grow into, not out of

• ​Tools to help you design rituals, workflows, and feedback that stick

​If your role feels like a never-ending tension between delivery, care, and scale, you’re not alone. This workshop gives you the tools, language, and space to lead well in that tension.

​Workshop 2:

​Collaborative Partnerships in AI-Augmented Teams

​Host: Marvin Olukayode Hassan, UX Design Manager & Career Coach, and founder of UXPEERS.

​AI is becoming a constant in our design and product landscape. While many companies are still experimenting with tools to replace tasks, a key to successful integration lies in optimizing collaborative processes.

We’ll explore how AI can strengthen collaboration rather than quietly erode it. We’ll look at what happens when “Chad the AI” becomes a team member and disciplines begin to feel like silos once more. Discuss why low-effort AI output damages trust and collaboration. Learn how design leaders can help their organisations use AI tools to create shared understanding and optimised cross-functional processes rather than solo speed.

Join me to work on:

• ​Using AI to support conversations, not replace them

• ​Keeping decision-making power within each craft while still moving fast

• ​Designing simple rituals for shared AI oversight in product/design teams

• ​Building equitable partnerships between Product, Design, and Engineering in an AI-augmented world

​This workshop is not about learning the best prompt! We’ll bring you practical ways to bring your team back into the loop: clearer collaboration agreements, healthier expectations around AI use, and concrete ideas you can test with your teams.

​About the Organizer

​​​​Employed.world is a social enterprise and community of 100+ emerging UX Product leaders, mentors, coaches which aims at building support system for job seekers in Berlin/Germany. Over the past 2 years the community has hosted 80+ in person events in Berlin to create safe space for over 3500+ job seekers to reduce their blindspots.