Design Director, Interiors Lead

MillerKnoll is seeking a highly skilled and experienced Interior Design Director to lead our Interiors team. As a key member of our business leadership team, you will be responsible for providing creative leadership and strategic direction to our design teams.

Key Responsibilities:

• Lead and direct groups of senior designers, designers, senior production designers, and associate production designers.
• Provide creative leadership and direction to the Interiors team.
• Collaborate with Senior Directors, Creative Directors, and other stakeholders to craft comprehensive advisory engagements for clients.
• Develop and manage efforts to train, develop, and enhance a team of senior designers, designers, and production designers.
• Establish direction to ensure the team executes work efficiently and meets the quality standards expected of a world-class MillerKnoll design team.
• Lead and support open-ended consultative conversations with clients, synthesizing expertise in current workplace research, insights, strategy, and the MillerKnoll workplace perspective.
• Direct a team of designers, operating as a player/coach by actively participating in client design work while overseeing ancillary and workplace design teams.
• Support client and industry stakeholders, including project management and real estate, by tailoring engagement approaches accordingly.
• Travel as needed for client engagements at MillerKnoll venues and remote sites.
• Understand, develop, and maintain design data, libraries, and resources aligned with stakeholders within the Interiors team and broader MillerKnoll teams and initiatives.
• Work with Interiors leads to scope and optimize client engagements, maximizing impact across the Interiors team's KPIs and objectives.
• Embrace immersion in color, material, finish, and techniques that communicate the essence of a heritage and industry-leading design brand.
• Collaborate with Senior Directors and leadership across brands and functions, translating vision into reality through creative problem-solving and design execution.
• Exhibit outstanding strategic thinking and methodical problem-solving skills.
• Demonstrate leadership in design teams, working effectively as both an Architect and an Interior Designer.
• Synthesize data, insights, objectives, and requirements into clear, actionable design strategies and plans.
• Envision future states beyond the status quo.
• Lead the development of design principles and palettes, including foundational narrative, atmospheric/spatial intention, design language, material, color, texture, lighting, journey flow, etc.
• Lead and develop a team of designers, further strengthening the design culture.
• Maintain a high level of integrity, accountability, and a proactive approach to problem-solving.
• Experience in determining project timing, team resourcing, and capacity.
• Oversee and manage the allocation of resources needed for project teams to successfully complete projects.
• Develop and maintain project schedules and budgets, reporting project progress to the leadership team.
• Serve as the main point of contact for clients, ensuring their needs and expectations are met throughout the project.
• Ensure all design teams align with the firm's culture, operations, and industry standards.
• Provide technical guidance and serve as a resource for less experienced team members.
• Establish quality control criteria and implement QA/QC processes, including regular drawing reviews and feedback to ensure project deliverables meet professional quality standards.
• Foster a culture of teamwork, collaboration, and excellence among team members.
• Provide guidance and mentorship to less experienced team members to support professional development and build capacities within the office.
• Continuously explore ways to improve project processes and procedures to create a solid foundation for the design team to work more efficiently and effectively.

Requirements:

• Bachelor and/or Master's degree in Architecture, Interior Design, or related discipline.
• Rich, diverse experience in architecture, interior design, environmental brand design, or related discipline preferred.
• 10+ years of experience in progressive, professional level leadership roles; and experience in designing and managing to completion all aspects of relevant Interior and Architectural design, Showroom and/or Store Design and/or Retail or significant exhibition environments.
• 10+ years of experience with team management and individual management with a proven track record of mentoring, coaching, and creative leadership.
• Professional workplace strategy or design certifications: NCIDQ, MCR, ASID, IIDA, AIA, LEED, WELL, Prosci, etc. preferred.
• Strong leadership skills and the ability to manage and motivate a team.
• Excellent project management skills and highly organized, with a proven track record of delivering projects on time, within budget and to the highest quality standards.
• Strong communication skills, with the ability to effectively communicate with clients, team members and firm leadership.
• Ability to self-manage and take own initiatives, developing comprehensive work plans, setting goals and executing results.
• Highly proficient in design tools including (or able to acquire these skills quickly) AutoCAD, BIM platforms, SketchUp, Enscape, Adobe Creative Suite, Microsoft Office, and similar software.
• Experience and fluency in conducting client-facing engagements and conversations in workplace design with key stakeholders.
• Able to manage individual contributor work while acting as a mentor, coach, and leader for a broader design team.
• Be a capable design leader that helps prioritize and guide tactical efforts aligned with broader strategic goals for the Interiors team, as well as MillerKnoll.
• Coach, mentor, and constructively critique their team's work to instill a culture of positive continuous improvement.
• Efficiently evaluate, train, and develop the skillset of each designer on their design team to help realize their maximum potential.
• Develop touchpoints and processes to ensure the consistency and quality of the work across the design team.
• Experience designing with programming and typical workplace strategy metrics.
• Conceptualize, create, and document, design applications of MillerKnoll product solutions to create solutions for clients.
• Present design work effectively through verbal, written, 2D & 3D visualization, and graphic techniques.
• Independently working and managing time and output in a distributed team environment.
• Effectively prioritize broader Interiors Team objectives and strategy against the individual requests and challenges of each client engagement.
• Familiarity with pertinent building code, universal design / accessibility requirements, and other best practices.

Physical Demands:

The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job.

Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions. Must be able to perform all essential functions of the position with or without accommodations.

MillerKnoll is an equal opportunity employer and welcomes applications from diverse candidates. We are committed to equal opportunity employment, including veterans and people with disabilities.

A starting compensation range for this role is $145,000- $165,000. You may also be eligible to receive a geographic premium, annual discretionary incentive and equity awards which are subject to the rules governing these programs.

The company offers a full spectrum of benefits including Medical, Prescription Drug, Dental, Vision, Health Savings Account, Dependent Day Care Savings Account, Life Insurance, Disability and Other Insurance Plans, Paid Time Off (including Vacation and Parental Leave), Holidays, 401(k), and Short/Long Term Disability, in addition to other special perks reserved for our associates.