Senior Interior Designer in Chipping Ongar

Some senior design roles gradually pull you further away from design.

This one does the opposite.

Modus Careers is working with an established interior design studio looking for a Senior Interior Designer to join its team following a significant influx of new hotel projects across the UK.

This is an opportunity for someone who still wants to be genuinely involved in the creative process. Developing concepts, building mood boards, selecting FF&E, creating presentations, producing drawing packages and helping turn the early story behind a hotel into a complete interior scheme.

The immediate focus will be a portfolio of substantial hotel projects, spanning everything from bedrooms and guest spaces through to restaurants, bars and wider F&B environments.

You will work closely with one of the studio's senior leaders, taking ownership of projects while overseeing and supporting a junior designer already working within the hotel team.

Importantly, this is not a role for someone looking to become a technical technician or spend their week managing construction sites.

The studio's involvement in these hotel projects is centred around the design itself. They work directly with hotel operators, developing the interior concept and FF&E specification before taking projects through to coordinated drawing packages. Project management and site delivery are then handled separately by the client's own teams.

That creates a senior position where your value comes from your ability to design, communicate and make decisions.

You'll need to understand how an interior comes together technically, but you'll also need the creative confidence to establish a direction, present ideas convincingly and make considered decisions around materials, finishes, furniture and the details that ultimately define the guest experience.

Hotel experience would naturally be attractive, but it isn't essential.

Our client recognises that strong hospitality designers often have highly transferable experience. If you've spent your career designing restaurants, bars or other high-quality hospitality environments and can demonstrate strong concept development alongside FF&E and project delivery, we'd still like to hear from you.

What you'll be doing

• Leading the creative development of hotel interior projects from initial brief through to completed design packages
• Creating concepts, mood boards and compelling client presentations
• Developing FF&E schemes, specifications and associated pricing
• Producing and overseeing detailed interior drawing packages
• Working directly with hotel operators and presenting design ideas confidently
• Taking ownership of projects while supporting and overseeing a junior designer
• Collaborating with the wider studio across hospitality projects when required
• Protecting the creative intent of a scheme as it develops from concept into a coordinated design

What we're looking for

• Senior-level experience within interior design
• A strong portfolio demonstrating hospitality, hotel, F&B or similarly design-led commercial interiors
• Excellent concept development and visual communication skills
• Strong FF&E knowledge and specification experience
• Confident AutoCAD skills
• Good working knowledge of Photoshop and InDesign
• The ability to communicate confidently with clients and internally
• Enough technical understanding to take a design through to a comprehensive drawing package
• A collaborative approach and the confidence to guide more junior designers
• A UK driving licence

More than anything, we're looking for a designer.

Someone who enjoys the early thinking. Someone who can establish a visual language, interrogate a brief and build a scheme with enough depth that it feels considered rather than simply styled.

You might already come from hotels. You might have built your career designing restaurants and hospitality spaces and be ready to apply that thinking across larger, more varied environments.

Either way, you should still want to be close to the work.

The studio itself is based in a characterful converted mill in the Essex countryside. It is a collaborative environment, and the team works together in the studio five days a week, so this won't suit someone looking for a remote or hybrid position. Due to the rural location, driving is also essential.

In return, you'll join a well-established studio with a strong pipeline of sizeable UK hotel projects and the opportunity to make a meaningful contribution to a growing area of the business.

The package includes:

• Salary dependent on experience
• 25 days' annual leave plus bank holidays
• Performance-related summer and Christmas bonuses
• Tailored development plans
• CPDs and additional training where appropriate
• The opportunity to work closely with senior leadership while developing and mentoring junior designers
• Long-term involvement in significant UK hotel projects

If you're a Senior Interior Designer who wants your next move to involve more designing, more creative ownership and less time disappearing into project management, we'd like to hear from you.

Apply through Modus Careers or get in touch directly for a confidential conversation.