Head of Interior Design in City of London

We’re partnering with an ambitious global luxury hospitality group to appoint a Head of Interior Design, taking creative ownership of the physical environments that bring its brands and guest experiences to life. Spanning hotels, restaurants, bars and future hospitality concepts, this is a senior creative leadership role with the opportunity to influence an evolving international portfolio and shape how guests experience the brand through design.

From the first idea through to opening day, you’ll lead the design journey across new developments, refurbishments and evolving concepts, ensuring every environment is distinctive, relevant, commercially considered and operationally effective. You’ll sit at the intersection of design, brand, hospitality and development, working closely with senior leadership and collaborating across Brand, Development, Operations, Culinary and Marketing. You’ll also lead an international network of architects, interior designers, consultants, artisans and suppliers, challenging and inspiring external partners while protecting the creative vision throughout delivery.

The role

• Leading the creative direction for new openings, refurbishments and evolving hospitality concepts.
• Overseeing concept design, interior architecture, FF&E, materials, lighting, art, styling and the wider guest environment.
• Translating brand positioning and strategic vision into distinctive physical experiences.
• Developing and maintaining design standards and governance across the portfolio without creating a one-size-fits-all approach.
• Directing external architects, designers, consultants, suppliers and creative partners throughout every stage of a project.
• Working collaboratively with Brand, Culinary, Operations, Development and Marketing to ensure spaces work creatively, commercially and operationally.
• Leading design reviews, site inspections and value-engineering conversations while protecting the integrity of the original concept.
• Ensuring projects balance aesthetics and guest experience with operational functionality, budgets and commercial objectives.
• Staying curious about emerging design movements, materials, technology, sustainability and changing guest behaviours.
• Continually evolving the Group’s design language while ensuring every concept has its own personality and sense of place.

What success looks like

You’ll create spaces that are immediately recognisable for their quality and point of view, while remaining relevant to their individual brand, market and location. Design will become an even stronger commercial and experiential asset across the business, with clearer standards, stronger collaboration and greater consistency from concept through to execution. You’ll build trusted relationships across the organisation and with external creative partners, becoming the person who can champion ambitious ideas while understanding the commercial and operational realities of hospitality. And ultimately, the spaces you help create will be places guests actively choose to visit, talk about and return to.

About you

You’ll bring 10+ years’ experience within luxury hospitality, hotels, restaurants, lifestyle or experiential design, with a portfolio demonstrating both creative originality and successful delivery. You’re likely to have:

• Delivered international hotel, F&B, lifestyle or mixed-use projects from concept through to completion.
• Strong knowledge of interior architecture, FF&E, materials, lighting and guest experience design.
• Experience leading multidisciplinary design teams, consultants and external agencies across complex projects.
• Worked across both in-house and agency/studio environments, ideally giving you an understanding of both perspectives.
• Strong creative judgement with the confidence to establish a vision, challenge thinking and make decisions.
• The commercial awareness to understand budgets, value engineering, operational requirements and return on investment.
• Excellent communication, stakeholder management and presentation skills, with the credibility to operate at executive level.
• A genuine passion for hospitality, culture, travel, food, design and the experiences that bring people together.

You’ll be equally comfortable discussing the big creative idea with senior leadership, interrogating materials and finishes with a design team, or walking a site to ensure the final details deliver against the vision. Above all, you’ll understand that the best hospitality design isn’t simply about how a space looks. It’s about how it makes people feel.

Please apply via LinkedIn using the Easy Apply button. Unfortunately, we cannot accept CVs via LinkedIn message or email. Closing Date: Sunday 16th August. Every application will be personally reviewed, and all applicants will receive an update following the closing date.