Creative Director in London

Role overview

The Creative Director role within Oktra plays a pivotal leadership role that combines creative vision, pitch-winning design, and practical delivery. This role spans both conceptual design development and collaboration with construction and delivery teams, ensuring that projects are not only visually compelling and inclusive, but also feasible and aligned with client goals, budgets, and timelines.

The Creative Director is responsible for shaping innovative design concepts, guiding multidisciplinary teams, and ensuring design integrity — from concept through to completion. Collaborating closely with clients, Pre Construction teams, Project Managers, and Construction teams, the role translates client vision into exceptional, buildable environments that align with brand, budget, programme, compliance, and functional needs. The ideal candidate combines strong leadership, storytelling, and cross-functional collaboration skills with deep experience in interior architecture, spatial design, and design strategy within a fast-paced design and build environment.

Key Responsibilities:

Leadership & Strategy:

· Understand ‘The Oktra Way’ — our processes, standards, sustainability practices, quality measures, and compliance requirements — across all roles and responsibilities.

· Serve as a leading member of each project team: understand your role and others,’ take ownership of tasks, resolve issues as they arise, and maintain clear communication through to project completion.

· Provide creative leadership, direction, and design work across all design phases; detail, guide and collaborate with all members of the extended professional design team including Pre Construction, Commercial and Construction; internal and external teams, respectively.

· Lead project reviews to ensure design integrity, creative coordination, compliance, inclusivity, sustainability, cost, and programme adherence.

· Support business development with strategic design input and creative feasibility analysis.

· Promote continual learning, ensuring your team stay ahead of design trends and emerging technologies — especially in regard to compliance and sustainability.

· Attend and take part in internal and external events to further promote Oktra and the work we do.

Project Winning, Creative Development and Project Delivery:

· Work with the Leadership team (where relevant) to plan strategies for winning projects, managing risks, ensuring quality, building team skills, and maintaining compliance.

· Define and articulate the design vision and strategy with your client.

· Manage client and project expectations, maintaining clear communication on creative aspects of the design for all parties.

· Oversee and manage (when relevant) the creative development of design documentation — from pitch through to contract and construction — including programming, scheduling, and resourcing.

· Lead the coordination of creative design with architectural, structural, mechanical, and full construction teams, working closely with the Technical Design team.

· Oversee and lead (when relevant) the translation of conceptual designs into detailed, buildable solutions without compromising design intent, cost, compliance, or programme.

· Oversee, review, and create (when required) all creative drawings and documentation — from design development through to construction and practical completion.

· Oversee, review and resolve (when required) complex design challenges related to structure, finishes, systems, compliance, and constructability.

· Ensure accuracy, clarity, and compliance in all creative drawings, documentation, and specifications.

· Review reference materials and site documentation to ensure design accuracy through all projects.

· Set and enforce creative design standards and best practices throughout projects and the team.

· Support the Design team by offering solutions that balance aesthetic goals with practical execution, whilst looking to the future and where our industry is heading.

Quality & Risk Management:

· Oversee and conduct (when required) quality assurance and control reviews.

· Oversee the identification of design risks early and provide proactive creative and buildable solutions.

· Oversee the assurance of proper documentation and coordination to minimise site issues, redesigns, and risks.

Coordination & Collaboration:

· Oversee and collaborate (when required) closely with Pre Construction, Commercial, Project Managers, site teams, consultants, and clients as a professional team to ensure absolute project success.

· Oversee and coordinate (when required) with consultants, suppliers, contractors, and internal stakeholders to resolve design challenges.

· Oversee and ensure (when required) all documentation is fully coordinated and up to date with design changes, construction methods, and site constraints.

· Oversee and lead (when required) creative review meetings, ensuring issues are logged, tracked, and resolved.

· Participate (when required) in clash detection and coordination meetings using Building Information Modelling (BIM) tools (e.g., Revit, Navisworks) in association with the Technical Design Team.

Documentation & Standards including Compliance:

· Oversee the maintenance of drawing files, naming conventions, and documentation sets.

· Review (when required) design and construction packages for tender, authority approvals, and construction to maintain company standards and industry best practices.

· Ensure that all designs comply with relevant codes, standards, regulations, and client specifications — including cost and programme approval.

· Oversee and submit (when required) permit drawings, planning applications, Building Regulations submissions etc. from creation of documentation to application approval.

· Ensure compliance with the company role of Principal Designer under Construction (Design & Management) (CDM) Building Regulations and the Building Safety Act.

· Ensure team compliance and competency including the wider professional project team when required.

· Ensure compliance with the role of Designer under Construction (Design & Management) (CDM), Building Regulations and the Building Safety Act.

Site & Construction Support:

· Oversee the support of design teams with design information, clarifications, and revisions during construction for all projects when required.

· Oversee the responses to Requests for Information (RFI's), the reviews of shop drawings, the management of change control and project-specific requirements as needed, working with your delivery team.

· Ensure all practical completion documentation, including Health & Safety incorporating Operation & Maintenance (H&S+O&M) files, as builts and residual risk registers is to a high quality and present alongside your Technical Design team.

· Conduct regular site visits with your technical design team to monitor progress, quality, competency, and compliance throughout construction to practical completion.

· Oversee and participate in internal team meetings and coordination reviews when necessary.

Essential Qualifications & experience:

· Bachelor's or Master’s Degree in Architecture, Interior Architecture, or similar related field.

· 10+ years of experience in creative interior design, management, and project delivery, preferably within a design & build or fast-paced multidisciplinary environment.

· Proficient in Revit, BIM coordination tools, AutoCAD, and other design software’s.

· Common Date Environment (CDE) experience preferable but not essential (Oktra use ACC Autodesk Construction Cloud).

Desirable Attributes:

· Excellent leadership, verbal and visual communication skills and good problem-solving capabilities.

· Strong portfolio demonstrating a range of design capabilities, including competency, compliance, hand sketching, creative design, design detailing, coordination, programming, and processes.

· Experience with fast-track or design & build procurement models, preferably commercial sector.

· Excellent knowledge and experience of sustainability certifications (LEED, WELL, BREEAM etc.).

· Robust design sensibility with a practical approach to cost, scheduling, construction, and delivery, combined with excellent problem-solving and creative decision-making skills.

· Detail-oriented with a hands-on approach to quality and execution.

· Ability to manage multiple projects and deadlines simultaneously.

· Ability to work independently and as part of a cross-functional team.

· Proactive and hands-on, with a keen sense of ownership and accountability.

· Strong drafting and documentation skills.

· Knowledge of detailing, building codes, and material technologies.

· Excellent leadership, organisational, and interpersonal skills.

· Regulatory knowledge of CDM 2015, Building Regulations and all associated documentation, Risk Assessments and Residual Risk Registers, Golden Thread.