Retail Design Director

As a Design Director at Seen Studios, you’ll partner closely with our Creative Director to shape the strategic vision and elevate execution across our flagship retail projects (permanent, seasonal, pop ups, windows, and fixture design). You’ll lead multidisciplinary design teams, nurture emerging talent, and be the pivotal link between creative strategy, client services, and production teams—ensuring every environment we craft is deeply human‑centred, on‑brand, and commercially impactful. This role is suited to a confident, collaborative, and conceptually driven designer who is not only technically experienced but able to balance confident creative execution with the realities of the project goals and brief, managing a growing multidisciplinary team, and delivering on the vision statement of the agency.

The Design Director must thrive in a fast‑paced, multidisciplinary environment and take on leadership of a growing team, project quoting and scoping, and client‑facing responsibilities.

Your Role & Responsibilities

• The Design Director must demonstrate strong industry knowledge and relevant expertise.
• They will work closely with our Creative Director to deliver our human‑centric proposition.
• They will maintain consistent, high‑quality design standards on all projects and ensure the team is meeting the expectations of the agency on every project with passion, precision, and personability.
• They will join the Design Directors in weekly meetings, across resourcing and team management.
• They will receive briefs and delegate tasks to project teams and use their multi‑faceted experience to inspire and develop team members in design principles across all tasks.
• They will support the team by creating design estimates for Project Managers to share back with clients and closely manage project deliverables against scope and project quotes and flag and recommend external support when required.
• Works closely with Creative Director to ensure clear design direction on leading projects while supporting more junior members of the team to maintain a consistent standard of design.
• They will manage external creative resources i.e. freelance designers to match agency standard.
• The Design Director will proactively provide recommendations to further enhance creative output across projects and the creative expression of the agency.

Creative Leadership & Direction

• Lead projects from concept to execution, shaping creative direction across 3D retail environments at varied scales.
• Collaborate closely with the Creative Director to define the studio’s creative standards and strategic vision.
• Present bold, brand‑aligned design narratives to clients with clarity and conviction.
• Support and elevate the studio’s creative culture through inspiration, insight, and innovation.

Project Ownership & Delivery

• Own the creative output—from initial ideation through to delivery, in close collaboration with Creative Director and Project and Production teams.
• Translate abstract ideas and strategic thinking into tangible, emotionally resonant spatial design concepts and be able to present these concepts in a clear and concise manner for clients to understand and feel excited by.
• Maintain quality control across design deliverables, ensuring consistency and excellence.

Team Development & Mentorship

• Mentor and support senior, mid‑weight, and junior designers — providing constructive feedback, direction, and encouragement to grow creative confidence and craft.
• Act as a role model for studio behaviour, work ethic, and design thinking.

Client Engagement & Communication

• Act as a senior creative contact for key clients, confidently navigating briefs, feedback, and creative conversations.
• Build relationships focused around trust, transparency, and relatability with key client stakeholders.
• Support business development by contributing to pitch strategy, quoting, and creative storytelling.
• Actively promote the studio’s work across social media channels to increase visibility and traction in the marketplace.
• Be a voice for the projects and support in marketing efforts.

Studio Strategy & Process

• Help evolve Seen’s human‑centric design principles and B‑Corp certification by identifying new materials, spatial formats, or cultural references that push the agency forward.
• Contribute to resource planning, freelancer briefing, and creative scheduling.
• Input into internal tools, creative process, and visual languages to continually raise standards and efficiency.

Desired Skills And Experience

• 11+ years of hands-on experience in 3D spatial design, retail environments, and seasonal brand design.
• Proven leadership of multi‑disciplinary teams across multiple complex projects.
• Strong conceptual thinker with a refined visual aesthetic and spatial awareness, with the ability to turn strategy into spatial conceptualisation.
• Confident presenter with client‑facing experience and an ability to communicate ideas with conviction.
• Fluent in Cinema 4D (with Corona Renderer), SketchUp, and Vectorworks, and the ability to translate this knowledge to junior members of the team to guide and mentor them in best practice.
• Highly proficient in Adobe Creative Suite, especially InDesign, Illustrator, and Photoshop.
• Utilise Ai tools to create elevated project responses.
• Excellent understanding of build methods, materials, and technical drawings, with on-site experience during the construction and handover stages.
• Comfortable working across multiple projects, timelines, and disciplines, whilst managing a team.
• A self‑starter who thrives in collaborative environments and contributes to a positive studio culture.
• A genuine interest in design, culture, fashion, and art with an ability to take current global trends and drivers into account when presenting relatable ideas to brands.

In addition, the candidate must be:

• A natural leader who can drive creativity while making space for others to grow.
• See opportunities for agency growth and suggest new clients for new business.
• Blend commercial awareness with conceptual bravery – a true storyteller at heart but with a realist mentality.
• A keen eye on cultural and retail trends — with a desire to keep Seen Studios at the forefront of spatial design innovation.

Time and location

• Candidate will be expected to work standard hours from 9am to 5:30pm with a degree of flexibility.
• Candidate will operate from the London, Shoreditch office.
• We are currently operating 3 days in the office minimum and 2 days WFH.