Design Director (Retail Interiors)

Working pattern: Hybrid (minimum 3 days in studio)

Software: Cinema 4D + SketchUp

Sector: Retail Interiors, Brand Environments, Experiential Activations

About the Role

This is a genuinely senior hire. As Design Director, you will take creative leadership of the studio’s retail interiors output, overseeing projects from initial concept through to built completion and setting the standard for everything that sits below you. The focus is firmly on permanent retail: store design, retail environments, and the kind of physically resolved, consumer‑journey‑led thinking that distinguishes great retail architecture from decoration. You will still be hands‑on with pinnacle projects, but your primary value is in the quality and direction of the work across the board. You will work closely alongside strategy team leads, taking briefs that span culture, fashion, sports, and technology and shaping them into creative solutions that are both commercially rigorous and genuinely original. You will also carry a line report, with a real responsibility to develop that person’s career as thoughtfully as you develop the work. The studio is at a stage where this role has real influence over how the creative offer evolves, and they are looking for someone who wants that responsibility, not just the title.

Your days will look something like this...

• Lead the creative direction of retail interior and brand environment projects from concept through to built completion, maintaining the highest standards at every stage
• Work hands‑on across pinnacle projects (flagship stores, major retail commissions, key activations) while overseeing the creative output of the wider team on concurrent briefs
• Oversee and direct the production of design intent packs for retail store design, ensuring architectural drawings are accurately interpreted and creatively elevated
• Collaborate with strategy team leads to shape creative responses to briefs, bringing strong conceptual thinking and a grounded understanding of retail consumer behaviour
• Lead client presentations and pitches with authority, holding the creative narrative clearly and confidently from first concept to final sign‑off
• Scope and quote projects in collaboration with project managers, contributing to realistic timelines and resource planning
• Manage, mentor, and actively develop a team spanning senior, mid‑weight, and junior designers, with a direct line report to nurture through their career path
• Drive the studio’s creative standards and culture, influencing how the agency approaches retail design and grows its offer

You might be our perfect match if…

• You have 10+ years of experience as a creative designer for 3D spaces and interiors, with the majority of that time spent on permanent retail environments rather than purely event or experiential work
• Your portfolio demonstrates a deep understanding of retail store design: consumer journey thinking, spatial resolution, design intent documentation, and end‑to‑end delivery
• You are highly proficient in Cinema 4D and SketchUp, and comfortable working in Vectorworks and across Adobe Creative Suite
• You have a proven track record of leading teams across multiple concurrent briefs, managing senior as well as junior designers, and making the people around you better
• You have experience quoting and scoping projects and can hold an intelligent conversation about timelines, resourcing, and creative fees
• You lead pitches and presentations with confidence and can win a room as well as hold it
• You are genuinely strategic: curious about industry trends, consumer insights, and the evolving relationship between brand and physical space

Why this one

• A genuinely senior role with real creative authority, in a studio that wants this person to shape its direction, not just manage its output
• A portfolio of culturally significant clients across fashion, culture, sports, and technology, at a scale that makes the work worth doing
• B Corp certified and sustainability‑led: the circular design thinking here is real, embedded, and genuinely interesting to work within
• A growing studio at an inflection point, with a London base and New York presence that signals where this is heading
• A hybrid model that respects the need for studio time and focused independent working in equal measure