Design Director

About the role

The Design Director leads the design function for in-store displays, tradeshow exhibits, retail environments, corporate environments, and related experiential projects. This role encompasses R&D, 3D visualization, CAD, concept development, prototyping, and manufacturing oversight, while adding leadership accountability for design strategy, team supervision, quality standards, resource planning, and cross-functional execution.

The Design Director partners with sales, project management, production, and leadership to acquire new business opportunities, grow existing client portfolios, and ensure creative solutions are delivered on time, within scope, and aligned with client and business objectives. Additionally, this role provides backup coverage for the Exhibits & Environments design team, ensuring continuity of design, rendering, prototyping, estimating coordination, production readiness, and project execution activities.

Responsibilities

• Lead design research, strategy, concept development, prototyping, and creative problem solving for point-of-purchase displays, interior environments, tradeshow exhibits, and experiential marketing programs.
• Direct the design and production of permanent, semi-permanent, and temporary displays, retail environments, corporate environments, and tradeshow exhibits using materials such as corrugated board, metal, wire, wood, PVC, and acrylic.
• Supervise, mentor, and guide designers in developing innovative, visually compelling, technically feasible, and cost-effective solutions.
• Partner with sales, account executives, graphic designers, project managers, estimators, production, vendors, and other internal teams to align creative concepts with client objectives, fabrication requirements, schedules, and budgets.
• Create and/or oversee photorealistic 3D renderings, CAD drawings, POP display concepts, prototypes, presentation materials, and design documentation with a focus on cost effectiveness, structural soundness, and ease of use.
• Set and maintain design quality standards, review design output, approve key deliverables, and ensure final concepts meet client expectations and production requirements.
• Review prospective projects and opportunities in collaboration with account executives and leadership to determine feasibility, design approach, resource needs, timing, and budget considerations.
• Lead construction, production, and project handoff meetings to verify expectations, schedules, technical details, and responsibilities.
• Manage design workload, priorities, and timelines across multiple concurrent projects while ensuring timely project completion and clear communication with stakeholders.
• Support new business development by contributing strategic design thinking, presentation concepts, client-facing creative direction, and recommendations that help win and grow accounts.
• Identify opportunities to improve department processes, design standards, tools, templates, workflows, and collaboration practices.

Supervisory Responsibilities

This position supervises members of the Exhibits & Environments design team, including designers, contractors, freelancers, interns, or other creative resources. Responsibilities include:

• Assigning and prioritizing work, providing design direction and coaching.
• Reviewing deliverables, supporting hiring and onboarding, contributing to performance evaluations.
• Identifying development needs and maintaining a collaborative, accountable, and high-performing design culture.
• Modeling company standards, escalating resource or performance concerns, and ensuring the design team has the tools and direction needed to meet project and business objectives.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in Industrial Design, Exhibit Design, Environmental Design, Architecture, Interior Design, or a related field; equivalent professional experience may be considered.
• Minimum of 7+ years of progressive experience in exhibit, environmental, retail, experiential, or point-of-purchase display design, including experience in a senior design, lead designer, design manager, or director-level capacity.
• Demonstrated ability to lead, coach, develop, and evaluate design talent while fostering collaboration, accountability, and creative excellence.
• Strong portfolio demonstrating concept development, spatial design, 3D visualization, technical design thinking, material knowledge, and successful execution of physical branded environments or displays.
• Fluency in relevant 3D modeling, rendering, CAD, and presentation software such as AutoCAD, 3D Studio, SolidWorks, Vectorworks, SketchUp, Adobe Creative Suite, or comparable tools.
• Working knowledge of materials, fabrication methods, production processes, structural considerations, installation requirements, and manufacturing documentation.
• Specialty or strong experience in visual merchandising, POP merchandising, retail environments, tradeshow exhibits, corporate environments, or experiential marketing.
• Proven business leader capable of setting a creative vision, translating client needs into compelling solutions, managing design timelines, and balancing creativity with commercial objectives.
• Exceptional oral, written, and visual communication skills, including the ability to present concepts clearly to clients, leadership, and cross-functional teams.
• Strong project management, analytical, budget-awareness, prioritization, and problem-solving skills.
• Demonstrated ability to build strong relationships with customers, business partners, vendors, and team members across the organization.
• Proven ability to manage multiple complex projects concurrently under aggressive timelines in a dynamic environment while maintaining strong attention to detail.

Physical Demands

The physical demands described are representative of those required to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform these functions.

• Regularly required to sit; use hands to finger, handle, or feel; reach with hands and arms; and talk or hear.
• Occasionally required to stand and walk.
• Specific vision abilities required include close vision, distance vision, color vision, peripheral vision, depth perception, and ability to adjust focus.
• Must occasionally lift and/or move up to 10 pounds.

Work Environment

The work environment characteristics described are representative of those an employee encounters while performing the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform these functions.

• Primarily office-based in a professional setting with a moderate noise level.
• Requires regular use of standard office equipment and frequent interaction with internal teams in a collaborative, fast-paced environment.