Design Manager

We are looking for a Design Manager to join our growing Charcoalblue Experience Design & Strategy (XDS) team as an Experience Consultant with a focus on Design Management. This is a permanent, full-time position based in the Eastern Time Zone of the US.

About the Role

Charcoalblue’s Experience Design & Strategy team is a dedicated business unit within the Charcoalblue group that applies expertise gained from working with globally renowned cultural organizations to the workplace, sports, exhibition, and events markets. We work with world-leading companies to create spaces for collaboration and storytelling, delivering enhanced experiences for staff, visitors, guests, and spectators.

Projects include hybrid workplaces, one-off event spaces, sports facilities, broadcast studios, conference centers, and ecosystems across entire buildings and campuses. As an Experience Consultant specializing in Design Management, you will guide the design and delivery of events, executive briefings, and collaboration spaces across sectors, working embedded within a client team as part of our Design Management and Creative consultancy.

This client-facing role involves translating client vision into actionable briefs, managing stakeholders, producing documentation and visuals covering user journeys, master planning, and guest experience, and acting as a subject-matter expert within a self-directed, managed-services environment. This position is ideal for a communicative, self-motivated problem solver comfortable with ambiguity. Candidates must be available for daily meetings during Eastern Time Zone business hours.

Responsibilities

• Provide subject matter expertise and design guidance for Events and Experiences spaces.
• Ensure the architectural design of Event, Collaboration, and Executive Briefing Venues, Activations, and Support Spaces are optimized for the overall guest and user experience.
• Develop client requirements documentation for new event and experience spaces and produce briefs for the architectural design team, including architectural requirements, operational considerations, and program constraints.
• Develop, document, analyze, and present user journey studies and wider strategic visioning studies.
• Deliver and maintain progress reports and presentations to key stakeholders and partners using written and drawn documentation to communicate stakeholder requirements, project aims, and design intent.
• Act as a key point of contact for client stakeholder teams, project managers, and the design teams to ensure accurate communication between all parties.
• Be a trusted, friendly, and flexible collaborator for all client and external partners while balancing diverse team priorities.
• Work with our wider team to develop design standards and guidance as needed.
• Be actively involved in Design Team and other key project meetings, providing subject matter expert advice to guide the project with an understanding of schedule and cost considerations.
• Represent and be an ambassador for Charcoalblue, interfacing professionally with our clients and collaborators.
• Elevate our ability to collaborate and communicate with clients and brainstorm innovative ways to approach a portfolio of spaces.

Requirements

• Minimum five (5) years of professional experience in either the event management and operations field, or in the design and construction of spaces relating to the performing arts, events, executive briefing centers, experiential design, or hospitality & leisure.
• Ability to read construction drawings and specifications, and a professional interest in construction projects.

Qualifications & Skills

• Essential:
  • Minimum five (5) years of professional experience in event management and operations or design and construction of relevant spaces.
  • Ability to read construction drawings and specifications.
• Desirable:
  • Minimum three (3) years of relevant experience in design management or client representation relating to events or experiential spaces.
  • Formal qualification/degree in architecture, interior design, venue design, or related field.
  • Skilled in the visual, written, and verbal communication of design issues with the capability to think creatively and bring innovative solutions.
  • Practical understanding of the AIA design stages and the typical level of information required at each stage.
  • Adept at synthesizing complex information into clear, concise, and visually compelling presentations for executive and cross-functional audiences.
  • Experience in experiential design, executive briefing programs, theatre, performing arts, or event space buildings either through direct experience or professional design work.
  • Proven vision, leadership, and strategic skills to prioritize evolving initiatives; ability to turn ideas into effective initiatives that engage users.
  • Understanding of construction terminology and building systems, and overall project sequence/timing.
  • Ability and proven record of helping to steer decision-making and processing.
  • Imaginative approach to problem-solving.
  • Collaborative and personal approach.

Interpersonal Skills

• Ability to work in a collaborative and fast-paced environment with a high degree of self-motivation and initiative.
• Outstanding verbal and written communication skills.
• Ability to manage multiple projects simultaneously.
• Detail-oriented with the ability to think, plan, and execute on multiple projects in different phases with little direct supervision.
• Informed design sensibility, with a curious and open approach to design.
• Able to work calmly and effectively under pressure.
• Flexibility and adaptability to changing business needs.
• Ability to build relationships with colleagues, clients, vendors, stakeholders, and management.

Schedule

The role is a full-time, non-exempt position at 40 hours per week. As an international organization, flexibility in working hours is required to facilitate project demands and support across global time zones. Working hours will be agreed upon with your line manager to suit personal circumstances and project load. The role is subject to a three-month probationary period.

Location

We operate in a distributed hybrid model, allowing you to work from home or another location of your choosing, with a minimum of 1 day per week in the New York or Chicago studio. Travel within the US and occasional international travel for projects and team building will be required. The successful applicant must be based in the New York or Chicago metro area to meet the needs of our work and local team.

Benefits

• Take-What-You-Need (TWYN) Leave: No cap on the number of days off per year, with a minimum encouragement of 15 days of paid time off annually (prorated in the first year), in addition to federal and local public holidays. Charcoalblue traditionally closes its studios between Christmas and New Year’s Day, providing an additional 4-5 discretionary paid vacation days each year.
• Laptop and IT peripherals provided for hybrid/distributed working.
• Contributions towards home internet and utilities.
• Eligibility to join our 401K plan (employee contributions only; employer contributions begin after two years of service).
• Immediate eligibility for life insurance, Short Term Disability, and FSA/Dependents’ Care plans.
• Eligibility to join our company healthcare plan following the insurance waiting period.
• Monthly allowance for live event tickets following the three-month probationary period.
• Bonus plan participation following successful completion of the three-month probationary period (subject to company performance).
• Regular check-ins with your line manager.

Pay

The salary range for this role is $75,000 - $110,000 per year. Base pay is determined based on job-related, non-discriminatory factors such as experience.