Project Manager, Store Design

About the role

As Project Manager, Store Design, you support the Store Design team in managing key aspects of new store construction, existing store remodels, and store relays — with a primary focus on fixture design and development. This role plays a critical part in advancing both our new and legacy store fleets, creating fixture solutions that translate seamlessly across store formats.

You partner closely with the merchandising team to understand space and fixture needs, and with Purchasing and Procurement on value engineering and rollout strategy for fixture programs. As store needs evolve, you develop and refine fixtures in response to space constraints, visual merchandising requirements, and merchant requests. You also help manage a portion of the department’s capital expenditure budget, keeping fixture and project costs on or near target by proactively resolving construction and facility issues and driving projects to completion on time and to the required standard.

Serving as a key liaison between the internal construction team, facilities team, and general contractors engaged on each project, you bring a passion for process improvement and a strong understanding of how to optimize retail space and floor plans for Barnes & Noble stores. You communicate effectively across cross-functional teams, managing change and resolving conflict with confidence.

Responsibilities

• Partner with the Director of Purchasing, their team, and outside vendors to develop, prototype, and refine fixtures for new stores, remodels, and specialty shops (Kids, Café, Toys & Games, Vinyl, Gift).
• Translate requests from merchants, visual merchandising, and space planning into fixture specifications, drawings, and revisions.
• Collaborate with store planners and 3D renderers to develop and refine design drawings that meet fixture specifications, to hand off to the Director of Purchasing for development.
• Collaborate with Purchasing and Procurement on value engineering, cost analysis, and vendor selection to keep fixture programs on budget.
• Manage the fixture rollout schedule for new stores, remodels, and relays; ensuring fixtures are ordered, produced, and delivered on time to support each project’s timeline.
• Serve as the design/implementation liaison between Store Design, Purchasing, Construction, Facilities, and general contractors or vendors on all fixture-related scope.
• Review fixture placement plans, register counters, lighting, fillers, finishing panels, to confirm they meet brand and functional standards ahead of installation.
• Help manage the capital expenditure budget for fixture programs, flagging cost or schedule risks early and resolving fixture-related construction or facility issues as they come up.
• Identify opportunities to standardize or improve fixture design across the store fleet, informed by field feedback and post-project reviews.
• Participate in project postmortems to evaluate fixture performance and surface improvements for future builds.
• Support store teams, Store Planning, and Store Design with fixture-related questions throughout a given project.
• Visit stores and project sites to ensure project deadlines are being met throughout the course of the project.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s Degree in Interior Design, Architecture, Industrial Design, Project Management, a related field or equivalent experience.
• 3–5 years of relevant work experience, ideally including fixture design or store planning.
• Working knowledge of fixture specifications, materials, and construction methods.
• Ability to read, interpret, and markup design drawings and fixture plans.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
• Proficiency in Word, Excel, Teams, and design/drafting software (e.g., AutoCAD, SketchUp, or similar).
• Strong organizational skills with the ability to manage multiple fixture programs and priorities simultaneously.
• Effective collaboration with cross-functional teams, including Store Planning, Merchants, Visual Merchandising, Fixture Purchasing, Procurement, Construction, and Facilities.
• Proactive, detail-oriented problem solver who can maintain high standards through project completion.

Requirements

• History of work in retail design, fixture development, or store planning.
• High-level ability to review fixture and design drawings for accuracy against specification.
• Effective communication to ensure collaboration cross-functionally.
• Willingness to learn and operate proprietary design and project management software.
• Ability to spend time on the selling floor, which requires physical activity (i.e., prolonged standing, repetitive bending, lifting, climbing).
• Availability to work variable hours as needed to align with store needs.
• Some travel to store sites for fixture install verification and project reviews as needed.

Pay

An employee in this position can expect an annual starting rate between $100,000 – $125,000 depending on experience, seniority, geographic location, and other factors permitted by law.

Benefits

Benefits eligibility is based on scheduled weekly hours.

• Less than 20 hours per week: Employee Discount, EAP and Sick Pay.
• 20–29.99 hours per week: Employee Discount, EAP, Sick Pay, Paid Time Off including paid Maternity and Parental Leave, Company Paid Holidays, Transit and 401(k) with Company Match.
• 30+ hours per week: Employee Discount, EAP, Sick Pay, Paid Time Off including paid Maternity and Parental Leave, Company Paid Holidays, 401(k) with Company Match, Comprehensive Health Benefits (Medical, Dental and Vision), Healthcare and Dependent Care Spending Accounts, Healthcare Spending Account, Disability Benefits, Life Insurance, Transit, and Tuition Reimbursement.

All benefits are provided in accordance with the terms of the current plan and may be subject to future change. Benefits may vary depending on location/state regulations.