Design Manager

Overview

The Design Manager maximizes company sales growth and profitability by assisting the Director of Architecture during the real estate, concept design, and design coordination phases of the built environment for any company brand locations. This includes the development and coordination of fixtures, furniture, and equipment that are company branded and designed as an integral part of the project concept.

This is an on-site position (Monday through Thursday) based out of our Northbrook, IL office with the flexibility to work remotely on Fridays.

A day in the life of a Design Manager...

• Serve as the prime designer for new fixture development and manager of fixture initiatives across Brands
• Serve as primary designer for small project initiatives per the Director’s discretion
• Manage interface with FFE vendors per the Director’s discretion
• Manage workflow by establishing project scheduling for the Architecture and Store Design Departments
• Own all inflow of landlord documents and partner with the Store Development team at the real estate development phases
• Lead the communication and prioritization for maintaining all primary milestones for projects at the Design phases
• Update and maintain industry specific hardware and software for the department.
• Create and maintain a manual for department design standards and protocols including best practices
• Manage and analyze Architecture Department store data for recording and distribution
• Research and continue to be up to date on the latest industry trends and attend applicable trade shows in the design, architecture, and construction fields per the discretion of the Director
• Coordinate conference calls or web conferences with franchise partners or domestic landlords.
• Support all efforts and initiatives across all business channels implemented by the company.
• Support the company’s mission and goals, including applicable key performance indicators (KPIs).

• Ability to initiate 3D modeling for incoming project analysis and concept designs
• Ability to coordinate drawing translation with franchise partners; including accurate dimensional conversion to metric
• Maintain material boards and material library for each new project and concept across all brands.
• Ability to build 3D models in Autocad and Revit for fixture design development; create manufacturing drawings and coordinate with mill workers during fabrication.
• Demonstrate high level skill at presentation production through multiple channels of software including Autocad, Revit, Illustrator, InDesign and Acrobat.
• Possess a complete understanding of applicable company systems, policies and procedures.
• Maintain an awareness of loss prevention, security and safety following the guidelines provided by management or the Human Resources Department and/or as outlined in the Crate and Barrel/CB2 Associate Guide.
• Maintain awareness and demonstrate a fundamental knowledge of computers, systems and programs relevant to the position.
• Possess a complete understanding of training and communication resources relevant to the position.
• Participate in ongoing training regarding technology upgrades and new systems applicable to the position.

• Professional or pre-professional degree from an accredited design program (Architecture, Interior Design, Interior Architecture)
• Completion or progress toward professional licensure or certificates
• Minimum 5 years experience as a staff designer or junior architect in a professional architecture or interior design office
• Core knowledge of commercial real estate and leasing preferred
• Strong organizational skills and abilities to coordinate teams through a project program
• Proficient in Autodesk Revit, Autodesk Auto Cad, Sketchup, Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator, Bluebeam Revu, Microsoft Project, Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Powerpoint and Google Docs.