Design Management Lead

Dokainish & Company; Dubai; On-site; AED 120,000 - 200,000; Full time

Job summary

A global consultancy firm is seeking a Design Management Lead in Dubai to ensure design excellence in luxury, mixed-use projects. The ideal candidate will have over 10 years of design management experience with a focus on luxury interiors, proficiency in design software, and an architecture degree. Responsibilities include leading design coordination, managing consultant teams, and ensuring design coherence across projects. This full-time position requires candidates to be based in Dubai or willing to relocate.

Qualifications

• 10+ years in design management with architecture degree required.
• Extensive luxury interior design experience across sectors.
• Leadership on large-scale mixed-use or luxury projects required.
• Deep understanding of high-end materials and finishes.

Responsibilities

• Lead design coordination across ultra-luxury residential and hospitality.
• Manage design consultant teams including architects and designers.
• Review and approve all design deliverables for quality standards.
• Coordinate authority approvals for architectural submissions.

Skills

Design management

Luxury interior design

Leadership

Technical knowledge

Aesthetic judgment

Proficiency in AutoCAD

Proficiency in Revit

Proficiency in SketchUp

Understanding of GCC design trends

Education

B.Arch or M.Arch

Tools

AutoCAD

Revit

SketchUp

Job description

About us

Dokainish & Company is a global organization that has been providing world class professional consultancy services since 2011. We have recently launched our MENA operations, headquartered in Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates. This expansion supports our strategy to serve government and private sector clients in capital projects across construction, infrastructure, energy, and commercial developments.

Overview

Dokainish & Company is seeking an experienced Design Management Lead with architecture training and luxury interior design expertise to orchestrate design excellence across a high-end, luxury, mixed-use project in downtown Dubai.

We need someone experienced who ensures design coherence, quality, and timely delivery across multiple asset classes and branded partnerships, and bridges architectural vision with interior execution while maintaining luxury positioning and technical feasibility.

This is a full-time position, and the selected candidate must be based in Dubai, or in the UAE, willing to independently relocate to Dubai.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead design coordination across ultra-luxury residential, hospitality, branded residences, and retail components
• Ensure design language coherence while respecting individual asset class requirements
• Manage design consultant teams (architects, interior designers, landscape architects, lighting designers)
• Review and approve all design deliverables for quality, specification standards, and brand compliance
• Coordinate branded operator design requirements and resolve conflicts across multiple brands
• Drive design development balancing aesthetic ambition with budget constraints and constructability
• Establish specification standards and material palettes justifying premium market positioning
• Lead design review meetings with stakeholders, consultants, and brand partners
• Manage design changes, RFIs, and value engineering exercises without compromising design intent
• Ensure interior design execution meets luxury market expectations across all customer touchpoints
• Coordinate authority approvals for architectural and interior design submissions

Requirements

• 10+ years in design management with architecture degree (B.Arch or M.Arch required)
• Extensive luxury interior design experience across residential, hospitality, and retail sectors
• Proven leadership on large-scale mixed-use or luxury projects (AED 1B+ development value)
• Deep understanding of high-end materials, finishes, FF&E, and luxury specification standards
• Experience managing international design consultants and branded operator design processes
• Strong technical knowledge bridging architectural design and interior execution
• Excellent aesthetic judgment with ability to balance creative vision and commercial reality
• Proficiency in design software (AutoCAD, Revit, SketchUp) and visualization tools
• Dubai/GCC market experience with understanding of regional luxury design trends
• US, Canada, UK, or Australian education preferred

What Success looks like

• Design coherence achieved across all asset classes with distinct yet complementary identities
• Specification standards justify premium pricing and competitive differentiation
• Design deliverables on schedule supporting construction and launch timelines
• Brand partner design approvals secured without compromising project vision
• Interior execution sets new luxury benchmarks in Dubai market