Head of Experiential Retail Design

Lenskart.com; Gurugram District; On-site; INR 6,000,000 - 9,000,000; Full time

Job summary

Lenskart.com is hiring a Head of Experiential Retail Design to define the end-to-end store design language across architec­ture, interiors, lighting, materials, fixtures, signage and in-store customer journeys.

You will lead a scalable kit-of-parts format system, oversee flagship stores in India and international markets, and drive design standards and approvals for every new store and renovation.

Qualifications

• 12+ years in retail, hospitality or experiential design with built work.
• Led design of a store format rolled out to 50+ locations.
• Designed flagship or experiential spaces that became references.
• Trained as an architect or interior designer or inside a leading design studio.
• Able to defend design decisions in financial terms and in terms of user experience.
• Led in-house design teams and managed external studios/contractors.

Responsibilities

• Own the entire store design language from architecture to in-store customer journey.
• Create a scalable format system kit of parts for city-to-city rollout.
• Lead flagship and concept store projects in India and international markets.
• Set design standards, guidelines and approvals for new stores and renovations.
• Control cost per square foot, build time and quality as design metrics.
• Build and lead an in-house design team and coordinate external partners.
• Demonstrate design impact on business by conversion, in-store time, and satisfaction.

Skills

Retail design leadership

Store rollout experience

Flagship/experiential spaces

Architectural/Interior background

Cost/space per foot justification

Team leadership

CFO-facing design justification

Job description

Most designers spend a career waiting for one great store. At Lenskart, a new one opens more than once a day.

Lenskart has 3,400+ stores across India and international markets, and we believe India alone has room for 10,000. We're hiring a Head of Experiential Retail Design to decide what every one of them becomes.

Before you apply, walk into a Lenskart store. You'll see what we have and, if you're the right person, what we're missing.

Why this is hard

An eyewear store isn't just a shop. It's part clinic, part fashion house and part technology lab. People walk in unsure about their eyes and walk out wearing something that changes how they see and how they're seen. The space has to earn trust like a clinic and create desire like a fashion brand. It has to work for a first-time spectacle wearer in a small town and for a shopper in Singapore or the Middle East.

Then it has to be built fast, right and within budget, hundreds of times a year, in cities you may never visit, by contractors who will never meet you.

What you'll own

• The Lenskart store design language, end to end: architecture, interiors, lighting, materials, fixtures, signage, visual merchandising direction and the in-store customer journey.
• A format system: a kit of parts that scales from compact high-street stores to flagships, and that partners can build right the first time.
• Flagship and concept stores in India's biggest cities and in international markets.
• Design standards, guidelines and approvals for every new store and every renovation.
• Cost per square foot, build time and build quality, treated as design problems rather than someone else's problems.
• Building and leading an in-house design team, and directing external architects and studios.
• Proving what design does for the business: conversion, time in store, the eye-test experience and customer satisfaction.

You're probably who we're looking for if

• You have 12+ years in retail, hospitality or experiential design, with a portfolio of built work, not just renders.
• You've led the design of a store format that rolled out to 50+ locations, and you've designed at least one flagship or experiential space that became a reference for others.
• You trained as an architect or interior designer, or grew up inside a leading design studio or an in-house retail design team.
• You can defend a design decision to a CFO in rupees per square foot and to a creative director in terms of feeling, in the same meeting.
• You've led design teams and managed external studios, consultants and contractors.

Please don't apply if

• You've only designed one-off projects and aren't interested in building systems.
• You would rather hand over drawings than walk a half-built site at 7 a.m.

What you get

• A canvas few designers ever get: hundreds of new stores a year, in India and abroad.
• A direct line to a co-founder, and a seat where store strategy is decided.
• The mandate to set the standard, not follow one.
• Compensation at the top of the market, for someone at the top of the field.
• A full-time, on-site role in Gurugram, with frequent travel to stores, sites and international markets.

In your first conversation with us, we'll ask what you saw in that Lenskart store and what you would change.