Design & Construction Director APAC

The Great Room Pte. Ltd.; Singapore; On-site; SGD 100,000 - 125,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading workspace design company in Singapore is seeking a Design & Construction Director for APAC to drive product and design strategy across the region. You will oversee project delivery, lead design teams, and collaborate with various departments to ensure operational excellence and brand integrity. This role offers competitive remuneration, career progression, and a supportive, diverse workplace environment.

Benefits

Competitive remuneration

Career progression

Flexible benefits for wellness activities

Beautiful workplace environment

Qualifications

• Minimum 12–15+ years’ experience across design and delivery of commercial projects.
• Strong track record in spatial strategy and planning.
• Experience leading multi-disciplinary teams.

Responsibilities

• Lead the definition and evolution of workplace products.
• Oversee project lifecycle from feasibility through launch.
• Mentor and support the design team.

Skills

Architectural planning

Project management

Stakeholder management

Financial acumen

Education

Degree in Architecture or Interior Architecture

Job description

About the role

As Design & Construction Director for APAC, you will play a pivotal role in defining The Great Room (TGR) and Industrious’s workplace product and leading its delivery across the region. You will be accountable for product strategy, design leadership, and delivery performance across the region, ensuring each space reflects our brand, supports operational excellence, and delivers a best-in-class workplace experience while remaining commercially disciplined and scalable.

This role combines design-led product ownership, strategic leadership, and portfolio-level delivery oversight. You will lead senior design and construction leaders, oversee external consultants and partners, and work closely with Real Estate, Finance, Operations, and regional leadership to shape and execute The Great Room & Industrious’ APAC growth.

A strong architectural background and exceptional planning and spatial strategy capability, as well as a deep understanding and experience of construction project management and procurement, are essential for this role.

This position reports to the International D&C Director and will be based in Singapore, with regular travel across the APAC region.

What you’ll do

Product & Design Leadership

• Own the definition and evolution of Industrious’ and TGR APAC workplace product, including space typologies, planning principles, test-fit strategies, and design standards.
• Set the architectural and spatial planning vision for the region, ensuring all projects balance experience, operational performance, buildability, and capital efficiency.
• Ensure consistent, high-quality planning outcomes across all markets, with controlled localisation for regulatory and cultural differences.
• Govern the evolution of design standards, kits-of-parts, and product playbooks to support scalability and speed to market.
• Review base-building documentation and site constraints to guide early feasibility, test-fits, and commercial decision-making.
• Partner with Operations, Commercial, and Real Estate teams to ensure strong product-market fit and operational performance.
• Protect product integrity throughout value engineering and delivery.

Delivery & Portfolio Oversight

• Provide senior leadership and oversight across the full project lifecycle from feasibility through design, construction, and launch.
• Own portfolio-level performance across cost, schedule, quality, risk, and predictability.
• Ensure consistent governance, stage gates, and approval processes across all APAC projects and markets.
• Oversee regional pipeline planning, forecasting, and performance reporting.
• Intervene where projects, markets, or partners are underperforming to protect outcomes.
• Ensure handover to Operations meets product, technical, and operational readiness standards.

Team & Organisation Leadership

• Lead the APAC Product, Design & Construction organisation through senior managers.
• Grow, support, and mentor, providing clear direction, performance management, and professional development.
• Define team structure, resourcing models, and capability requirements to support current and future growth.
• Build a design-led, commercially disciplined, and delivery-focused culture across the region.
• Establish clear roles, responsibilities, and ways of working between regional and local teams.

Vendor & Partner Management

• Own the regional ecosystem of designers, engineers, project managers, general contractors, and key suppliers.
• Establish and maintain regional and local partner strategies, including framework agreements and preferred partner lists.
• Set standards for consultant performance, technical quality, and commercial accountability.
• Lead senior-level commercial negotiations and strategic partnerships.
• Regularly review partner performance, capacity, and risk across all markets.

Strategic & Financial Oversight

• Own the relationship between product ambition and capital discipline across the region.
• Define and manage: CapEx frameworks, cost benchmarks, budget strategies, and value engineering principles.
• Maintain financial and commercial oversight across all projects, ensuring early visibility of risks and variances.
• Ensure design and product decisions are commercially grounded and scalable.
• Contribute to regional growth strategy, market entry planning, and long-term development strategy for APAC.

Who you are

Requirements & Qualities

• Degree in Architecture or Interior Architecture is essential.
• Minimum 12–15+ years’ experience across design, development, and delivery of commercial interiors, hospitality, or mixed-use projects.
• Exceptional architectural planning and spatial strategy capability, with a strong track record in test-fits, feasibility, and layout optimisation.
• Proven experience owning and evolving a product or design platform, not just delivering individual projects.
• Significant experience leading multi-disciplinary teams and senior managers.
• Experience operating across multiple countries and regulatory environments, ideally in APAC.
• Strong commercial and financial acumen, with experience managing portfolio-level CapEx, budgets, and cost control.
• Ability to read and challenge architectural, MEP, and technical documentation at a senior level.
• Excellent communication and stakeholder management skills, with the ability to influence at executive level.
• Highly organised, strategic, and comfortable operating in a fast-growth, multi-market environment.
• Comfortable working in a virtual, distributed team environment and travelling frequently across APAC.
• Commitment to modelling Industrious’ and TGR values of integrity, teamwork, and ownership day to day.
• Open to candidates willing to relocate to Singapore

What’s in it for you

• Competitive remuneration
• Career progression
• 5-day work week (some weekends or evenings if required)
• Annual Leave
• Birthday Leave
• Monthly mobile allowance
• Flexible benefits for medical and other approved wellness, healthcare activities etc.
• Beautiful workplace environment that fosters collaboration and interactions with others from a diverse background of cultures
• Opportunity to work with various teams across regional locations

Does this sound like you?

Connect with us at singap [e-mail], with your recent CV and Portfolio.

*PDF portfolios or links to your website portfolio accepted. Please ensure your PDF portfolios are not larger than 20MB. Applications without portfolio attachments or website references will not be accepted.

* Note to our talent acquisition partners: Unfortunately, The Great Room cannot accept candidate submissions from partners who we do not have an existing agreement with. We will not be responsible for introduction or placement fees for hiring of candidates whose profiles were submitted to The Great Room team members or offices without The Great Room's prior knowledge or permission