Design Manager

Vivant Consultants; New York (NY); On-site; USD 120,000 - 160,000; Full time

Job summary

Vivant Consultants is seeking a highly motivated Design Manager in New York City to lead a national design team and act as an extension of the sales organization. This role focuses on commercial interiors, workplace strategy, and direct client collaboration with architects and manufacturers.

The Design Manager will oversee daily design operations, mentor designers, and ensure high-quality execution from pursuit through project completion, with in-office presence 4 days/week.

Qualifications

• 7-10+ years of commercial furniture or interior design experience.
• Experience leading or managing a design team.
• Strong knowledge of workplace design principles and commercial furniture systems.
• Extensive ancillary/open-line furniture knowledge.
• Experience with Teknion products preferred.
• Expert proficiency in CET.
• Working knowledge of AutoCAD and Revit.
• Exceptional presentation and communication skills.
• Strong organizational and project management abilities.
• Ability to manage multiple priorities in a fast-paced environment.

Responsibilities

• Serve as strategic design partner to the sales team throughout the sales process.
• Participate in client presentations, programming sessions, and design workshops.
• Assist in developing winning furniture and workplace solutions.
• Support proposal development, renderings, and design narratives.
• Help identify opportunities to expand project scope and increase ancillary sales.
• Build strong relationships with clients, architects, PMs, and manufacturer partners.
• Lead, mentor, and develop the New York design team.
• Manage the daily design queue and assign work based on priorities.
• Establish design standards, best practices, and documentation procedures.
• Review drawings, specifications, finish selections, and furniture applications for accuracy.

Skills

Design leadership

AutoCAD

Revit

Bluebeam

CET

AI in design

Client relationship mgmt

Project management

Tools

AutoCAD

Revit

Bluebeam

Microsoft Office

Teknion products

Job description

Vivant Consultants is seeking a highly motivated, client-focused Design Manager to lead a national design team while serving as an extension of our sales organization. This is not a traditional back-office design role, we are looking for a design leader who is passionate about commercial interiors, understands workplace strategy, and enjoys collaborating directly with clients, architects, manufacturers, and our sales team to win business.

The Design Manager will oversee the daily operations of the design department, manage design resources and workload, mentor designers, and ensure exceptional design execution from pursuit through project completion.

This position is based New York City and requires an in-office presence 4 days per week.

Key Responsibilities

Sales & Business Development

• Serve as a strategic design partner to the sales team throughout the sales process.
• Participate in client presentations, programming sessions, workplace strategy meetings, and design workshops.
• Assist in developing winning furniture and workplace solutions.
• Support proposal development, presentations, renderings, and design narratives.
• Help identify opportunities to expand project scope and increase ancillary sales.
• Build strong relationships with clients, architects, project managers, and manufacturer partners.
• Lead, mentor, and develop the New York design team.
• Manage the daily design queue and assign work based on priorities, deadlines, and staff capacity.
• Establish design standards, best practices, and documentation procedures.
• Review drawings, specifications, finish selections, and furniture applications for accuracy.

Product Expertise

• Serve as FCi's subject matter expert on commercial furniture applications.
• Maintain extensive knowledge of Teknion and other leading manufacturers.
• Possess strong ancillary/open-line product knowledge, including seating, tables, architectural products, collaboration spaces, and specialty furnishings.
• Continually introduce new products and solutions to the sales and design teams.

Project Support

• Oversee design from programming through installation.
• Collaborate closely with Project Management and Operations to ensure seamless execution.
• Review specifications for constructability, manufacturability, and budget alignment.
• Support value engineering when necessary.
• Assist in resolving field conditions and installation challenges.

Team & Operations

• Manage design department schedules, priorities, and staffing.
• Monitor project deadlines and resource utilization.
• Foster collaboration between Sales, Design, Project Management, and Operations.
• Help recruit, onboard, and train new designers.

  Technology & Innovation

  • Champion the use of CET, AutoCAD, Revit, Bluebeam, and Microsoft Office.
  • Leverage AI and emerging technologies to improve efficiency in specification development, renderings, quality control, and documentation.
  • Continuously improve workflows and design processes.

  Qualifications

  • 7-10+ years of commercial furniture or interior design experience.
  • Previous experience leading or managing a design team.
  • Strong knowledge of workplace design principles and commercial furniture systems.
  • Extensive ancillary/open-line furniture knowledge.
  • Experience with Teknion products preferred.
  • Expert proficiency in CET.
  • Working knowledge of AutoCAD and Revit.
  • Exceptional presentation and communication skills.
  • Strong organizational and project management abilities.
  • Ability to manage multiple priorities in a fast-paced environment.

  Ideal Candidate

  The successful candidate is:

  • Client-focused and relationship-driven.
  • A collaborative leader who elevates both the sales and design teams.
  • Equally comfortable presenting in a boardroom and mentoring designers.
  • Highly organized and able to prioritize multiple deadlines.
  • Passionate about workplace design and commercial interiors.
  • Solutions-oriented with a strong sense of accountability.
  • Adaptable and embraces innovation and technology.

  Success Metrics

  • Improve proposal turnaround times.
  • Increase design capacity and efficiency.
  • Support sales growth through exceptional design engagement.
  • Maintain high design quality with minimal specification errors.
  • Successfully mentor and develop the design team.
  • Improve client satisfaction and project execution.
  • Increase utilization of AI and technology to streamline workflows.