Design Operations Director — Luxury Hospitality

SmartRecruiters, Inc.; New York (NY); On-site; USD 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Job summary

Equinox seeks a Director of Design Management to lead the Design department's operations, strategy, and business management for new clubs, renovations, and strategic initiatives.

Working with the Senior VP of Design, you will optimize schedules, resources, and cross-functional workflows, oversee FF&E processes, consultant management, and project reporting to ensure on-time delivery and alignment with company goals.

Qualifications

• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
• Bachelor's degree in Architecture, Interior Architecture or Interior Design preferred.
• 10+ years of professional experience in architecture, interior design, or project management, preferably within hospitality, luxury residential, retail, or wellness environments.
• Highly proficient in Microsoft Excel, Procore, and project management platforms.
• Working knowledge of AutoCAD and Adobe Creative Suite (InDesign, Photoshop, Illustrator).
• Strategic thinker with a proactive, solutions-oriented mindset and exceptional attention to detail.

Responsibilities

• Lead day-to-day design operations, ensuring projects remain on schedule, within scope, and aligned with business priorities.
• Maintain and oversee project schedules, resource planning, workload distribution, and team capacity across all active projects.
• Drive accountability for design deliverables by partnering with each designer to establish milestones, monitor progress, identify risks, and proactively resolve scheduling challenges.
• Manage design outputs and presentation materials for recurring design reviews, executive meetings, and leadership presentations.
• Oversee the rendering and visualization process, coordinating consultants, review cycles, timelines, and final deliverables.
• Track FF&E procurement milestones, furniture production, deliveries, and installation schedules to ensure alignment with overall project timelines.
• Collaborate closely with Architecture & Planning, Operations, Marketing and other cross-functional partners to ensure seamless project execution.
• Manage consultant relationships, including proposals, contracts, scopes of work, budgets, and invoicing.
• Assist in tracking and reporting FF&E budgets for new clubs, renovations, and special initiatives.
• Identify opportunities to improve design processes, workflows, documentation, and operational efficiencies within the team.
• Develop reports, presentations, and project documentation to support executive decision-making.
• Maintain and evolve design standards, project management tools, and department best practices.

Skills

Communication skills

Project management

Team collaboration

Education

Bachelor's degree in Architecture/Interior Design

Tools

AutoCAD

Adobe InDesign

Adobe Photoshop

Adobe Illustrator

Procore

Job description

Equinox seeks a Director of Design Management to lead the Design department's operations, strategy, and business management for new clubs, renovations, and strategic initiatives.

Working with the Senior VP of Design, you will optimize schedules, resources, and cross-functional workflows, oversee FF&E processes, consultant management, and project reporting to ensure on-time delivery and alignment with company goals.