Director, Design & Technical Services

Proper Hospitality; Los Angeles (CA); On-site; USD 150,000 - 175,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health coverage

Wellness benefits

Hotel stay discounts

Dining discounts

Job summary

Proper Hospitality seeks a Director, Design & Technical Services to lead design, development, and technical execution across its portfolio of luxury hotels.

Working with the VP of Architecture & Design, you will guide interior and architectural concepts, coordinate with consultants, and ensure alignment with brand standards and operational performance.

Qualifications

• Approximately 10+ years of experience in architecture, design, development, or technical services with luxury hospitality focus.
• Degree in Architecture, Engineering, Interior Design, or a related field.
• Demonstrated ability to deliver complex luxury hotel projects from programming through opening.

Responsibilities

• Provide senior design and technical oversight for portfolio projects across development, renovations, and CAPEX programs.
• Review architectural, interior design, and engineering documents for design intent and constructability.
• Coordinate with owners, developers, architects, engineers, and hotel operations to ensure brand standards and operational performance.
• Lead internal design teams and manage external consultants to maintain schedule, budget, and quality.

Skills

Design leadership

Brand stewardship

Hospitality design

Project coordination

Education

Architecture/Engineering/Interior Design degree

Tools

AutoCAD

Revit

Bluebeam

Adobe Creative Suite

Job description

Proper Hospitality is seeking a highly experienced Director, Design & Technical Services to help lead the

design, development, and technical execution of projects across the portfolio.

Position Overview

Working closely with the VP of Architecture & Design, this role will provide senior-level leadership across

new development, renovations, capital projects, management opportunities, and existing hotel assets.

The Director will be responsible for ensuring that projects achieve Proper’s expectations for exceptional

design while also meeting the technical, operational, functional, budgetary, and long-term performance

requirements of luxury hospitality.

The ideal candidate combines exceptional design judgment with deep architectural and technical

expertise. This individual must be equally comfortable evaluating an interior design concept, reviewing

architectural plans, identifying building-system coordination issues, working through operational

requirements with hotel teams, and representing Proper in meetings with owners, developers, architects,

designers, engineers, contractors, and consultants.

This is a hands-on leadership position for someone who understands how exceptional hotels are

conceived, documented, built, opened, and operated.

Key Responsibilities

Design Leadership & Brand Stewardship

• Partner with the VP of Architecture & Design to establish and maintain the design vision and quality expectations for Proper Hospitality projects


• Protect and advance Proper’s design philosophy across new developments, renovations, conversions, branded residences, and capital projects


• Provide design leadership across architecture, interiors, lighting, landscape, signage, FF&E, OS&E, art, and other disciplines influencing the physical guest experience


• Review projects throughout concept design, schematic design, design development, construction documentation, construction, installation, and opening


• Ensure that each property maintains a distinct sense of place while delivering a recognizable level of Proper quality and sophistication


• Provide clear, actionable design direction to external architects, interior designers, and specialty consultants

Brand & Design Standards

• Lead the development of comprehensive Proper Design Standards for use across the portfolio


• Translate lessons learned from existing hotels into scalable standards and design criteria for future projects


• Establish standards covering guestrooms, bathrooms, public spaces, F&B, wellness, back-of-house areas, materials, fixtures, equipment, lighting, technology integration, and other recurring hotel components


• Develop processes for maintaining, updating, and communicating standards as the portfolio grows


• Balance brand consistency with Proper’s philosophy of creating individual, site-specific properties rather than standardized hotels

Architecture & Technical Services

• Provide technically rigorous review of architectural and consultant documentation


• Review and understand the integration of all major building systems


• Identify technical coordination issues that could compromise design intent, guest experience, operations, schedule, cost, or long-term asset performance


• Coordinate with architects, engineers, contractors, ownership teams, and specialty consultants to resolve complex design and technical issues


• Review consultant drawings, specifications, RFIs, submittals, mockups, shop drawings, and other project documentation as appropriate


• Participate in site visits, construction reviews, model room reviews, punch walks, and project turnover

New Development & Pre-Development

• Support the evaluation of prospective development and management opportunities


• Review architectural plans, site plans, hotel programs, key counts, room mixes, amenity strategies, F&B concepts, back-of-house planning, and operational adjacencies


• Assess whether proposed projects can successfully deliver the Proper brand experience


• Identify design, technical, operational, and capital implications early in the deal process


• Support preparation and review of preliminary area programs, project briefs, design scopes, consultant scopes, and development recommendations


• Participate in design kickoff meetings and establish clear expectations for project teams

Capital Projects & Existing Portfolio

• Provide senior design and technical oversight for capital improvement projects across the existing portfolio


• Work closely with the internal Project Manager and property teams to define project scope, design direction, priorities, budgets, and execution strategies


• Determine where projects can be designed and documented internally versus where external consultants are required


• Lead or oversee in-house design efforts for appropriate CAPEX projects


• Help properties solve recurring design, maintenance, operational, and technical challenges without compromising design quality


• Evaluate proposed replacement materials, fixtures, equipment, furniture, and finishes for consistency with the original design intent and brand expectations

Interior Design & FF&E

• Provide senior oversight of interior design across the portfolio


• Review space planning, material palettes, furniture layouts, custom furniture, lighting, millwork, decorative elements, styling, and FF&E


• Coordinate closely with external interior designers and creative partners to protect design intent while ensuring constructability and operational performance


• Review model rooms, prototypes, mockups, finish samples, furniture samples, and installations


• Partner with procurement teams to address substitutions, lead times, budgets, and quality issues

Operations Integration

• Work closely with Operations, F&B, Engineering, IT, Wellness, Procurement, and property leadership to incorporate operational requirements into the design process


• Ensure front-of-house and back-of-house spaces support efficient luxury hotel operations


• Help establish a structured process for capturing operational feedback from existing hotels and incorporating those lessons into future standards and projects


• Represent Proper Hospitality in meetings with owners, developers, architects, designers, engineers, contractors, and consultants


• Establish clear design review milestones, deliverables, responsibilities, and approval processes


• Provide concise and decisive written design direction following project reviews


• Assist in evaluating, selecting, briefing, and managing external design consultants


• Build and maintain a network of architects, designers, engineers, specialty consultants, vendors, craftspeople, and other resources appropriate for Proper projects

Qualifications

• Approximately 10+ years of experience in architecture, design, development, or technical services, with significant experience in luxury hospitality


• Degree in Architecture, Engineering, Interior Design, or a related field


• Demonstrated experience delivering complex luxury hotels, resorts, residences, restaurants, or mixed-use hospitality projects


• Deep technical understanding of building construction and building systems


• Strong working knowledge of MEP coordination, fire/life safety, accessibility, lighting, technology, building envelope, and other core technical disciplines


• Experience reviewing architectural, interior design, engineering, and construction documents


• Strong understanding of hospitality planning, including guestrooms, public areas, F&B outlets and food service, wellness, meeting spaces, and back-of-house environments


• Demonstrated ability to work from early programming and concept development through construction, installation, opening, and post-opening


• Strong knowledge of FF&E, materials, finishes, detailing, fabrication, and installation


• Experience with renovation and CAPEX projects in operating hotels strongly preferred


• Proficiency with relevant design and documentation platforms such as AutoCAD, Revit, Bluebeam, Adobe Creative Suite, and related project-management tools


• Familiarity with AI tools and a demonstrated interest in applying them to design, documentation, visualization, and project workflows


• Excellent visual, verbal, and written communication skills


• Ability to communicate effectively with executive leadership, owners, developers, creative partners, consultants, contractors, and hotel operating teams


• Ability to manage multiple projects and priorities simultaneously in a fast-growing organization


• Willingness to travel regularly to existing portfolio, as well as potential and active project sites


• $150,000-175,000


• Comprehensive Health Coverage: Medical, dental, and vision plans through Aetna, designed to fit a range of personal and family needs.


• Wellness Access: Company-subsidized memberships with Equinox and ClassPass, plus wellbeing workshops and mental health resources.

Time Off & Flexibility

• Paid Time Off: Flexible PTO plus 11 paid holidays each year for corporate team members.


• Paid Parental Leave: Paid time off for eligible employees welcoming a new child through birth, adoption, or foster placement.


• Flexible Work Practices: Hybrid schedules for eligible roles and an emphasis on work-life balance.

Financial Wellbeing & Core Protections

• 401(k) Program: Company match of 50% of employee deferrals, up to the first 4% of eligible compensation.


• Employer-Paid Life & Disability Insurance: Core protections with optional additional coverage.


• Financial Education: Access to planning tools and workshops to support long-term stability and growth.


• Hotel Stay Benefits: 75% off BAR (floor of $100) across the Proper portfolio.


• Design Hotels Partnership: 50% off participating Marriott Design Hotels.


• Dining Discounts: 75% off food & beverage at all Proper Hospitality outlets.


• Lifestyle Perks: Complimentary or subsidized parking, cell phone reimbursement, and exclusive hospitality and retail discounts.