Director of Design

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

Job summary

Idea Nuova, based in New York, seeks a Director of Design to oversee the design department workload and showroom management across all product categories. The role ensures priorities, deadlines, and showrooms are organized and presentation-ready for customer meetings and market appointments.

The ideal candidate is a strong leader who can manage multiple priorities, provide structure, and ensure accountability across the department.

Qualifications

• Proven leadership experience managing a design team.
• Strong organizational and project management skills.
• Ability to coordinate showroom spaces and client meetings.
• Excellent communication and collaboration across departments.

Responsibilities

• Oversee design department workload across product categories.
• Allocate projects and responsibilities to balance workload.
• Maintain visibility into open projects, deadlines, samples, and action items.
• Coordinate showroom setups for customer meetings and market appointments.
• Ensure showrooms are current, organized, and presentation-ready.
• Track assignments and follow up to ensure accountability.
• Identify opportunities to improve department workflow and efficiency.

Skills

Leadership

Project management

Cross-functional collaboration

Communication

Job description

Idea Nuova is seeking a highly organized and experienced Director of Design to oversee departmental workload and showroom management across all product categories. This role will be responsible for ensuring the Design team is effectively managing priorities, meeting deadlines, and maintaining organized, presentation-ready showrooms.

The ideal candidate is a strong leader who can manage multiple priorities, provide structure and accountability, and ensure the department is prepared for customer meetings, presentations, and changing business needs.

Key Responsibilities

• Oversee and manage Design department workload across all product categories, ensuring priorities and deadlines are clearly communicated and met.
• Allocate projects and responsibilities across the team to maintain a balanced and efficient workload.
• Maintain visibility into open projects, deadlines, samples, and outstanding action items.
• Proactively identify workload challenges and adjust priorities or resources as needed.
• Oversee the organization, maintenance, and readiness of all showroom spaces.
• Ensure showrooms are current, organized, properly merchandised, and presentation-ready.
• Coordinate showroom setups and updates for customer meetings, market appointments, seasonal presentations, and internal meetings.
• Ensure products and samples are properly displayed, labeled, organized, and easily accessible.
• Coordinate with team members and other departments to ensure showroom needs and deadlines are completed on schedule.
• Ensure preparation for customer visits and presentations is completed in advance and all necessary products and materials are available.
• Track outstanding assignments and maintain appropriate follow-up and accountability.
• Identify opportunities to improve department workflow, organization, communication, and efficiency.
• Provide leadership with regular visibility into team workload, showroom readiness, upcoming deadlines, and areas requiring additional support.

Qualifications

• Previous leadership or management experience within a Design, Product Development, or related consumer products environment.
• Strong experience managing teams, workloads, deadlines, and competing priorities.
• Experience overseeing showrooms, product presentations, samples, or customer-facing product spaces.
• Exceptional organizational and project management skills.
• Strong communication and cross-functional collaboration skills.
• Ability to work in a fast-paced environment and adjust priorities based on business needs.
• Detail-oriented with a strong sense of ownership and accountability.
• Ability to effectively lead a team while maintaining visibility across multiple product categories and projects.

This position is ideal for someone who brings structure, organization, leadership, and accountability to a fast-moving Design department and can ensure both the team's workload and showroom needs are effectively managed.