Director, Store Design

vineyard vines; Stamford (CT); On-site; USD 120,000 - 190,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Employee discount

401(k)

Commuter benefits

Paid-family leave

Health savings

Flex spending accounts

Life & disability insurance

Onsite gym

Wellness programs

Summer Fridays

Job summary

vineyard vines is seeking a Director of Store Design to lead planning, design, and execution of our retail environments. You will create brand-consistent, operationally functional store designs for new stores, remodels, relocations, and special projects.

You will develop design standards, lead cross-functional teams, manage external partners, and ensure compliance with codes while maintaining nationwide brand consistency and regional adaptations.

Qualifications

• 5-10 years of design experience.
• Bachelor's or Master’s degree in Architecture or related design field.
• Proficiency in 2D and 3D design tools (AutoCAD, 3D Studio Max, Revit 3D Modeling).
• Ability to manage multiple projects from concept through execution.
• Strong ability to translate design concepts into executable solutions.

Responsibilities

• Develop, maintain, and evolve the company’s retail store design standards, brand design guidelines, prototype concepts, fixture programs, and store planning criteria.
• Lead the design process for new stores, remodels, expansions, relocations, popups, shop-in-shops, and other retail formats.
• Create floor plans, fixture layouts, customer flow concepts, storefront designs, merchandising zones, fitting room layouts, back-of-house areas, and visual presentation elements.
• Collaborate with Construction, Merchandising/Visual, Marketing, Store Operations, Finance, and external architects or vendors to align design concepts with business goals.
• Manage external architects, designers, fixture vendors, millworkers, consultants, and other design partners.
• Review architectural drawings, construction documents, renderings, finish schedules, signage packages, fixture plans, and design submittals for consistency with brand and operational standards.
• Ensure store designs comply with applicable building codes, accessibility requirements, landlord criteria, lease requirements, permitting requirements, and internal cost guidelines.
• Conduct design reviews, punch walks, prototype evaluations, and post-opening assessments as needed.
• Evaluate new materials, finishes, fixtures, lighting, technology, and design innovations to improve customer experience and operational efficiency to support prototyping and testing of new design concepts.
• Support the development of design presentations, executive approvals, capital project materials, and internal design communications.
• Ensure consistency of the company’s brand identity and customer experience across the nationwide store portfolio while adapting designs for regional, site-specific, and format-specific needs.

Skills

Store design

Project management

Brand standards

Collaboration

3D modeling

Education

Bachelor's degree in Architecture

Master’s degree in related field

Tools

AutoCAD

3D Studio Max

Revit

Job description

vineyard vines is a highly successful, privately held, American clothing and accessory retailer founded in 1998 on Martha's Vineyard by brothers, Shep and Ian Murray. With Shep & Ian still at the helm today, vineyard vines has experienced exponential year over year growth and now operates over 120 retail locations including an outlet division, a successful e-commerce business, domestic distribution center, and expanding corporate headquarters. In addition, vineyard vines is carried in major department stores such as Nordstrom and Bloomingdales as well as numerous specialty boutiques across the US.

vineyard vines was founded on a state of mind that Every day should feel this good.

You don't need to be on a beach, by the ocean or on vacation to have Every day should feel this good moments. It's a state of mind that we all experience, and one where everyone is invited. At vineyard vines, we don't live an #EDSFTG life away from our desks - we bring it to work with us, too.

In our stores, at our Harbor Drive headquarters or working remotely, our company culture is fun, encouraging and welcoming to all. We work hard and play harder, and we never take ourselves too seriously. And while we have many company goals, our number one priority is making vineyard vines a great place to work for all employees.

Our team is our family, and we'd never have grown to where we are today without them.

We're committed to building an inclusive team across all channels, departments and stores within our community. We hope you'll join us and see what the smiling pink whale is all about.

Overview:

The Director of Store Design reports to the Vice President of Real Estate, and leads the planning, design, and execution of the company’s retail store environment. This role is responsible for creating brand-consistent and operationally functional store designs for new stores, remodels, relocations, expansions, and special projects.

Key Responsibilities:

• Develop, maintain, and evolve the company’s retail store design standards, brand design guidelines, prototype concepts, fixture programs, and store planning criteria.
• Lead the design process for new stores, remodels, expansions, relocations, pop-ups, shop-in-shops, and other retail formats.
• Create floor plans, fixture layouts, customer flow concepts, storefront designs, merchandising zones, fitting room layouts, back-of-house areas, and visual presentation elements.
• Collaborate with Construction, Merchandising/Visual, Marketing, Store Operations, Finance, and external architects or vendors to align design concepts with business goals.
• Manage external architects, designers, fixture vendors, millworkers, consultants, and other design partners.
• Review architectural drawings, construction documents, renderings, finish schedules, signage packages, fixture plans, and design submittals for consistency with brand and operational standards.
• Ensure store designs comply with applicable building codes, accessibility requirements, landlord criteria, lease requirements, permitting requirements, and internal cost guidelines.
• Conduct design reviews, punch walks, prototype evaluations, and post-opening assessments as needed.
• Evaluate new materials, finishes, fixtures, lighting, technology, and design innovations to improve customer experience and operational efficiency to support prototyping and testing of new design concepts.
• Support the development of design presentations, executive approvals, capital project materials, and internal design communications.
• Ensure consistency of the company’s brand identity and customer experience across the nationwide store portfolio while adapting designs for regional, site-specific, and format-specific needs.

What you bring:

• 5-10 years of design experience.
• Bachelor's or Master’s degree in Architecture or related design field.
• Proficiency in 2D and 3D design tools (AutoCAD, 3D Studio Max, Revit 3D Modeling).
• Ability to manage multiple projects from concept through execution.
• Strong ability to translate design concepts into executable solutions.

Every-day Will Feel This Good Because:

• We have a fun-spirited entrepreneurial culture filled with truly good people
• We offer a generous employee discount so you can rep our lifestyle on-and-off the boat
• We offer a competitive salary package, 401-K, commuter benefits, and paid-family leave, health savings , flex spending accounts, life & disability insurance
• We have an onsite gym as well as health & financial wellness programs to keep you active
• We offer 2 summer Fridays to take off in addition to a competitive vacation policy & holiday calendar.

Equal Opportunity Employer
This employer is required to notify all applicants of their rights pursuant to federal employment laws.For further information, please review the Know Your Rights notice from the Department of Labor.