Exhibit Design Manager

E3 XPS; Lenexa (KS); On-site; USD 95,000 - 110,000; Full time

Job summary

E3 XPS in Lenexa, Kansas seeks an Exhibit Design Manager to lead a small design team and shape major experiential projects. You’ll report to the President, guiding concept development, coaching designers through presentations, and solving buildability challenges for high-value opportunities.

You’ll balance creative leadership with hands-on design work, helping grow the team as the company expands its new 130,000-sq-ft design center in 2027.

Qualifications

• 7+ years of design experience in exhibits, experiential environments, interiors or related fields.
• Experience leading designers, projects, or a design function.
• A portfolio showing original thinking and spatial problem-solving.
• Knowledge of materials, fabrication, graphics, AV/tech, and production realities.
• Strong 3D design, rendering, and presentation skills.
• Bachelor's degree preferred; equivalent experience welcome.

Responsibilities

• Provide creative direction for exhibits, environments, and experiential programs.
• Lead a small team of exhibit designers, setting priorities, quality, and accountability.
• Hands-on design leadership on major high-value opportunities.
• Lead design reviews on strategy, storytelling, aesthetics, and buildability.
• Collaborate with Sales, Estimating, PM, Graphics, Production, and Operations.
• Present client concepts that connect ideas to business value.
• Develop design standards and processes to improve speed, consistency, and profitability.

Skills

Exhibit design

Team leadership

3D design

Rendering/presentation

Communication

Education

Bachelor's degree in related field

Job description

$95,000–$110,000 base + 8–10% target bonus

The Opportunity

E3 XPS is looking for an Exhibit Design Manager who wants more than a seat at the drawing board. This is a chance to lead creative work, grow a design team, and help shape the future of a fast-moving experiential company — with a new 130,000-sq-ft design center coming in 2027.

You'll report directly to the President as a hands-on leader of a small design team. One day you might guide the concept for a major custom exhibit; the next, coach a designer through a presentation or solve a buildability challenge with production. Your work shapes what clients see, what we build, and why we win.

What You'll Own

• Creative direction for custom exhibits, branded environments, and experiential programs
• A small team of exhibit designers — coaching, priorities, quality, accountability
• Hands-on design leadership on major, high-value opportunities
• Design reviews covering strategy, storytelling, aesthetics, and buildability
• Collaboration with Sales, Estimating, Project Management, Graphics, Production, and Operations
• Client presentations that connect the idea to the business case
• Design standards and processes that improve speed, consistency, and profitability

You Might Be a Fit If You

• See the big idea and the details it takes to make it real
• Enjoy leading people but want to stay close to the creative work
• Give direct, useful feedback that builds others up
• Know great exhibit design has to be visually powerful, technically sound, and financially responsible
• Move with urgency and stay composed when priorities shift
• Can defend a strong idea, take feedback, and improve the work without ego

What You Bring

• 7+ years of design experience in exhibits, experiential environments, industrial design, interiors, retail, or a related field
• Experience leading designers, creative projects, or a design function
• A portfolio showing original thinking, spatial problem-solving, and completed work
• Knowledge of materials, fabrication, graphics, AV/tech, and production realities
• Strong 3D design, rendering, and presentation skills
• Bachelor's degree in a related field preferred; equivalent experience welcome