Design Manager

Cushman & Wakefield•Saint Louis, MO

About The Position

The Design Manager is a client-facing design professional responsible for managing design execution, standards governance, and continuous improvement across a high-volume, multi-site retail design program. This role partners with client stakeholders, account leadership, and internal teams to translate business needs, real estate strategies, operational requirements, and prototype standards into scalable, code-conscious design solutions. The Design Manager provides hands-on technical direction, quality control, workload coordination, and process improvement support to ensure consistent, efficient, and high-quality delivery.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in Architecture, Interior Design, or a related design discipline from a NAAB- or CIDA-accredited institution preferred.
7+ years of professional design experience, with demonstrated experience supporting retail, restaurant, corporate, workplace, or multi-site design programs.
Experience coordinating design priorities, deliverables, timelines, and cross-functional inputs within a retail, restaurant, corporate, workplace, or multi-site design environment.
Strong Revit and AutoCAD experience required; proficiency with Bluebeam, Microsoft Office Suite, and Adobe Creative Suite preferred.
Experience managing design standards, prototype guidelines, templates, drawing packages, planning criteria, or scalable documentation processes.
Working knowledge of IBC, ADA, and design compliance considerations related to space planning and drawing review.
Strong client-facing communication skills with the ability to advise, influence, present recommendations, and build trusted relationships with stakeholders.
Ability to manage multiple concurrent priorities, take ownership of requests through completion, and deliver accurate, high-quality work in a fast-paced environment.
Strong analytical, organizational, communication, and decision-making skills with attention to detail and quality control.

Nice To Haves

NCIDQ certification, architectural licensure, or equivalent professional credential.
Experience with retail rollout, restaurant, franchise, prototype, or high-volume multi-site design programs.
Experience supporting design process improvement, Revit standards, BIM workflows, automation tools, or design technology implementation.
Experience coordinating with architects, consultants, vendors, procurement teams, construction partners, or operations stakeholders.
Experience developing dashboards, reports, metrics, or workflow tracking tools to support design program management and project performance.

Responsibilities

Manage design delivery across a high-volume, multi-site retail program, ensuring each project supports business objectives, operational requirements, customer experience, and established prototype standards.
Maintain, interpret, and evolve design standards, prototype guidelines, space planning criteria, and documentation requirements to support consistency while allowing flexibility for site-specific conditions.
Coordinate design requirements across new locations, remodels, prototypes, test fits, and special projects to ensure scope, schedule, documentation, and deliverables remain aligned with client priorities.
Translate lessons learned, stakeholder feedback, and evolving business needs into scalable design processes, tools, templates, checklists, and documented best practices.
Coordinate design workload, priorities, deliverables, and timelines across active projects in partnership with account leadership and design resources.
Provide technical guidance, design input, and standards interpretation to support consistent execution across projects and deliverables.
Provide design production and technical support when needed, particularly for complex projects, high-priority deliverables, templates, standards updates, and design assets.
Review test fits, space plans, design documents, Revit models, and drawing packages for accuracy, completeness, code considerations, and alignment with standards.
Apply working knowledge of IBC, ADA, and jurisdictional considerations to identify design risks, review drawing compliance, and support decision-making.
Resolve complex planning, documentation, coordination, or technical design challenges in partnership with designers, stakeholders, consultants, and account teams.
Support effective use of Revit, Bluebeam, design tools, templates, and workflow improvements to increase consistency, efficiency, and quality of deliverables.