Sr. Manager, Creative Themed Design

Universal Orlando•Orlando, FL

About The Position

At Universal Creative, the Sr. Manager, Creative Themed Design is responsible for the creative, experiential, and technical development of Universal’s emerging multi-day immersive travel experience. This role involves directing the design and development of various guest experiences, including integrated environments, entertainment venues, food and beverage destinations, retail experiences, private guest accommodations, exterior leisure spaces, and all shared guest-facing areas. The Senior Manager leads overall spatial planning, layout development, and the integration of themed entertainment design within a complex, self-contained destination environment, ensuring design excellence aligns with regulatory requirements, structural and infrastructure parameters, operational needs, and global guest expectations. The position supports the Director in executing integrated, platform-wide design strategies, ensuring alignment with Universal’s brand standards, storytelling objectives, and operational requirements within a highly regulated, infrastructure-intensive environment. Key aspects include overseeing day-to-day design coordination, consultant management, and cross-disciplinary integration, driving projects from concept through detailed design, technical documentation, fabrication oversight, and final delivery within a large-scale industrial build setting.

Requirements

Strong understanding of themed entertainment design, hospitality environments, and complex, infrastructure-integrated design principles within highly regulated, self-contained destination platforms.
Working knowledge of highly regulated, multi-day hospitality platform design standards, complex international life-safety and compliance frameworks, and global accessibility requirements.
Ability to review and coordinate design documentation and technical drawings.
Excellent communication and collaboration skills for cross-functional and external partner engagement.
Ability to balance creative vision with technical and operational constraints.
Deep understanding of themed entertainment design, guest experience development, immersive environments, and narrative-led spatial design.
Ability to read, analyze, and interpret general business periodicals, professional journals, technical procedures, or governmental regulations.
Ability to write reports, business correspondence, and procedure manuals.
Ability to effectively present information to top management, public groups, and/or boards of directors.
Ability to compute rate, ratio, and percent and to draw and interpret spread sheets.
Ability to read, comment on, develop, and iterate master and landscape plans and drawings at multiple scales.
Ability to apply concepts of basic algebra and geometry.
Ability to interpret an extensive variety of technical instructions in mathematical or diagram form and deal with several abstract and concrete variables.
Ability to define problems, collect data, establish facts, and draw valid conclusions.
Consistent attendance is a job requirement.
Bachelor’s degree required in Architecture, Interior Architecture, Structural or Systems Engineering, Industrial Design, Experiential Design, or a related field.
7+ years of experience in themed entertainment, large-scale hospitality, or multi-day experiential platform design; or equivalent combination of education and experience.
Proven track record managing complex design projects through multiple phases, from concept development through detailed design and implementation.
Experience coordinating multidisciplinary teams and external design, engineering, and specialty fabrication consultants.

Nice To Haves

Master’s degree preferred in Architecture, Experience Design, Integrated Systems Design, Engineering, or Business/Strategy.
Professional license in Architecture, Interior Design, Engineering, or related credential preferred.
Familiarity with large-scale industrial build and integration environments preferred.
International project experience and exposure to global design and construction standards is desirable.

Responsibilities

Manage the development of creative conceptualization, comprehensive spatial planning, and integrated design coordination across multi-level guest experiences, embedding Universal’s storytelling, immersive environments, and entertainment-forward methodologies while validating alignment with operational requirements, regulatory frameworks, and complex engineering parameters.
Coordinate design deliverables across all Creative Design phases — Strategy, Ideation, Feasibility, Concept Development, Detailed Design, and Fabrication & Installation — including material specifications, vendor engagement, production reviews, prototype evaluations, technical drawing packages, and final implementation within a phased fabrication and integration environment.
Partner with Creative Direction to support the integration of Universal and partner Intellectual Property (IP) and emerging experiential concepts into the multi-day hospitality platform, balancing innovation with operational functionality, technical constraints, and cost/schedule discipline.
Facilitate collaboration across internal creative teams (Creative Direction, Creative Management, Art Direction, Show Set, Attraction Design, Design Engineering) to maintain a cohesive guest experience.
Manage external design and technical partners, including structural and systems consultants, interior architecture firms, experience designers, specialty fabrication partners, and technical advisors; ensuring all deliverables align with Universal Creative standards, approved design intent, and operational requirements.
Organize and lead design reviews and creative working sessions, resolving issues and incorporating feedback from Leadership.
Leads and models a collaborative, respectful, and inclusive creative culture within the immersive hospitality design team, fostering trust, accountability, and creative excellence.
Establishes shared creative values and ways of working that encourage open dialogue, cross-disciplinary collaboration, and constructive critique.
Actively contributes to the culture and cohesion of the Concept Architecture team, aligning platform development effort with broader Studio Design initiatives.
Serves as a cultural leader across the Studio and Universal Creative, supporting mentorship, knowledge-sharing, and continuous learning.
Encourages innovation and thoughtful risk-taking while maintaining alignment with brand, strategy, and project realities.
Leads and mentors cross‑disciplinary creative teams across Concept Architecture, Art Direction, Show Set & Production Design, Attraction Design, Design Engineering, and related disciplines, fostering collaboration and accountability.
Provides day‑to‑day creative leadership and coaching, translating high‑level creative direction into clear, executable design solutions aligned with Universal Creative standards.
Actively develops future hospitality platform design talent, supporting professional growth and building specialized capabilities related to complex structural and infrastructure constraints, large-scale fabrication and integration processes, and highly coordinated operational environments.
Establishes clear roles, workflows, and expectations across assigned workstreams, promoting efficiency, trust, and high‑quality output.
Encourages innovation and critical thinking while balancing creative ambition with schedule, budget, and execution realities.
Supports performance development and feedback in alignment with Universal Creative values and studio culture.
Serves as a primary working-level relationship manager with operating partners and strategic collaborators, ensuring alignment between Universal Creative’s design intent and partner expectations.
Builds and maintains effective relationships with primary build and fabrication partners, integrated systems consultants, interior architecture firms, engineering advisors, and specialty vendors throughout design and delivery.
Coordinates communication between internal teams and external stakeholders to integrate operational, regulatory, and construction requirements into the design development process.
Represents the hospitality platform design team in partner meetings, design reviews, and option analyses, supporting clear decision-making and effective issue resolution.
Manages external consultant scopes and deliverables across assigned workstreams, ensuring quality, coordination, and adherence to approved creative direction.
Identifies risks and alignment gaps early, collaborating proactively to mitigate impacts to design integrity, schedule, or execution.
Understand and actively participate in Environmental, Health & Safety responsibilities by following established UDX policy, procedures, training and team member involvement activities.
Performs other duties as assigned.