Arada | Interior Design Director

About Arada

Role purpose

Design leadership

• Own the portfolio interior design vision, creative strategy, and quality benchmark while allowing distinctive project identities.
• Lead design across concurrent projects and all stages from concept to handover.
• Set briefs, standards, room data sheets, specification benchmarks, and project requirements.
• Direct consultants, specialist consultants, operators, contractors, suppliers, and internal stakeholders.
• Challenge submissions for design quality, technical resolution, compliance, constructability, cost, and brief alignment.
• Lead design reviews, multidisciplinary coordination, value engineering, optimization, and risk management.
• Protect design intent through tender, procurement, construction, mock-ups, site reviews, and handover.
• Lead and develop the internal design management team; represent the function to leadership, partners, operators, and authorities.

Design management

• Set project stage-gate processes, deliverables, design programmes, review cycles, approval gates, and sign-off protocols.
• Maintain reusable briefs, employer’s requirements, design standards, area and room data sheets, and scope matrices.
• Align design programmes with development and construction schedules; identify dependencies and critical-path decisions.
• Coordinate architecture, structure, MEP, façade, landscape, lighting, AV, kitchen, acoustics, signage, branding, and art packages; close interface and clash issues.
• Run structured reviews at concept, schematic, design development, tender, and IFC stages; issue comment trackers and verify close-out.
• Assess value-engineering alternatives for design impact, cost, programme, durability, and operational performance.
• Maintain a live design risk register and direct mitigation or escalation for design, coordination, procurement, programme, and delivery risks.
• Manage design changes, variations, RFIs, technical queries, substitutions, and site instructions, assessing cost and programme impacts before approval.

Requirements

• Be a senior interior design leader with exceptional design pedigree and deep technical command of interiors.
• Bring experience directing interior design consultants and managing design from a developer-side capacity.
• Be able to balance design quality with programme, budget, constructability, operational requirements, brand standards, and customer expectations.
• Demonstrate the ability to lead teams, hold senior consultants accountable, resolve design risks, and drive decisions aligned with commercial objectives.