Design Director - Hospitality

At Gensler, we design for people. We leverage our global perspective and local presence to innovate at every scale. We’re not just designers. We’re tinkerers, craftspeople, visionaries, innovators and thought leaders. Fueled by passion and entrepreneurial spirit, our people bring new ideas to solve challenging problems.  Whether you’re into sketching new ideas, hacking a building or growing client relationships in global markets, there’s something here for everyone.

Our depth of expertise spans disciplines—from aviation and transportation to education, hospitality, retail, technology and more. At our core we embody an entrepreneurial spirit, always looking ahead for new ways to innovate and add to our clients' success. We share the belief that design has the power to transform organizations and change lives; whether we’re refreshing a retailer’s brand, planning a new urban district or designing a super tall building.

Our work reflects an enduring commitment to sustainability, and we believe that a diversity of voices and cultures is one of the most powerful strategic tools for securing lasting competitive advantage.

As the world’s largest design firm, Gensler has a unique obligation and opportunity to focus on sustainability in the built environment. We deepened our commitment to combat the impact on climate change in the built environment when we launched Gensler Cities Climate Challenge (GC3) in 2019. This is our pledge to meet an ambitious goal: the elimination of all greenhouse gases from our work by 2030.  

Your Role

As a Gensler Design Director, and a member of the studio’s leadership team, you will collaborate with talented colleagues to enhance Gensler’s culture for design excellence, elevate the quality of design, and achieve recognition for our clients and the firm. You are a mix of strategic and creative, with the ability to create great form while embracing sound business strategy. Use your unique design perspective to lead design teams, develop next-generation talent, bring new approaches to the design process, and help our clients redesign what’s possible.

Design Directors lead the design of projects, acting as stewards of Gensler’s mission. You will design for all of humanity, driving a passionately curious design culture to create solutions that are emotionally resonant and that positively impact people’s everyday experiences. You look beyond, surpassing expectations to create transformational work for our clients, our peers, and our communities.

You will act as an advocate and committed mentor for Gensler’s next generation of talent. You will advance the understanding that design resilience is a responsibility of every person at Gensler. You cultivate design expertise with the desire to always learn, grow and evolve. You will champion our diversity and inclusion goals with respect to staff, partners, and consultants. You will also build our talent pipeline through recruiting and outreach with local design communities and universities.

You display an uncommon design talent, with a personal brand and a clear point of view. You are a fearless integrator and advocate for diverse points of view and expansive thinking. You will define a project’s creative foundation through storytelling, merging goals and strategies with a clear conceptual vision. You will be the climate champion for the project, establishing an impactful design direction to meet climate goals.

You are a passionate advocate for our clients, ensuring that our designs respect cultural context and that the design vision exceeds goals and expectations. You foster a genuine, accountable relationship with the client, becoming a trusted advisor and confident voice of design throughout the entire project and beyond.

In this role, you will partner with other studio leadership and the design synergy team to guide vision, culture, process and talent development. You will collaborate with your peers in design leadership and will be actively involved in design-related initiatives. You will make design visible, creating a forum for work sharing, design dialogue and critique. You will engage studios and teams in inspirational knowledge sharing through explorations such as pin-ups and design review sessions.

As a leader in our firm, you will create work with a positive impact on local communities and will lead efforts to engage with community outreach programmes and non-profit organisations. You will participate in public speaking engagements and industry events, articulating our thought leadership. You will strive to win awards and share our stories in publications, online and in other media outlets.

What You Will Do

• Lead the creative efforts on a variety of client projects, developing overall design concepts and design presentation strategies.
• Develop and own strategic planning, conceptual designs, design development, and production.
• Review drawings, mockups, materials, and finish samples submitted by project contractors.
• Collaborate on and deliver project solutions based on market expertise and deep understanding of client goals.
• Maintain a strong communication platform and build effective business relationships with existing and new clients.
• Act as the primary design interface with clients, team members, and a wide range of consultants and collaborators.
• Guide, advise, and mentor other designers on projects, developing design directions and leading design critiques/forums.
• Collaborate with practice area leaders and colleagues to enhance Gensler’s culture for design excellence, elevate the quality of design, and achieve recognition for clients and the firm.
• Work closely with office leadership to identify and recruit best-in-class talent.
• Participate in and help lead exciting research projects to bring a new perspective to what we do for our clients.
• Collaborate with team members and colleagues to promote an inter-disciplinary design approach and philosophy.
• Work with office and regional leadership in business development efforts to grow our practice in the region through expanding existing client relationships, developing new relationships and diversifying our lines of work.
• Provide vision for proposals and strategy for interviews to secure project opportunities.
• Assist in the development of Gensler’s design portfolio for reference in pursuing new work.
• Strengthen our market reputation through thought leadership and a differentiated point of view.
• Advance our reputation through conference presentations, authoring publications and active social media presence.
• Be an advocate for Gensler sustainability commitments internally and externally.
• Make sustainability an integral part of every project.
• Define project sustainability targets in collaboration with the client and the project team at the start of each project.
• Understand clients ESG goals and work with project teams towards achieving them.
• Support and encourage team members to pursue sustainability learning.
• Contribute to office activities, initiatives, and learning programs.

Your Qualifications

• Bachelor’s or Master’s degree from an accredited school of design.
• 15+ year’s professional experience including proven track record of contributing to the design of hospitality interiors projects
• Strong, persuasive communicator with excellent storytelling skills and the ability to communicate complex design concepts to clients.
• Proven track record of success in maintaining and growing client relationships.
• Strong graphic skills to communicate design ideas.
• Leadership experience, including managing client expectations, multi-disciplinary teams, and meeting scope/schedule/budget.
• Skilled at developing, inspiring and motivating teams of people both internally and externally, along with a desire to mentor team members.
• Experience leading design teams through all phases of the design process.
• Knowledge of furniture, finishes, materials and specifications.
• Knowledge in sustainable design principles required.
• LEED, WELL, Fitwel, LFA or other rating systems accreditation preferable.
• Understand key principles for leading and achieving net zero projects.
• Capacity to drive sustainability focused discussions with clients and teams.
• Demonstrated commitment to sustainability and sustainable building practices required.
• Previous experience in sustainable design projects preferred. At least one project of the candidate portfolio should showcase this focus. Especially built projects with LEED, Living Building Challenge, WELL Building Standard, Fitwel and /or Net Zero Building certification.

Your Design Technology Qualifications

Essential             

• Experience in managing design teams with Revit/Rhino/Grasshopper skills.
• Good knowledge and experience with collaboration within the BIM context, including cloud-based markups, consultant coordination and clash detection.
• Basic understanding and familiarity with real-time rendering processes, and material creation & management within the context of integrated BIM and parametric workflows.
• Familiarity with the BIM project lifecycle through design, construction and operational phases.
• Understanding of BIM deliverables and terminology in contracts.

Desirable            

• Experience in establishing and managing BIM teams for project design and delivery.
• Experience in managing design teams with Revit/Rhino/Grasshopper skills.

Applications we work with

• Design Authoring - Revit, Rhino, Autocad, Navisworks             
• Collaboration - BIM360            
• Computational Design - Grasshopper, Dynamo             
• Building Performance Simulation - Insight, Sefaira, Diva, Ladybug tools            
• Visualisation – Vray, Enscape, Twinmotion, 3DSMax             
• Graphics & Productivity - Adobe Creative Suite, Microsoft Office Suite            
• Experiential – Unreal Engine, Unity            
• Development  – C#, Python

To be considered, please submit portfolio and/or work samples in PDF format.

Life at Gensler

Gensler Asia-Pacific and Middle East is committed to Diversity, Equity and Inclusion through our Five Strategies. In partnership with our clients, we strive to create a just and equitable future for our communities and our colleagues. We celebrate our diversity and are focused on creating an inclusive workplace environment for all.

As a people-first organization, we are as committed to enjoying life as we are to delivering best-in-class design. From internal design competitions to research grants to “Well-being Week,” our offices reflect our people’s diverse interests.

We encourage every person at Gensler to lead a healthy and balanced life. Our comprehensive benefits include medical, dental, vision, disability and wellness programs. We also offer profit sharing and twice annual bonus opportunities.

As part of the firm’s commitment to licensure and professional development, Gensler offers reimbursement for certain professional licenses and associated renewals and exam fees. In addition, we reimburse tuition for certain eligible programs or classes. We view our professional development programs as strategic investments in our future.