managing director

interior design

salary: £80,000 - £110,000

The client is a legacy design studio based in central London, with over 15 years of experience designing and delivering interiors across residential, leisure, hospitality, and F&B projects.

JOB SUMMARY:

The client is a legacy design studio based in central London, with over 15 years of experience designing and delivering interiors across residential, leisure, hospitality, and F&B projects. While much of their work is UK-based, they also operate internationally. The studio is known for its distinctive and individual aesthetic — every project is designed uniquely for the client. Their work does not follow trends; instead, it makes considered statements that can be bold and playful or refined and sophisticated.

The Managing Director position is a newly created role within the studio. It will take ownership of the commercial, operational, and business aspects, overseeing the day-to-day running of the practice and projects. A strong and established creative team is already in place; this role is deliberately focused on ensuring the business functions efficiently and sustainably, enabling the creative directors and team to do their best work.

The client is seeking an individual who genuinely enjoys working within a creative environment and who values supporting and nurturing creative talent. This role will involve mentoring, managing, and leading the team, ensuring projects are appropriately resourced, scopes of work are clearly defined, deadlines are met, and contracts are delivered successfully.

RESPONSIBILITY OVERVIEW:

• The role will take full responsibility for project deliverables across the team and carries significant accountability for the project pipeline from inception through to completion. It is essential that candidates bring substantial experience in project-led or operational roles, with a proven track record of delivering interior spaces.

  Communication is central to this position, both internally with the studio team and externally with stakeholders, consultants, and project partners. A commercially minded professional with experience delivering creative spaces will be best suited to this role.

  Importantly, this position is not about changing the existing studio culture or creative structure. Instead, it is about lifting the operational and commercial weight of the business, creating space for greater creativity and clarity at a leadership level. The studio works at pace, often managing multiple projects simultaneously, so the ideal profile will be agile, flexible, and comfortable with ambiguity, able to bring grounding, structure, and stability to a fast-moving environment.

  This role would suit someone who wants to stretch themselves professionally and enjoys the responsibility of running a business and projects. You may already be operating at Managing Director level, or have significant experience in a senior commercial, project management or operational leadership role within a creative industry.

SKILLS & REQUIREMENTS:

• BA (Hons) or equivalent

• 8+ years’ experience in a commercial or operational role

• Proven experience running business operations

• Comfortable managing budgets of £1m+

• Experience managing and leading a small team

• Background working within a creative or design-led business

• Ideally experienced within an interiors or design-and-build studio