Interior Design Director

About the role

Arada is seeking a senior Interior Design Director to lead the interior design function for a diverse portfolio of residential, hospitality, retail and mixed‑use developments. Reporting to Design and Development leadership, the role oversees the full design lifecycle from brief to handover, ensuring design excellence while balancing programme, budget and commercial objectives.

Key responsibilities

• Own the interior design vision, creative strategy and quality benchmark across all projects.
• Lead and manage the interior design process for multiple concurrent developments through every design stage.
• Establish interior design briefs, standards, room data sheets and specification benchmarks for consultant appointment and measurement.
• Direct, review and challenge interior design consultants, specialist consultants, operators and contractors to ensure compliance, constructability and cost effectiveness.
• Protect design intent through tender, procurement and construction phases via shop drawings, material submittals, mock‑ups and site reviews.
• Lead design reviews, multidisciplinary coordination, value engineering and risk management.
• Represent interior design to executive leadership, partners and authorities, securing alignment at key decision gates.

Required profile

• Extensive senior leadership experience in interior design, preferably on the developer side.
• Proven ability to set vision, manage consultants and resolve design risk early.
• Strong commercial acumen with a track record of balancing design quality against budget and programme.
• Excellent communication skills to influence executive stakeholders and external partners.

Required skills

• Deep technical command of interior design standards, specifications and construction processes.
• Experience managing interior design consultants and multidisciplinary design teams.
• Ability to conduct value engineering, design optimisation and risk mitigation.