Job Description

Design Director – Architecture and Interiors

Location: Flexible / project and office locations as required

Reporting to: Managing Director, Design Services

Set the design vision. Build client relationships. Lead the next stage of growth.

Morris & Spottiswood are one of the leading providers of fitout, refurbishment, M&E, facilities management and construction services in the UK. A family firm, with a proud track record of excellence, we aim high, act responsibly and value our staff and customers.

We’re looking for a Design Director to provide strategic leadership across architecture, interiors and principal design within Design Services. This is an opportunity to combine creative ambition with commercial leadership, shaping how we win work, develop our people and deliver projects from concept through to completion.

The role

Reporting to the Managing Director, Design Services, you’ll set a clear direction for the practice, strengthen its market position and lead multidisciplinary teams to deliver high-quality, commercially successful projects. You’ll work closely with Consult colleagues and the wider Group to connect design expertise with integrated project delivery.

• Develop and deliver the Design Services strategy, aligning design excellence with client needs and sustainable growth.
• Build strategic client relationships, lead bids and fee proposals, and develop opportunities for repeat business and cross-selling.
• Take ownership of business planning, revenue, profitability, resource utilisation and fee recovery.
• Oversee new-build and refurbishment projects, maintaining strong design governance, technical assurance and regulatory compliance.
• Lead, coach and develop Design Managers and senior design professionals, building capability and future leadership.
• Champion BIM, digital design, sustainability, modern methods of construction and emerging technologies.

What you’ll bring

• Substantial senior leadership experience in architecture, interiors or multidisciplinary design, combining strategic, commercial and operational responsibility.
• A track record of winning work, growing client relationships and leading complex projects and multidisciplinary teams.
• Strong technical and regulatory knowledge, with excellent communication, negotiation and stakeholder management skills.
• A degree in Architecture or a related design discipline. Chartered or professionally registered status with an appropriate body, such as ARB/RIBA, CIAT or equivalent, is strongly preferred.
• Experience of integrated design-and-build delivery, multi-location teams and sectors such as commercial office, residential, defence, industrial, higher education or financial services would be advantageous.
• Knowledge of BIM, digital design, sustainability, modern methods of construction and AI-enabled design tools would also be advantageous.

Why this role?

You’ll have the opportunity to influence the direction of Design Services, develop its people and strengthen collaboration across Consult and the wider Group. Our values underpin how we work: Aim High. Act Responsibly. Value People.

Cifas Notice

As part of our recruitment process, we may share your personal information with Cifas, a fraud prevention agency, to assist with the prevention and detection of fraud or other unlawful conduct and to verify your identity.

If fraudulent or unlawful activity is identified, this may impact your application.

Valuing People at Morris & Spottiswood

Morris & Spottiswood is an equal opportunities employer and positively encourages applications from suitably qualified and eligible candidates regardless of sex, race, disability, age, sexual orientation, gender reassignment, religion or belief, marital status, or pregnancy and maternity.

One of our core values is to ‘Value People’. We are passionate about investing in people and genuinely take care about what we do and how we do it. This ensures that the working environment, staff, suppliers and the communities we serve always remain at the front-of-mind.

Put simply, a diverse and inclusive workforce opens our business up to a much wider talent pool and greater innovation and creativity through teams with different experiences, backgrounds and education.