Interior Design & Finishes Director

1. Business Strategy & P&L Ownership:

1. Develop and execute the overall business strategy for the Interior Design & Finishes function in alignment with the company's strategic objectives.
2. Establish the department as a profitable and commercially sustainable business line.
3. Own the department's P&L, revenue, gross margin, cost base, cash flow, and profitability.
4. Develop annual business plans, revenue targets, budgets, and profitability objectives.
5. Identify opportunities to increase revenue, improve margins, optimize costs, and enhance overall business performance.
6. Establish the appropriate business model, pricing strategy, service offering, and operating structure for the function.
7. Continuously assess market trends, customer needs, competitors, and emerging opportunities to maintain a competitive market position.
8. Present regular business performance updates, forecasts, risks, and improvement plans to senior management.

2. Commercial Strategy & Business Development:

1. Lead the commercial strategy for the Interior Design & Finishes business line and build a strong and sustainable project pipeline.
2. Identify and pursue new business opportunities across residential, commercial, hospitality, retail, and other relevant sectors.
3. Develop and maintain strong relationships with developers, investors, consultants, architects, contractors, suppliers, and key clients.
4. Lead major commercial negotiations, proposals, tenders, and contract discussions.
5. Establish pricing and costing strategies that balance market competitiveness with targeted profitability.
6. Review and approve project proposals, quotations, budgets, variations, and commercial submissions within the approved authority limits.
7. Ensure accurate estimation of project costs, resources, risks, overheads, and expected margins before project commitment.
8. Monitor pipeline conversion, win rates, backlog, revenue forecasts, and project profitability.
9. Develop strategic partnerships with suppliers, contractors, designers, and specialist subcontractors to enhance the company's market offering and commercial competitiveness.

3. Project Management & Delivery:

1. Provide executive oversight of the complete project lifecycle from inception through design, procurement, construction, finishing, testing, and handover.
2. Ensure all projects are delivered within approved time, cost, quality, and profitability parameters.
3. Establish project governance frameworks, methodologies, reporting standards, and performance controls.
4. Review project schedules, budgets, resource plans, procurement strategies, and delivery risks.
5. Monitor project performance and intervene proactively where projects are facing delays, cost overruns, quality issues, or commercial risks.
6. Ensure effective coordination between design, project management, procurement, commercial, finance, and site execution teams.
7. Ensure appropriate project controls are in place for variations, claims, change orders, and scope management.
8. Drive timely resolution of critical project issues and escalate major risks to senior management when required.
9. Ensure successful project completion, handover, client satisfaction, and commercial closure.

4. Interior Design Management:

1. Lead the overall interior design strategy and ensure consistency with the company's design vision, brand positioning, and project objectives.
2. Oversee the development and review of design concepts, detailed designs, material selections, specifications, shop drawings, and finishes.
3. Ensure design solutions are commercially viable, technically feasible, and aligned with project budgets and timelines.
4. Balance design excellence with cost efficiency, constructability, availability, and lifecycle considerations.
5. Ensure effective coordination between interior designers, architects, consultants, MEP teams, project managers, and contractors.
6. Establish design standards, guidelines, and approval processes across projects.
7. Review and challenge design proposals to ensure they deliver the required customer experience while protecting project margins.
8. Ensure design changes are properly assessed for their impact on cost, time, quality, and project profitability.

5. Finishes & Technical Management:

1. Oversee the selection, specification, procurement, and implementation of interior finishes and materials.
2. Ensure finishes meet required quality, design, technical, durability, and commercial standards.
3. Establish and maintain relationships with key suppliers, manufacturers, contractors, and specialist subcontractors.
4. Drive value engineering initiatives without compromising the overall design intent or customer experience.
5. Ensure material selections and specifications are aligned with approved budgets and project timelines.
6. Monitor material costs, lead times, procurement risks, and market availability.
7. Ensure effective quality control throughout installation and final delivery.

6. Financial & Cost Management:

1. Ensure robust financial controls are implemented across all projects and the overall business line.
2. Monitor project budgets, actual costs, commitments, forecasts, and projected margins.
3. Establish mechanisms to identify and address cost overruns at an early stage.
4. Drive cost optimization and value engineering initiatives across design, procurement, and execution.
5. Ensure all commercial variations and additional works are properly evaluated, approved, priced, and documented.
6. Work closely with Finance to monitor revenue recognition, billing, collections, cash flow, and project profitability.
7. Review project financial performance and take corrective action where required.
8. Ensure lessons learned from completed projects are incorporated into future pricing, budgeting, and delivery strategies.

7. Procurement & Supply Chain:

1. Develop procurement strategies that support project timelines, quality requirements, and targeted margins.
2. Oversee the procurement of materials, furniture, fixtures, finishes, and specialist works where applicable.
3. Establish a strong supplier and subcontractor network to ensure competitive pricing and reliable delivery.
4. Negotiate commercial terms, payment conditions, lead times, warranties, and service levels.
5. Ensure procurement decisions support the overall project commercial strategy.
6. Identify opportunities for framework agreements and strategic sourcing to improve cost efficiency and margins.

8. Client & Stakeholder Management:

1. Serve as the senior point of contact for key clients and strategic projects.
2. Build long-term relationships with clients and understand their commercial, design, and operational requirements.
3. Lead executive-level discussions regarding project performance, commercial matters, design decisions, and strategic issues.
4. Ensure a high level of client satisfaction throughout the project lifecycle.
5. Manage expectations and ensure commitments made to clients are commercially and operationally achievable.
6. Represent the company professionally in negotiations, presentations, industry events, and business development activities.

9. Team Leadership & Organizational Development:

1. Build, lead, and develop a high-performing Interior Design & Finishes organization.
2. Define the appropriate organizational structure, roles, responsibilities, and reporting lines required to support the business.
3. Set clear performance objectives and KPIs for the department.
4. Develop the capabilities of project management, design, commercial, procurement, and technical teams.
5. Establish a culture of accountability, commercial ownership, innovation, quality, and continuous improvement.
6. Identify critical talent and develop succession plans for key positions.
7. Ensure effective workforce planning and resource allocation across the project portfolio.

10. Governance, Risk & Compliance:

1. Establish appropriate governance and approval mechanisms across the Interior Design & Finishes business.
2. Ensure compliance with company policies, contractual requirements, applicable regulations, and project standards.
3. Identify commercial, contractual, operational, design, and delivery risks and develop mitigation plans.
4. Ensure appropriate documentation and controls are maintained throughout the project lifecycle.
5. Monitor contractual obligations and work closely with Legal and Commercial teams on claims, disputes, and contractual matters.
6. Ensure health, safety, quality, and environmental standards are maintained across project execution.

11. Process Improvement & Business Transformation:

1. Review and continuously improve the operating model, processes, and systems of the Interior Design & Finishes function.
2. Introduce effective project management and commercial control methodologies.
3. Develop dashboards and performance reporting to provide visibility on revenue, margins, pipeline, project progress, and risks.
4. Leverage technology and digital solutions to improve project monitoring, design coordination, cost management, and reporting.
5. Establish lessons-learned mechanisms and continuously improve project delivery practices.
6. Drive a performance-oriented culture focused on revenue growth, margin improvement, operational efficiency, and customer satisfaction.