Design Studio Manager

Overview 

We are Splice. We believe that people with a purpose need a place to be their best. From Seattle-area skyscrapers to the Pacific Northwest’s premier Universities and medical facilities, we design and create insightful spaces with the latest technology, providing our clients an environment that embodies their image and encourages success. Workspace Development is the professional services division of One Workplace, providing FF&E project integration, post-occupancy, and MAC management for some of the most well-known companies in the Seattle area.

Splice is committed to the development of empathetic leaders, diversification of talent, and increased representation at every level of our business. We believe in cultivating a culture of inclusion and are dedicated to building and retaining teams by removing unnecessary barriers to employment and providing opportunities for career growth. We are committed to equal employment opportunity regardless of race, color, ancestry, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, age, citizenship, marital status, disability, gender identity, or veteran status.

Location: Seattle, WA

Position Summary 

The Design Manager is a people manager who oversees the day-to-day function of the Splice Design team, providing design services for sites across North America. This position reports to the Design Program Director and is responsible for maintaining a high level of consistency and accuracy, client workplace guidelines, and Code and ADA compliance in all designs that are completed for our client’s portfolio.   

Essential Responsibilities: 

• Oversee a team of individual contributors and acts as point of escalation for the individuals, manages escalation as appropriate and mentors’ designers. Keep senior leadership informed as circumstances require.
• Strong customer-facing skills with the confidence to present directly to clients and lead high-quality design discussions that prioritize service excellence and clear communication.
• Prioritize knowledge & skills development for members of the design team.
• Acts as a mentor and provides regular feedback for everyone through both formal and informal channels on performance and competency development.
• Evaluates unusual or difficult requests to determine which track of work process they should follow.
• Identify bottlenecks and escalate in a timely manner to ensure projects are not delayed unnecessarily. Coach designers on effective analysis of roadblocks and communication strategy to yield accurate and timely responses.
• Ensure designers are providing effective regular communication with all parties regarding project status, including internal team, clients, vendors, and other partners to ensure project SLAs while maintaining exceptional customer service. 
• Works with Program Manager and Production Leads to set agenda for bi-weekly team meetings for topics requiring detailed team review or training
• Owns design best practices and standards within the program to ensure projects are executed with the highest level of accuracy. Works closely with Program manager to ensure these standards are documented.
• Works with Program Director and Program Manager to evaluate any changes to the team’s Scope of Work and determine feasibility of the scope addition. Works to help define and develop processes for new scope.
• Works with current team workload and identifies project needs and staff accordingly.
• Manage execution of approved budget, prioritizing timely hiring and early identification of attrition to ensure profitability.
• Ensures timely entry to CORE for all team members, with mindfulness to month end closeout.

Quality Control & Consistency 

• Identify opportunities for improvement of existing processes and propose to Program Manager to update or create tools. Program Manager will be responsible for roll out communication, training, and implementation plan for any change in process.
• Identify inconsistent or unclear practices requiring cross functional resolution and engage Program Manager to develop resolution. Program Manager will be responsible for all external and internal cross-functional communication and work that is not related to existing processes and scope

Education/Experience 

• B.A. Interior Design, Interior Architecture, Architectural Studies, or relevant degree. 
• 6+ years’ experience in interior design, architecture, and/or systems furniture design field or equivalent

Knowledge/Skills/Abilities: 

• Solid understanding of AutoCAD, Revit/BIM modeling, drawing document standards, building code
• Direct experience leading project communication and scope development with external partners and/or client
• Experience developing client drawing deliverables and/or other technical project documents
• Experience managing workflow to meet project schedules
• Ability to lead and mentor individuals effectively; provides guidance and direction to achieve quality and service within project deadlines
• Preferred Experience: direct supervision of individual performance, systems furniture design & specification
• Proficiency with Microsoft Office Products: Outlook, Word, Excel, Teams, CET, Spec, Smartsheet.

Employee Benefits: 

• 15 days of PTO 
• 9 Paid holidays 
• Medical/Dental/Vision Insurance 
• 401k + Employer Match 
• Paid Parental Leave 
• Wellness App with reimbursement of up to $500/year 
• Profit Sharing 

Working Environment 

The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this position. Reasonable accommodation may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the functions. While performing the duties of this position, the employee is regularly required to talk or listen. The employee frequently is required to use hands or fingers, handle or feel objects, tools, or controls. The employee is occasionally required to stand, walk, sit; and reach with hands and arms. The employee must occasionally lift and/or move up to 15 pounds. Specific vision abilities required by this position include close vision, distance vision, and the ability to adjust focus. The noise level in the work environment is typically low to moderate.

If this sounds like the right opportunity for you, we encourage you to apply with your resume today. We look forward to connecting! 

If you are based in California, we encourage you to read this important information for California residents linked here.