What are the responsibilities and job description for the Interior Design Lead position at Curioso?
Interior Design Lead (Location: Chicago, Illinois, US)
Curioso is a collective of architects, interior designers, and artists designing meaningful experiences around the world. Our award-winning projects represent a range of industries, including luxury hospitality, lifestyle hospitality, restaurant, wellness, multifamily, and professional spaces. We're a collaborative studio driven by curiosity, empathy, and an entrepreneurial spirit, with a diverse, multicultural team across our studios in Chicago, IL, and Mérida, Yucatán, México.
We're looking for a senior Design Lead to join our Chicago studio.
Position Overview
The Design Lead is a senior leadership position for an experienced hospitality interior designer who moves fluidly between design vision and project execution. You'll work directly with our Studio Design Leaders across the full project lifecycle — from schematic design and design development through construction documents and on-site implementation — while mentoring a talented team and deepening client relationships.
Responsibilities
- Lead multidisciplinary project teams through all design phases (SD, DD, CD) on hotel, resort, restaurant, and mixed-use projects
- Establish design vision, strategy, goals, budgets, and schedules — and hold the team accountable to them
- Maintain quality standards across design deliverables, ensuring alignment with both client expectations and Curioso's design ethos
- Direct FF&E specification, procurement coordination, and vendor relationships
- Recognize and communicate opportunities for additional services as project needs evolve
- Mentor and develop designers at all levels, fostering a culture of creative rigor and collaboration
- Present design concepts, narratives, and progress to clients and internal stakeholders with clarity and confidence
- Coordinate across interior architecture, architecture, engineering, and construction disciplines
- Collaborate with Managing Partners and Studio Design Leaders to align staffing and priorities across both studios
- Identify opportunities to streamline workflows and improve studio efficiency
- Build and strengthen client and brand relationships to support business development
- Bilingual (English/Spanish) a plus
Candidate Requirements
- 10–12 years of experience in an interior design or interior architecture studio; luxury hospitality focus preferred
- Proficiency in Revit (BIM), AutoCAD, SketchUp/Enscape, Bluebeam, Adobe Creative Suite (InDesign, Photoshop), and Microsoft/Google Office
- Deep knowledge of space planning, material specification, and FF&E across all project phases
- Strong hand sketching and concept visualization skills
- A collaborative leadership style with the ability to give clear, constructive design direction
Also in Your Toolkit (Beneficial, but not required)
- Visualization Tools: 3D Max, Lumion
- FF&E Specification Software: SpecSources, Designspec
- Tablet Apps: Procreate, Morpholio Trace
- Project Management: Asana or CMap
Location: Based in or willing to relocate to Chicago, Illinois, USA
To learn more about Curioso, visit curioso.us.