Director of Design and Contruction
Role summary
The Director of Design and Construction is responsible for leading hospitality design projects from concept to completion, ensuring alignment with owner desires, brand standards, and operational goals. This role involves managing internal design staff and external consultants, overseeing all design and construction phases, and maintaining budget and schedule discipline. Key responsibilities include creating brand design standards, enforcing consistency across the portfolio, and conducting site visits to ensure accurate execution of design intent. The ideal candidate has 10+ years of experience in hospitality design or project management, with proven success in managing both internal teams and external consultants, and a strong understanding of construction documentation and project delivery.
The Director of Design and Construction leads the execution of hospitality design projects from concept through completion, ensuring alignment with the owner’s desires, brand standards, and operational goals. This role manages both internal design execution staff and external consultants, driving design excellence while maintaining disciplined project delivery. They are responsible for ensuring every detail is thought through and constructed accurately. They will be the design lead on all existing and future properties and projects.
Key Responsibilities
Project Leadership & Execution
- Lead design execution across existing properties, renovations, and ground-up developments.
- Oversee all design and construction phases: programming, concept, schematic, design development, documentation, procurement, construction, and installation.
- Be our owner-facing liaison; understand and implement the owner’s desires.
- Ensure projects meet internal standards and ownership objectives.
- Identify and mitigate design-related risks throughout the project lifecycle.
- Propose and review drawings, mockups, samples, and submittals.
Consultant & Team Management
- Manage external architects, interior designers, and specialty consultants.
- Direct internal design execution team workflows, priorities, and deliverables.
- Review drawings, specifications, and material selections for quality, coordination, and constructability.
- Coordinate closely with construction and operations teams.
Budget & Schedule Oversight
- Monitor design budgets and consultant contracts.
- Ensure alignment between design intent and construction cost parameters.
- Support value engineering efforts without compromising brand integrity.
Standards & Quality Control
- Create and maintain brand design standards.
- Enforce design consistency across the portfolio.
- Conduct site visits to ensure design intent is executed accurately.
- Oversee the construction detail execution.
Qualifications
- 10+ years of hospitality design or project management experience, including luxury projects.
- This is a fully onsite role, so the candidate must be located in or willing to relocate to Charleston, SC.
- Proven experience managing both internal teams and external consultants.
- Strong understanding of construction documentation and project delivery.
- Ability to balance creative excellence with schedule and budget discipline.
- Excellent communication and stakeholder management skills.
- Highly attentive to detail.
- Well organized and able to manage multiple projects simultaneously.
Reporting structure:
- Reports to VP of Design & Construction.
- Manages all design execution colleagues.
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*BHC* *is an equal employment opportunity employer.* *Employment decisions are based on merit and business needs, and are not based on race, color, sex (including pregnancy, childbirth, and related medical conditions), citizenship status, national origin, ancestry, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, age, religion, creed, physical or mental disability, marital status, veteran status, uniformed service, political affiliation, genetic information, or any other factor or characteristic protected by applicable law.* *BHC participates in E-Verify.*