Director of Design

Role Overview

Idea Nuova is seeking a highly organized and experienced Director of Design to oversee departmental workload and showroom management across all product categories. This role is responsible for ensuring the Design team is effectively managing priorities, meeting deadlines, and maintaining organized, presentation-ready showrooms — while providing the leadership, structure, and accountability that keep the department prepared for customer meetings, presentations, and changing business needs. The ideal candidate is a strong leader who can manage multiple priorities, provide structure, and ensure the department is always ready for what's next.

Key Responsibilities

• Oversee and manage Design department workload across all product categories, ensuring priorities and deadlines are clearly communicated and met
• Allocate projects and responsibilities across the team to maintain a balanced and efficient workload
• Maintain visibility into open projects, deadlines, samples, and outstanding action items
• Proactively identify workload challenges and adjust priorities or resources as needed
• Oversee the organization, maintenance, and readiness of all showroom spaces
• Ensure showrooms are current, organized, properly merchandised, and presentation-ready
• Coordinate showroom setups and updates for customer meetings, market appointments, seasonal presentations, and internal meetings
• Ensure products and samples are properly displayed, labeled, organized, and easily accessible
• Coordinate with team members and other departments to ensure showroom needs and deadlines are completed on schedule
• Ensure preparation for customer visits and presentations is completed in advance and all necessary products and materials are available
• Track outstanding assignments and maintain appropriate follow-up and accountability
• Identify opportunities to improve department workflow, organization, communication, and efficiency
• Provide leadership with regular visibility into team workload, showroom readiness, upcoming deadlines, and areas requiring additional support

Qualifications

• Previous leadership or management experience within a Design, Product Development, or related consumer products environment
• Strong experience managing teams, workloads, deadlines, and competing priorities
• Experience overseeing showrooms, product presentations, samples, or customer-facing product spaces
• Exceptional organizational and project management skills
• Strong communication and cross-functional collaboration skills
• Ability to work in a fast-paced environment and adjust priorities based on business needs
• Detail-oriented with a strong sense of ownership and accountability
• Ability to effectively lead a team while maintaining visibility across multiple product categories and projects

What Success Looks Like

• Design team workload is balanced, priorities are clear, and deadlines are consistently met across all categories
• Showrooms are always presentation-ready — current, organized, merchandised, and fully prepared for customer visits and seasonal presentations
• Customer meetings and market appointments run smoothly with no last-minute scrambling for samples or materials
• Cross-functional partners (Sales, PD, Merchandising) view the Design team as reliable, organized, and on schedule
• Team members grow in capability and accountability under your leadership
• Executive team has clear, timely visibility into department workload, showroom readiness, and upcoming priorities

Additional Requirements

• Occasional travel as needed for market weeks, customer presentations, trade shows, and internal offsites

Benefits

• Competitive salary and benefits package
• Opportunities for career growth and advancement
• Dynamic, collaborative, and entrepreneurial work environment
• Exposure to major retailers, nationally recognized brands, and trend-driven home categories
• Fast-paced culture where your ideas, creativity, and contributions make an impact

Why This Role

This is a senior leadership opportunity to bring structure, organization, and accountability to Idea Nuova's Design department. You'll own the operational rhythm of a fast-moving creative team, ensure our showrooms are always ready to represent the brand at their best, and directly influence how the department shows up for our largest retail partners. Strong Director-level visibility, real influence over how Design operates and scales, and close partnership with executive leadership.