Landscape Design Director

Design Director - Cross Creek Landscape Design + Build

Cross Creek Landscape Design + Build is hiring a Design Director to lead and grow our design department. This is a senior leadership position reporting directly to ownership, with full authority over design operations, standards, hiring, and strategy. We're a faith-based luxury outdoor living company in North Idaho. We have the clients, the crews, the equipment, and a steady pipeline of lakefront and mountain estate work. What we're missing is a seasoned design leader to build the department to match. This isn't a contributor role with a director title attached. You'll be running the show.

You design and price. We sell and build. Clear lanes, clean handoff.

A senior design leader who's already been doing this work — just maybe without the title or the autonomy. You've spent 7+ years at a $10M+ luxury design-build firm, you've run projects end-to-end, and you've quietly been thinking about how you'd run a department differently if anyone ever handed you the keys. We're handing you the keys. If you need direction, supervision, or someone above you to make the hard calls, this isn't the right seat for you. We need a decision-maker. The good news: if that's you, you'll have more autonomy here than you've probably ever had.

Required qualifications:

• Registered Landscape Architect with an active license.
• 7+ years at a high-end luxury residential design-build firm ($10M+ revenue).
• Proven leadership experience — you've managed designers, set standards, and run reviews.
• Mastery of a professional design software stack (we care about the work, not which logo is on the splash screen).
• Strong 3D rendering portfolio — work that helps close contracts, not just decorate proposals.
• Drone and/or LiDAR survey experience on luxury residential projects.
• Estimating accuracy that holds up once a shovel hits the ground.
• Strong communication and decision-making instincts.

Preferred experience:

• Built or rebuilt a design department from the ground up.
• Worked with discerning, high-net-worth residential clients.
• Comfortable presenting your work and process to ownership and peers.
• A clear opinion about what separates good design work from great.

Compensation and benefits:

• Base Salary: $90,000
• Performance Bonus: $600 per closed design, paid when the client signs a construction contract.
• Company Truck + Gas Card.
• Health Benefits after 6 months of successful employment.
• PTO and Paid Holidays.
• All software, equipment, licenses, and continuing education fully covered.
• Annual review with meaningful upside as the department grows.

Bonus potential:

A fully ramped Design Director should produce a complete design package (survey, render, estimate) every 5–7 working days, or roughly 18–22 designs per year. Our current close rate from design to construction sits at 35–40%. Our goal is 75%. Closing that gap is part of the job, and it's directly tied to your compensation. Realistic year-one total compensation: $100,000–$105,000 + company truck + senior leadership seat. The ceiling on year two and beyond depends on the department you build.

Schedule:

• Monday through Friday.
• Fridays protected for family time whenever possible.
• Sundays are phone-free sabbaths — no exceptions.

We work hard during the week and rest on the weekend. That's the deal, and we mean it.

Work arrangement:

• In-person in Coeur d'Alene strongly preferred for this leadership role.
• Hybrid considered for the right candidate.
• Fully remote available only for exceptional candidates with verifiable portfolios and references, with regular travel to North Idaho for surveys, presentations, and team leadership.

Our faith:

Cross Creek is a faith-based company. Our mission — Building God's Kingdom, One Backyard at a Time — is genuine, and our culture reflects it. We believe the right person for this role is already being prepared, and we'd rather wait for them than rush the wrong hire. You don't need to share every detail of our beliefs to thrive here, but you do need to respect the culture and the rhythm we operate by. If you're someone who prays over career decisions, we encourage you to pray over this one.

How to apply:

Skip the cover letter. We'd rather see your work and have a real conversation.

Send us:

• Resume and license information.
• Portfolio (links preferred).
• One sentence: which project would you walk us through in an interview, and why?

If your background fits, we'll set up a 30–45 minute portfolio walkthrough where you take us through one project from start to finish — survey, design decisions, rendering, estimate, and construction handoff. That conversation tells us more about how you think than any traditional interview ever could.

Final statement: Ai is fully here in the design world. Landscape Designers are putting together incredible outdoor living renders and plans in hours... instead of weeks. We need someone who not only understands that this is reality, but who is fully on board with using Ai to help us streamline out operations. The more we can get done together, the more money we can make, the more time we will have, and the better service we will offer our clientele while keeping their info safe. Bring some real Ai powered design stuff to the table, and you will definitely be considered.

Learn more:

Website: cdalandscape.com Instagram: @208landscape Facebook: Cross Creek Landscape Design "For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope." — Jeremiah 29:11