Lead Designer

Description

For over 80 years, the dedicated team at Winston Flowers has been committed to fostering excellence in everything we do. Today, our family-owned company has a worldwide online presence, two state-of-the-art design studios—60,000 square feet in Boston and 12,000 square feet in New York City—and retail shops throughout the Greater Boston area and in Greenwich, Connecticut. Each and every person on our team works in pursuit of a singular goal: to take care of our clients’ precious moments as if they were our own.

We are seeking a Lead Designer to join our team in Greenwich, CT. Responsibilities include but are not limited to:

Overview

We are seeking a creative, highly organized Lead Designer to oversee all aspects of design execution and support studio design operations. This role blends hands-on floral design, leadership with production coordination, inventory control, and order fulfillment. The ideal candidate is both artistically driven and systems-oriented, ensuring exceptional product quality while maintaining efficient daily operations.

Responsibilities

Design Leadership

• Lead and execute floral designs for daily, weekly, monthly and custom orders.
• Partner with Event Designers in BOS/LIC on execution of events, and installations.
• Execute and maintain the company’s design aesthetic and quality standards.
• Train, mentor and coach design staff while reinforcing Winston Flowers design standards and best practices
• Oversee production timelines to ensure timely completion of all orders.
• Collaborate with sales and event teams to interpret client vision into design concepts.
• Schedule and attend off-site visits with Clients to ensure scope and understanding of all projects is clear and executed properly.
• Oversee the execution of work by the design staff and provide feedback to ensure it is always meeting brand and client expectations.
• Conduct final quality review of florals to ensure all arrangements consistently meet Winston Flowers’ design standard before leaving the studio.

Order Management

• Collaborate with Store Manager to process incoming orders from multiple channels (online, phone, in-store).
• Ensure accurate order entry, pricing, and fulfillment.
• Coordinate production schedules to meet delivery and event deadlines.
• Maintain clear communication between front-of-house and design teams.
• Assign orders to design staff based on designer skill level, workload and production priorities
• Develop and adjust daily production priorities to ensure deadlines are met while maintaining quality standards.

Floral Purchasing & Inventory

• Partner with Store Manager and Events teams to order flowers and hard goods for Events, Custom Orders & Weekly Accounts
• Assist the Manager in forecasting floral needs based on upcoming events, holidays and projected demand.
• Partner with Retail team to ensure flowers on the flower table represent the current season and can be used in designs to drive custom business and eliminate waste.
• Monitor inventory levels and minimize waste.
• Maintain productive vendor relationships and communicate purchasing opportunities or concerns to the Store Manager
• Ensure product quality upon delivery and address discrepancies.

Back-of-House Operations

• Partner with Store Manager to oversee daily workflow in the design studio.
• Maintain cleanliness, organization, and compliance with safety standards.
• Recommend workflow improvements and operational efficiencies
• Manage supplies, tools, and equipment.
• Support onboarding and coaching of design staff
• Collaborate with the Store Manager and delivery team to ensure production schedules are on track to make timely and efficient deliveries.
• Escalate staffing, personnel, financial, or customer concerns to the Store Manager as appropriate.

Requirements

• 3+ years of professional floral design experience (lead or senior designer preferred).
• Strong leadership, coaching and team management skills while maintaining quality standards
• Experience with inventory management and vendor ordering.
• Excellent organizational and multitasking abilities.
• Ability to work in a fast-paced, deadline-driven environment.
• Strong communication and problem-solving skills.
• Proficiency with POS and order management systems is a plus.
• Ability to lift 30–50 lbs.
• Prolonged standing and working in refrigerated environments.
• Flexibility to work weekends and holidays as required.

Key Competencies

• Creative vision and design expertise
• Operational efficiency
• Attention to detail
• Time management
• Cost control and budgeting awareness
• Team leadership
• Coaching and developing others
• Production planning
• Organizational excellence
• Cross-functional collaboration