Interior Designer Project Manager

Job Title: Interior Designer Project Manager

Job Description

This role leads interior design projects from initial kickoff through final delivery, with a focus on multi-family, active adult, and hospitality environments. The Interior Designer Project Manager oversees 24 person design teams, balances competing deadlines and resources, and ensures that all projects meet design, contractual, and financial objectives. The ideal candidate combines strong creative design, FF&E, and finish capabilities with proven project management, client-facing, and business acumen.

Responsibilities

• Lead interior design projects from concept through final delivery, ensuring alignment with client goals, project contracts, and quality standards.
• Exhibit competency in and perform all Designer level responsibilities as needed to support project success.
• Schedule and prioritize multiple team projects, managing workload, resources, and reporting for a 24 person design team.
• Negotiate, prepare, distribute, and follow up on pre- and post-contract documents, ensuring clarity and compliance with project requirements.
• Direct and monitor team efforts to ensure conformity with project contracts, scope, and profitability targets.
• Collaborate with the finance and accounting team to invoice projects accurately and on time.
• Monitor and address accounts receivable and collections in partnership with the finance and accounting team.
• Understand and support firm liability considerations, incorporating risk awareness into project decisions and documentation.
• Establish and communicate clear design direction with clients and project teams, ensuring a cohesive vision across all phases.
• Ensure project quality control and accuracy, verifying that all deliverables align with the contract, budget, schedule, and design objectives.
• Facilitate proactive and creative solutions to project challenges, addressing issues before they impact schedule, budget, or quality.
• Manage all design services, phases, and tasks, including programming, concept design, design development, documentation, and implementation.
• Understand tenant and client representative, broker, and project manager processes and key stakeholders, integrating them into the project workflow.
• Oversee a variety of design projects of differing sizes and complexity, independently and concurrently.
• Develop and maintain effective internal and external communication with all team members, consultants, and stakeholders.
• Lead overall team efforts and activities, fostering collaboration and accountability within the design team.
• Mentor team members in their professional growth and development, providing guidance, feedback, and support.
• Participate in employee and team member performance reviews as requested by leadership.
• Support internal standards, business goals, and culture initiatives and programs, contributing to a cohesive and high-performing studio.
• Cultivate and maintain strong client relationships through external business activities and industry events such as calls, meetings, conferences, and award ceremonies.
• Develop and reinforce client relationships throughout the project design process and beyond project completion.
• Participate in sales presentations and business development efforts, contributing design expertise and project insights to win new work.
• Prepare and support proposals, contracts, and responses to RFPs, aligning scope, fees, and deliverables with client needs and firm objectives.
• Create and deliver compelling design presentations to clients and stakeholders, clearly communicating design intent and options.
• Manage invoicing and billing aspects for assigned projects, ensuring transparency and alignment with project progress.
• Adapt quickly to changing priorities and project demands, managing multiple projects with tight deadlines and rapid turnover.

Essential Skills

• Degree in Interior Design.
• 1012 years of professional interior design experience.
• Strong interior design experience, ideally with significant experience on living interiors projects such as multifamily, hospitality, hotels, and apartments.
• Proficiency with Revit, including its use in interior design and documentation workflows.
• Proficiency with AutoCAD for design and construction documentation.
• Demonstrated success leading design teams, including assigning tasks, reviewing work, and guiding project delivery.
• Proven experience with proposals, contracts, and RFP processes, including scope definition and fee alignment.
• Experience preparing and delivering client presentations that clearly communicate design concepts and solutions.
• Strong client interaction skills, including relationship building, expectation management, and ongoing communication.
• Experience with invoicing and billing for design projects in collaboration with finance teams.
• Solid project management skills, including scheduling, workload management, and multi-project coordination.
• Ability to produce and oversee construction documentation and other project documentation with a high degree of accuracy.
• Strong FF&E knowledge, including selection, specification, and coordination with overall design intent.
• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills, with the ability to present ideas clearly and confidently.
• Ability to thrive in a fast-paced, deadline-focused environment with multiple concurrent projects.
• Strong business acumen, including understanding of profitability, liability, and when to escalate issues or advocate for the project.
• Confidence to communicate with a strong voice while also exercising discretion and judgment in when to speak up and when to listen.

Additional Skills & Qualifications

• Experience in multi-family, active adult, and hospitality sectors, including hotels and apartments.
• Experience or familiarity with architecture and construction processes, enabling effective collaboration with architects.
• Experience with construction documentation and technical detailing for interior projects.
• Rendering skills to support visual communication of design concepts.
• Experience with FF&E sourcing, budgeting, and coordination with vendors and contractors.
• Ability to manage 34 interior projects per month, from concept through completion.
• Comfort working closely with architects in an integrated studio environment.
• Interest in staying current with design trends and marketplace developments, and applying them to project work.
• Willingness to participate in industry networking, conferences, and events to support business development and professional visibility.
• Motivation to pursue licensure in the future, with openness to firm support and assistance.
• Ability to mentor and support the professional development of junior team members.
• Adaptability to quickly change gears as project needs and priorities evolve.

Work Environment

The role is based in a 75-person architectural and interiors studio with primary focuses in corporate and retail projects, and a particularly strong interiors group. The environment is very open and collaborative, with interior designers working in close proximity to architects to encourage integrated design solutions. The culture emphasizes being at the forefront of design, actively following design trends, and continually raising the bar for design quality. The studio strongly supports ongoing education and industry networking, offering monthly internal events to build skills and knowledge, as well as assistance with licensure for those pursuing professional credentials. The work pace is fast, with tight deadlines and a typical turnover of 34 interior projects per month, requiring the ability to manage multiple priorities and respond quickly to changing demands. The organization values strong, confident voices on the management and project teams, and expects team members to communicate independently, demonstrate sound business judgment, and know when to advocate and when to listen. The workweek is 36 hours, with only 4 hours on Fridays throughout the year, providing a balanced schedule. Benefits and perks include free parking, no city wage tax, participation in an employee-owned structure with stock options available to all, access to a free nutritionist consultant, frequent social outings and events, volunteer opportunities, and a history of end-of-year bonuses for contractors in recent years. Paid time off includes 3 weeks during a 9-month contract period and 4 weeks once in a direct role. The office is conveniently located near the SEPTA Ardmore station, making public transit access straightforward. Dress code is typical of a professional design studio environment, supporting both client-facing professionalism and day-to-day comfort.

Job Type & Location

This is a Contract to Hire position based out of Ardmore, PA.

Pay and Benefits

The pay range for this position is $52.88 - $60.10/hr.

Individual compensation offered for this position within this range will depend on many factors, including qualifications, skills, relevant experience, job knowledge, geographic location, internal equity, and other pertinent job-related factors.

Eligibility requirements apply to some benefits and may depend on your job classification and length of employment. Benefits are subject to change and may be subject to specific elections, plan, or program terms. If eligible, the benefits available for this temporary role may include the following: Medical, dental & vision Critical Illness, Accident, and Hospital 401(k) Retirement Plan Pre-tax and Roth post-tax contributions available Life Insurance (Voluntary Life & AD&D for the employee and dependents) Short and long-term disability Health Spending Account (HSA) Transportation benefits Employee Assistance Program Time Off/Leave (PTO, Vacation or Sick Leave)

Job Type & Location

This is a Contract to Hire position based out of Ardmore, PA.

Application Deadline

This position is anticipated to close on Nov 16, 2026.

Workplace Type

This is a hybrid position in Ardmore,PA.

About Actalent

Actalent is a global leader in engineering and sciences services and talent solutions. We help visionary companies advance their engineering and science initiatives through access to specialized experts who drive scale, innovation and speed to market. With a network of almost 20,000 consultants and 5,000 clients across the U.S., Canada, Asia and Europe, Actalent serves many of the Fortune 500. We are proud to be an Engineering News-Record (ENR) Top 500 Design Firm for our engineering design services and a ClearlyRated Best of Staffing winner for both client and talent service.

The company is an equal opportunity employer and will consider all applications without regard to race, sex, age, color, religion, national origin, veteran status, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, genetic information or any characteristic protected by law.

If you would like to request a reasonable accommodation, such as the modification or adjustment of the job application process or interviewing process due to a disability, please email actalentaccommodation@actalentservices.com for other accommodation options.

San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance: Pursuant to the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance, for all positions located in the city and county of San Francisco, we will consider for employment qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records.

Massachusetts Lie Detector: It is unlawful in Massachusetts to require or administer a lie detector test as a condition of employment or continued employment. An employer who violates this law shall be subject to criminal penalties and civil liability.

Use of Artificial Intelligence (AI): We may use Artificial Intelligence (AI) to support parts of our hiring process, including sourcing, screening, and evaluating candidates. AI helps assess applications and qualifications, but final decisions are made by our hiring team. By applying, you acknowledge and agree that your application may be reviewed using AI tools.