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Design Mentor Jobs (NOW HIRING)

The Design Director is a visionary leader with a strong ability to mentor, inspire creativity, foster meaningful relationships, and build a design culture across all Taylor Design offices. This role ...

The Design Director is a visionary leader with a strong ability to mentor, inspire creativity, foster meaningful relationships, and build a design culture across all Taylor Design offices. This role ...

The Design Director is a visionary leader with a strong ability to mentor, inspire creativity, foster meaningful relationships, and build a design culture across all Taylor Design offices. This role ...

The Design Director is a visionary leader with a strong ability to mentor, inspire creativity, foster meaningful relationships, and build a design culture across all Taylor Design offices. This role ...

Design Director

Tustin, CA ยท On-site

$145K - $175K/yr

The Design Director is a visionary leader with a strong ability to mentor, inspire creativity, foster meaningful relationships, and build a design culture across all Taylor Design offices. This role ...

On Track Mentor

New Haven, CT ยท On-site

$38K/yr

RISE On-Track Mentor This position is contingent upon grant funding provided by AmeriCorps. This ... Design, organize, and facilitate group sessions, conferences, and meetings. * Use data to identify ...

On Track Mentor

New Haven, CT ยท On-site

$38K/yr

RISE On-Track Mentor This position is contingent upon grant funding provided by AmeriCorps. This ... Design, organize, and facilitate group sessions, conferences, and meetings. * Use data to identify ...

Senior Engineer - Site Design

Phoenix, AZ

$103K - $142K/yr

The Senior Engineer may serve as a project manager and may mentor staff. Primary Responsibilities: * Serve as lead engineer on complex projects and provide high-level technical engineering design.

Collaborate with Principal Engineers and Offshore team to create solution designs, following Architectural guidance and design. * Mentor junior developers. Skills: * .NET Core. * .NET Framework 4.5+. ...

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Design Mentor information

See salary details

$42K

$114.5K

$201.5K

How much do design mentor jobs pay per year?

As of Jul 14, 2026, the average yearly pay for design mentor in the United States is $114,491.00, according to ZipRecruiter salary data. Most workers in this role earn between $83,500.00 and $144,000.00 per year, depending on experience, location, and employer.

How does a Design Mentor typically support the professional growth of junior designers within a team?

A Design Mentor plays a crucial role in fostering the development of junior designers by providing regular feedback, sharing industry best practices, and guiding them through design challenges. They often facilitate one-on-one sessions, review design portfolios, and help mentees set achievable career goals. Additionally, Design Mentors encourage collaboration by involving junior designers in team projects and cross-functional meetings, helping them build confidence and expand their skill sets in a supportive environment.

What is the difference between Design Mentor vs Design Coach?

AspectDesign MentorDesign Coach
CredentialsExperience in design, portfolio, industry knowledgeExperience in design, coaching certifications (optional)
Work EnvironmentOne-on-one mentorship, educational settings, online platformsGuidance sessions, skill development, performance improvement
Employer & Industry UsageDesign firms, educational institutions, freelanceCorporate training, freelance, consulting

Design Mentors typically share their experience to guide less experienced designers, focusing on skill development and career growth. Design Coaches often work on improving specific skills or performance, providing structured feedback and strategies. While both roles involve mentorship, Design Mentors emphasize knowledge sharing, whereas Design Coaches focus on skill enhancement and goal achievement.

What are the key skills and qualifications needed to thrive as a Design Mentor, and why are they important?

To thrive as a Design Mentor, you need strong expertise in design principles, a solid portfolio, and experience in fields such as graphic, UI/UX, or product design. Familiarity with industry-standard tools like Adobe Creative Suite, Figma, and prototyping platforms, as well as mentoring or teaching certifications, is highly valuable. Excellent communication, active listening, and the ability to provide constructive feedback are crucial soft skills for fostering growth in mentees. These skills ensure you can effectively guide, inspire, and empower aspiring designers to reach their full potential.

What are design mentors?

Design mentors are experienced professionals who guide, support, and advise less experienced designers or students in their career and skill development. They provide feedback on design work, help set learning goals, share industry insights, and offer advice on navigating challenges in the design field. Through regular meetings or communication, design mentors foster growth, confidence, and connection within the design community.
More about Design Mentor jobs
Infographic showing various Design Mentor job openings in the United States as of July 2026, with employment types broken down into 89% Full Time, 8% Part Time, and 3% Contract. Highlights an 87% Physical, 3% Hybrid, and 10% Remote job distribution, with an average salary of $114,491 per year, or $55 per hour.
Design Director

Design Director

Taylor Design

Los Angeles, CA โ€ข On-site

Full-time

Re-posted 24 days ago


Job description

Salary: $145,000 - $175,000

LOVE WHERE YOU WORK!


VotedBest Architectural Firm To Work For since 2018, Taylor Design, a 100% employee-owned company, is looking for a Design Director to join our Los Angeles office.This is your opportunity to work with a team of dedicated, creative, and fun architects and designers on award-winning projects.


The Design Director is a visionary leader with a strong ability to mentor, inspire creativity, foster meaningful relationships, and build a design culture across all Taylor Design offices. This role centers on innovation, generating new ideas, and crafting meaningful experiences in healthcare and life science environments. The Design Director should inspire and promote integration among all design disciplines, both internally and externally, with the overarching goal of consistently elevating design and increasing design awareness. This individual will help the firm imagine and advance new possibilities in health and science, as well as in other emerging market sectors. The successful candidate will productively lead design teams, navigate interpersonal relationships, provide strategic direction, diplomatically advocate the vision, and maintain a focus on sustainability in the broadest sense. The ideal candidate must be knowledgeable about new trends and processes in the design field, including integrated delivery, and promote research-based design strategy.


What you will do:

    • Establish and model a culture of design excellence, accountability, and follow-through by setting and upholding high standards for clarity, coordination, constructability, and execution across all project phases.
    • Supervise Designers, Project Designers, and Senior Project Designers.
    • Direct and provide leadership for design teams, across multiple projects, during the conception, development, and production of projects to ensure that clarity and quality of the conceptual design is established and maintained.
    • Lead and support design presentations in collaboration with other leaders.
    • Assure that the design process is occurring and is fully integrated into architectural design and technical production processes.
    • Navigate feedback and client pushback constructively maintaining design intent while building trust and consensus across project stakeholders.
    • Cultivate a culture of engagement where junior staff are free to ask questions early, understand what their work is supposed to communicate, and learn how their contribution fits into the whole.
    • Work with leaders to develop tools and a consistent process to generate a viable design strategy on every project and educate others on how to integrate these concepts into the project design.
    • In collaboration with other leaders, play a leadership role in defining how the firm is positioned in the marketplace from the standpoint of design.
    • In collaboration with other leaders, establish methods for evolving the design capability of Taylor Design staff and tracking their progress.
    • Stay abreast of market trends/research as it related to design within Taylor Designs market sectors and communicate information to the firm as appropriate.
    • Demonstrate service orientation and willingness to foster a respectful, innovative, and stimulating environment as highly valued, as well as holding a respected place in the broader design community.


    What you will have:

    • 12 to 15+ years professional experience including proven track record of experience in the design field.
    • Experience in health and science markets preferred.
    • Experience developing design options, overall design concepts and formulating design presentation strategies.
    • Analytical, graphic, and problem-solving skills; and graphic presentation skills.
    • Must be able to develop collaborative relationships within the firm and with other key constituents.
    • Exceptional communication skills: able to present design ideas persuasively to clients, translate vision to production teams, and advocate diplomatically for design intent and quality.
    • Knowledge of design trends, construction methodology, material applications, and manufacturer/ supplier appropriateness.
    • A familiarity with AI tools, design software packages such as Revit, Sketchup, Lumion, and Enscape.
    • A history of integrating sustainability into architectural projects, and an awareness of the importance of sustainability as a design principle.
    • Track record of leadership, management, and mentoring skills with staff and general business acumen to advise and guide clients as required.
    • Demonstrated ability to mentor and elevate emerging designers not just manage output but develop people.

    At Taylor Design, were humbleit keeps us grounded. We value an entrepreneurial spiritit feeds our creativity. We put a premium on curiosityit guides our future. Most of all, we believe in good design for the good of all.


    We are committed to fostering, cultivating, and preserving a culture of diversity and inclusion. As an employee-owned firm, our staff understands what drives success. Every employee is positioned to think like an owner.


    Important Notes:

    Pay Comments: If you are hired at Taylor Design, your base salary is based on factors such as geographic location, skills, education, experience, project complexity, and licensure and/or certifications. We believe in the importance of pay equity and consider internal equity of our current team members as part of any final offer.


    Taylor Design is an Equal Opportunity Employer and participant in the U.S. Federal E-Verify program. Women, minorities, individuals with disabilities and protected veterans are encouraged to apply.


    Please note that Taylor Design does not accept unsolicited resumes from recruiters or employment agencies. In the absence of a signed contract, Taylor Design will not agree to pay any recruiter fee. In the situation an agency or recruiter submits a candidate or resume without a previously signed agreement and/or without Taylor Design's request, Taylor Design explicitly reserves the right to hire those candidate(s) without any financial obligation to the recruiter or agency. Any unsolicited resumes, including those submitted to hiring managers, are deemed to be the property of Taylor Design.