Director of Design Operations & Sales
Inspired Interiors
Full-time, Monday-Friday 8am-5pm
$35 / hour
We're a Chicago interior design + architecture firm, 22 years in. We don't need another designer. We need the person who makes the trains run on time: who takes a project from "client's excited" to "client's signed, installed, and paid" and keeps the whole studio moving while the principal goes and wins the next one.
This is an operations and sales role, not a design role. You won't be picking fabrics. You'll be the one making sure the person picking the fabrics actually delivers, on schedule, at the right margin, with the client saying yes.
What you'll do
- Run the sales funnel room by room. You move every decision from proposed to client-approved to ordered to installed, and don't let any stall.
- Own the spreadsheets and numbers. You track them, update them, and get them across the finish line.
- Drive the team's daily output. You run check-ins, set time estimates, unblock people, and follow up so nothing sits for a week.
- Manage vendors and trades. You call the GC, the glass installer, the workroom. You chase quotes, confirm pricing edits, and run punch lists to completion.
- Keep the client moving. You get the feedback, keep the tracker current, and step in when a designer is underwater.
- Take delivery off the principal's plate. She closes new business; you run the project from there.
Who you are
- 10+ years in operations, project management, or sales operations.
- Background in interior design, construction, custom build, real estate, or accounting.
- Strong with spreadsheets. Pipelines, budgets, and margins are tools you use, not things you dread.
- You are a closer. You've moved a sales pipeline from proposal to close.
- Proven taskmaster. You've kept teams and vendors accountable on quotes, scheduling, pricing, and punch lists.
- Work independently. You run your own day; nobody assigns your tasks.
- Can read floor plans and construction documents well enough to keep a project moving. You will not draft them.
- Bonus: QuickBooks or similar bookkeeping; marketing, hiring, or onboarding experience.
Not for you if
You're highly creative and want mostly creative design work. This role is operations and sales. The design is already handled.
Details
- Location: Ideally Chicago (hybrid, home-studio environment), but open to remote candidates anywhere in the US.
- Pay: $35/hour, Full-time, Monday-Friday 8am-5pm