Interior Designer
Birmingham, West Midlands
£45,000 – £60,000
There comes a point in the growth of a design studio when the next hire needs to be more than simply another designer.
They need to become someone the founder can trust with the whole process.
The client conversation. The initial idea. The presentation. The drawings. The detailing. The site questions. The difficult decisions. And, eventually, the finished space.
Modus Careers is working with an established luxury residential interior design studio in Birmingham that has reached exactly that point.
This is a small, close-knit studio working on some exceptional private homes. Properties can sit comfortably in the £3m to £6 bracket, with clients investing anywhere up to £1.5m into their interiors.
The work is highly bespoke, deeply considered, and increasingly arriving through reputation and recommendation.
Now they need a Senior Interior Designer who can take real ownership of it.
The Opportunity
You'll join a team of five and work closely with the studio's founder, gradually taking responsibility for projects from concept right through to completion.
That means developing ideas and presenting them to clients, but it also means opening AutoCAD and resolving how those ideas are actually going to work.
You'll lead client conversations, develop concepts, specify FF&E and materials, coordinate suppliers and contractors, visit site and make sure the finished project delivers on the original vision.
Technically, you'll need to be strong.
Bespoke joinery is a significant part of the studio's work, alongside detailed drawing packages covering areas such as M&E, electrical layouts and partitioning.
This isn't a role for a Senior Designer who has moved completely away from the drawing board.
Equally, it isn't a technical design position disguised as something more creative.
They need both.
Someone who can sit confidently with a private client discussing the vision for their home, then get into the detail required to make it happen.
Who Are We Looking For?
You'll probably have around 10 years or more within interior design and a portfolio demonstrating genuinely high-quality, delivered work.
Luxury residential experience would make immediate sense, particularly if you've worked on substantial private homes, bespoke interiors or projects involving significant joinery and craftsmanship.
More important than a particular studio name on your CV, though, is the level at which you've operated.
Can you take ownership of a project?
Can you build trust with a client?
Can you make creative decisions?
Can you produce and interrogate technical information?
And can you carry a project through when the inevitable challenges appear?
You'll need strong AutoCAD skills alongside good knowledge of SketchUp and Adobe software, excellent material, furniture and lighting knowledge and the confidence to work with clients, contractors and suppliers.
You'll also need a full driving licence for project and site visits.
A Different Kind Of Studio Culture
There is another side to this opportunity that's worth talking about.
This is an ambitious design studio, but not one that believes great work requires people to sacrifice everything outside it.
It's a team where several people have young families and where flexibility actually means flexibility.
Need to manage a school run? No problem.
Need to adjust your hours occasionally around life? Have the conversation and make it work.
For the first six months, you'll be based in the studio full-time. That's important. You're coming into a small team, taking on significant responsibility and building relationships with both colleagues and clients.
Once you're established, there is scope for some home working alongside that wider flexibility.
Why Consider This Role?
Because there aren't many Senior Interior Designer positions where the opportunity is quite this tangible.
You won't disappear into a large design team.
You won't spend your days working on one small piece of somebody else's project.
You won't be Senior in title while somebody above you continues making every important decision.
You'll be joining a successful independent studio that wants to give you genuine responsibility, recognition and room to influence how projects are delivered.
For the right designer, this is an opportunity to become a trusted senior figure within the business and help deliver some genuinely beautiful homes.
If you're an experienced Interior Designer who still enjoys both the creative and technical sides of the job, and you're ready for genuine ownership, we'd like to hear from you.