Senior Design Manager

Job Description - Senior Design Manager / Design Director

Company: Scruffy Dog Productions Limited

Location: Birmingham, UK

Department: Design

Employment Type: Full-time

Role Overview

Scruffy Dog Productions Limited is seeking an accomplished Senior Design Manager / Design Director to lead creative design development across immersive environments, themed attractions, experiential spaces, and complex design-and-build projects. The role requires a strong combination of creative vision, technical expertise, and strategic leadership to transform ambitious concepts into innovative, buildable, and commercially viable design solutions.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead and oversee the end-to-end design process, from initial concept development and visualisation through technical design, coordination, and production delivery.
• Drive creative excellence across themed entertainment, immersive experiences, experiential environments, and bespoke scenic installations.
• Lead multidisciplinary design teams, providing strategic direction, mentoring, and quality assurance throughout project lifecycles.
• Collaborate closely with project management, production, engineering, fabrication, and installation teams to ensure design intent translates effectively into physical delivery.
• Establish design standards, review methodologies, and workflows to maintain consistency, innovation, and technical accuracy.
• Work closely with clients and senior stakeholders to develop creative briefs, present design proposals, and align design outcomes with project objectives.
• Manage design resources, priorities, programme requirements, and budgets while ensuring projects meet agreed deadlines and commercial expectations.
• Identify opportunities to improve design processes, material selection, technical integration, and production efficiency.

Skills & Experience

• Extensive experience in senior design leadership within themed entertainment, experiential design, architectural environments, scenic fabrication, or a related creative production industry.
• Proven ability to lead complex, multidisciplinary design projects from concept through technical development and delivery.
• Strong understanding of spatial design, technical detailing, materials, fabrication methodologies, and design-for-manufacture principles.
• Proficiency in relevant design and visualisation tools, such as AutoCAD, Rhino, SketchUp, or equivalent industry software.
• Demonstrated ability to lead creative teams, manage competing priorities, and communicate effectively with clients and senior stakeholders.
• Strong commercial awareness, strategic thinking, and a practical understanding of project delivery within a design-and-build environment.

Personal Attributes

A visionary and commercially minded design leader with exceptional creative judgement, strong communication skills, and the ability to balance design ambition with technical feasibility, production constraints, and client expectations.

What Success Looks Like

Delivering distinctive, technically robust, and production-ready design solutions that strengthen creative quality, improve project delivery, and support Scruffy Dog Productions Limited's reputation for bringing ambitious concepts to life

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