Proper Hospitality is seeking a highly experienced Director, Design & Technical Services to help lead the design, development, and technical execution of projects across the portfolio.
Position Overview
Working closely with the VP of Architecture & Design, this role will provide senior-level leadership across new development, renovations, capital projects, management opportunities, and existing hotel assets.
The Director will be responsible for ensuring that projects achieve Proper’s expectations for exceptional design while also meeting the technical, operational, functional, budgetary, and long-term performance requirements of luxury hospitality.
The ideal candidate combines exceptional design judgment with deep architectural and technical expertise. This individual must be equally comfortable evaluating an interior design concept, reviewing architectural plans, identifying building-system coordination issues, working through operational requirements with hotel teams, and representing Proper in meetings with owners, developers, architects, designers, engineers, contractors, and consultants.
This is a hands-on leadership position for someone who understands how exceptional hotels are conceived, documented, built, opened, and operated.
Key Responsibilities
Design Leadership & Brand Stewardship
- Partner with the VP of Architecture & Design to establish and maintain the design vision and quality expectations for Proper Hospitality projects
- Protect and advance Proper’s design philosophy across new developments, renovations, conversions, branded residences, and capital projects
- Provide design leadership across architecture, interiors, lighting, landscape, signage, FF&E, OS&E, art, and other disciplines influencing the physical guest experience
- Review projects throughout concept design, schematic design, design development, construction documentation, construction, installation, and opening
- Ensure that each property maintains a distinct sense of place while delivering a recognizable level of Proper quality and sophistication
- Provide clear, actionable design direction to external architects, interior designers, and specialty consultants
Brand & Design Standards
- Lead the development of comprehensive Proper Design Standards for use across the portfolio
- Translate lessons learned from existing hotels into scalable standards and design criteria for future projects
- Establish standards covering guestrooms, bathrooms, public spaces, F&B, wellness, back-of-house areas, materials, fixtures, equipment, lighting, technology integration, and other recurring hotel components
- Develop processes for maintaining, updating, and communicating standards as the portfolio grows
- Balance brand consistency with Proper’s philosophy of creating individual, site-specific properties rather than standardized hotels
Architecture & Technical Services
- Provide technically rigorous review of architectural and consultant documentation
- Review and understand the integration of all major building systems
- Identify technical coordination issues that could compromise design intent, guest experience, operations, schedule, cost, or long-term asset performance
- Coordinate with architects, engineers, contractors, ownership teams, and specialty consultants to resolve complex design and technical issues
- Review consultant drawings, specifications, RFIs, submittals, mockups, shop drawings, and other project documentation as appropriate
- Participate in site visits, construction reviews, model room reviews, punch walks, and project turnover
New Development & Pre-Development
- Support the evaluation of prospective development and management opportunities
- Review architectural plans, site plans, hotel programs, key counts, room mixes, amenity strategies, F&B concepts, back-of-house planning, and operational adjacencies
- Assess whether proposed projects can successfully deliver the Proper brand experience
- Identify design, technical, operational, and capital implications early in the deal process
- Support preparation and review of preliminary area programs, project briefs, design scopes, consultant scopes, and development recommendations
- Participate in design kickoff meetings and establish clear expectations for project teams
Capital Projects & Existing Portfolio
- Provide senior design and technical oversight for capital improvement projects across the existing portfolio
- Work closely with the internal Project Manager and property teams to define project scope, design direction, priorities, budgets, and execution strategies
- Determine where projects can be designed and documented internally versus where external consultants are required
- Lead or oversee in-house design efforts for appropriate CAPEX projects
- Help properties solve recurring design, maintenance, operational, and technical challenges without compromising design quality
- Evaluate proposed replacement materials, fixtures, equipment, furniture, and finishes for consistency with the original design intent and brand expectations
Interior Design & FF&E
- Provide senior oversight of interior design across the portfolio
- Review space planning, material palettes, furniture layouts, custom furniture, lighting, millwork, decorative elements, styling, and FF&E
- Coordinate closely with external interior designers and creative partners to protect design intent while ensuring constructability and operational performance
- Review model rooms, prototypes, mockups, finish samples, furniture samples, and installations
- Partner with procurement teams to address substitutions, lead times, budgets, and quality issues
Operations Integration
- Work closely with Operations, F&B, Engineering, IT, Wellness, Procurement, and property leadership to incorporate operational requirements into the design process
- Translate operational needs into actionable design criteria
- Ensure front-of-house and back-of-house spaces support efficient luxury hotel operations
- Help establish a structured process for capturing operational feedback from existing hotels and incorporating those lessons into future standards and projects
Project & Consultant Leadership
- Represent Proper Hospitality in meetings with owners, developers, architects, designers, engineers, contractors, and consultants
- Establish clear design review milestones, deliverables, responsibilities, and approval processes
- Provide concise and decisive written design direction following project reviews
- Assist in evaluating, selecting, briefing, and managing external design consultants
- Build and maintain a network of architects, designers, engineers, specialty consultants, vendors, craftspeople, and other resources appropriate for Proper projects
Qualifications
- Approximately 10+ years of experience in architecture, design, development, or technical services, with significant experience in luxury hospitality
- Degree in Architecture, Engineering, Interior Design, or a related field
- Demonstrated experience delivering complex luxury hotels, resorts, residences, restaurants, or mixed-use hospitality projects
- Deep technical understanding of building construction and building systems
- Strong working knowledge of MEP coordination, fire/life safety, accessibility, lighting, technology, building envelope, and other core technical disciplines
- Experience reviewing architectural, interior design, engineering, and construction documents
- Strong understanding of hospitality planning, including guestrooms, public areas, F&B outlets and food service, wellness, meeting spaces, and back-of-house environments
- Demonstrated ability to work from early programming and concept development through construction, installation, opening, and post-opening
- Strong knowledge of FF&E, materials, finishes, detailing, fabrication, and installation
- Experience with renovation and CAPEX projects in operating hotels strongly preferred
- Proficiency with relevant design and documentation platforms such as AutoCAD, Revit, Bluebeam, Adobe Creative Suite, and related project-management tools
- Familiarity with AI tools and a demonstrated interest in applying them to design, documentation, visualization, and project workflows
- Excellent visual, verbal, and written communication skills
- Ability to communicate effectively with executive leadership, owners, developers, creative partners, consultants, contractors, and hotel operating teams
- Ability to manage multiple projects and priorities simultaneously in a fast-growing organization
- Willingness to travel regularly to existing portfolio, as well as potential and active project sites
Salary
Proper Perks & Benefits
Health & Wellness
- Comprehensive Health Coverage: Medical, dental, and vision plans through Aetna, designed to fit a range of personal and family needs.
- Wellness Access: Company-subsidized memberships with Equinox and ClassPass, plus wellbeing workshops and mental health resources.
Time Off & Flexibility
- Paid Time Off: Flexible PTO plus 11 paid holidays each year for corporate team members.
- Paid Parental Leave: Paid time off for eligible employees welcoming a new child through birth, adoption, or foster placement.
- Flexible Work Practices: Hybrid schedules for eligible roles and an emphasis on work-life balance.
Financial Wellbeing & Core Protections
- 401(k) Program: Company match of 50% of employee deferrals, up to the first 4% of eligible compensation.
- Employer-Paid Life & Disability Insurance: Core protections with optional additional coverage.
- Financial Education: Access to planning tools and workshops to support long-term stability and growth.
Lifestyle & Travel Perks
- Hotel Stay Benefits: 75% off BAR (floor of $100) across the Proper portfolio.
- Design Hotels Partnership: 50% off participating Marriott Design Hotels.
- Dining Discounts: 75% off food & beverage at all Proper Hospitality outlets.
- Lifestyle Perks: Complimentary or subsidized parking, cell phone reimbursement, and exclusive hospitality and retail discounts.