Design Manager
- Source: LinkedIn
- Fortnum & Mason
- On-site
- London
- Full-Time
- Senior
Job Description
The Design Manager leads design across Fortnum & Mason’s satellite and international portfolio, including retail, hospitality, and wholesale environments.
The role translates Fortnum & Mason’s design principles into scalable, commercially viable and operationally effective environments that protect brand standards while adapting to different locations, partners, and markets.
The role is accountable for design quality through briefing, concept adaptation and design development, with hands-on focus through RIBA Stages 2 and 3. It is partnered with Store Development, Store Transformation, and external partners to ensure design intent is translated into deliverable solutions.
What Success Looks Like
* Portfolio and international environments consistently reflect Fortnum & Mason brand standards.
* Design concepts are adapted effectively for different formats, partners, locations, and markets.
* Design quality, operational practicality, and commercial performance are balanced throughout delivery.
* Store Development, Store Transformation, and partners have clear, coordinated design information and decisions.
* Design standards, lessons learned and rollout principles improve with each project.
Key Accountabilities
- Design, Leadership and Brand Consistency
* Lead design activity across satellite and international projects.
* Protect Fortnum & Mason’s design intent, heritage and customer experience across multiple formats.
* Balance brand consistency with local market, partner, operational and commercial requirements.
- Design Development and Format Adaption
* Lead briefing, concept adaptation and design development with focus through RIBA Stages 2 and 3.
* Develop practical design solutions for customer-facing, operational and colleague environments.
* Integrate customer journey, accessibility, sustainability, compliance, stock flow and colleague workflow requirements.
- Store Development and Delivery Integration
* Partner with Store Development and Store Transformation to align design intent with delivery requirements.
* Protect design intent through technical coordination, construction, handover, and post-completion activities.
* Support cost planning, value engineering and design risk management without losing customer or brand quality.
- Consultant, Partner and Stakeholder Management
* Manage architects, designers, consultants, suppliers and partner stakeholders to agreed design expectations.
* Set clear requirements for briefs, design deliverables, approvals and coordination outputs.
* Support franchise, wholesale, travel retail and international partners in implementing design standards.
- Design Standards and Continuous Improvement.
* Maintain design standards for fixtures, finishes, materials, furniture and environmental design.
* Review completed projects and capture lessons learned to improve future formats and rollout principles.
* Support design capability, knowledge sharing, and consistency across the wider design function.
Skills and Experience:
Essential:
* Experience delivering retail, hospitality, or customer-facing design projects.
* Experience adapting design concepts into scalable formats and rollout solutions.
* Experience leading design development through RIBA Stages 2 and 3.
* Experience managing consultants, partners, design scope, quality, budgets, and design risks.
* Strong understanding of customer, colleague, operational, accessibility and commercial design requirements.
Desirable:
* Premium, luxury or heritage retail experience.
* International retail, franchise, wholesale, retail travel or multi-site rollout experience.
* Experience working with sustainability and accessibility specialists.
Qualifications:
* Degree or equivalent professional qualification in Architecture, Interior Design, Spatial Design or related discipline.
* Professional design accreditation, RIBA-related experience or additional accessibility or sustainability qualifications are desirable.
Success Measures:
* Consistent application of Fortnum & Mason design standards across portfolio and international formats.
* Successful implementation of brand-aligned, operationally effective environments.
* Design intent protected through design development and wider delivery stages.
* Effective design contribution to scope, quality, budget, value engineering and risk decisions.
* Stakeholder and partner confidence in design quality, clarity and…
