Design Leadership Jobs in Chicago, United States of America
Find your next Design Leadership role at companies that value creative talent
Showing 10 jobs
Design Manager
🇺🇸 Chicago, Illinois, United States of America
Jacobs 🇺🇸 Chicago, Illinois, United States of America
The Design Manager will lead the design process for K-12 school projects, ensuring quality, budget, and schedule adherence. They will manage client relationships, coordinate with architects and consultants, and oversee technical peer reviews and project milestones.
Design Manager - Federal Government Sector
🇺🇸 Chicago, Illinois, United States of America
Arcadis 🇺🇸 Chicago, Illinois, United States of America
The Design Manager will lead multidisciplinary design teams to deliver high-quality, compliant, and cost-controlled projects for federal clients. They are responsible for managing project budgets, schedules, and client relationships while driving business development and pursuit strategies.
Occupancy Planner / Design Manager
🇺🇸 Chicago, Illinois, United States of America
Jll 🇺🇸 Chicago, Illinois, United States of America
The Occupancy Planner / Design Manager will lead occupancy planning initiatives and provide design governance for retail branch projects to ensure alignment with business objectives. They will collaborate with cross-functional teams to create functional, brand-consistent environments while managing project lifecycles from programming through construction.
Occupancy Planner / Design Manager
🇺🇸 Chicago, Illinois, United States of America
Jll 🇺🇸 Chicago, Illinois, United States of America
The role involves managing occupancy planning and retail design for a financial services client's branch portfolio to optimize space and customer engagement. Key duties include creating feasibility studies, enforcing design standards, and collaborating with architects and stakeholders from programming through construction.
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Design Manager
🇺🇸 Chicago, Illinois, United States of America
Jll 🇺🇸 Chicago, Illinois, United States of America
The Design Manager will oversee high-end hospitality projects by collaborating with stakeholders to maintain schedules, manage budgets, and ensure design integrity. They are responsible for resolving complex design details, reviewing construction documents, and coordinating with vendors to deliver exceptional guest experiences.
Design Manager
🇺🇸 Chicago, Illinois, United States of America
Jll 🇺🇸 Chicago, Illinois, United States of America
The Design Manager will oversee high-end hospitality design projects, ensuring design integrity, budget adherence, and schedule management. They will collaborate with project teams, brand representatives, and vendors to deliver sophisticated guest environments.
Design Manager - Aerospace Market Sector
🇺🇸 Chicago, Illinois, United States of America
Arcadis 🇺🇸 Chicago, Illinois, United States of America
Manage the design process for hyperscale data centers from campus planning through the issuance of construction drawings. Coordinate with internal and external multidisciplinary teams to ensure project milestones are met and deliverables align with client requirements.
Design Manager - Workplace Interiors
🇺🇸 Chicago, Illinois, United States of America
Gensler 🇺🇸 Chicago, Illinois, United States of America
Lead all phases of corporate interior projects, managing client relationships, budgets, and project schedules. Mentor junior staff and collaborate with consultants to ensure high-quality design delivery and business development.
Design Manager - Construction Services
🇺🇸 Chicago, Illinois, United States of America
Aecom Hunt 🇺🇸 Chicago, Illinois, United States of America
The Design Manager coordinates and aligns all design disciplines with construction execution to ensure design intent, budget, and schedule constraints are met. They serve as a key liaison between design teams, construction teams, owners, and trade partners to drive efficient project delivery.
Design Manager - Construction Services
🇺🇸 Chicago, Illinois, United States of America
Aecom 🇺🇸 Chicago, Illinois, United States of America
The Design Manager coordinates all design disciplines with construction execution to ensure technical requirements, budget, and schedule constraints are met. They serve as a key liaison between design teams, construction teams, owners, and trade partners to drive efficient project delivery.
About Design Leadership careers
Design leaders in 2026 set the strategic vision for design organizations navigating an AI-saturated market. This role requires a balance of craft expertise and high-level business acumen to advocate for design's value at the executive level.
Effective leaders foster a culture of technical agency, establishing systems that allow human creativity and machine efficiency to coexist.
Companies like Stripe and Airbnb seek VPs and Directors of Design who can scale teams and align design strategy with long-term business objectives.
We feature senior leadership positions including Design Directors, Heads of Design, VP of Design, Chief Design Officers, and design team leads at companies like Meta, Google, Airbnb, Stripe, and fast-growing AI companies like OpenAI and Anthropic. These roles span product design, brand, and cross-functional design organizations.
Many companies offer remote design leadership roles, including distributed-first companies like Notion, Linear, GitLab, and Vercel. AI companies like Midjourney and Anthropic also hire remote design leaders. Some companies prefer hybrid arrangements for VP+ positions.
Most positions require 8–15+ years of design experience with 3–5+ years managing teams. Strong candidates demonstrate strategic thinking, team building, stakeholder management, and a track record of shipping successful products at companies like Figma, Spotify, Netflix, or emerging AI startups. Browse leadership portfolios to see how experienced designers showcase their impact.
Design leadership salaries are highly competitive: Design Directors earn $160k–$240k, VPs of Design $220k–$350k+, and CDOs at major companies can exceed $400k with significant equity packages. AI companies like OpenAI, Anthropic, and Databricks often offer premium total compensation. Consult our salary guide for detailed breakdowns.