Lead Designer at SpaceFinish Africa

Job Summary

• The Lead Designer will Coordinate and oversee all technical activities relating to architectural and engineering projects, including directing the design team, reviewing drafts and computer models, and approving design changes.
• Communicating directly with managers, project managers, marketing personnel, and clients to discuss and organize projects from original conceptual design through construction.
• Manage client expectations, drive clear stakeholder communications at different client levels

Principal Duties/ Responsibilities
Design:

• Establish design approaches that improve the design creation and solutions processes
• Formulate design approaches and direct the areas of focus to elicit latent needs
• Conceptualise and guide the design creation processes to generate breakthrough solutions
• Manage work processes and resolve unforeseen problems to achieve optimal performance
• Lead investigation and research on emerging technologies and design trends to facilitate decision-making on designs for long-term benefits
• Evaluate technological trends and current technical constraints to develop plans to achieve the desired design solutions
• Devise approaches to assess the practicality and feasibility of design processes in use
• Articulate design options to achieve buy-in from stakeholders

3D Modelling:

• Drive new processes that adopt 3D modelling technologies to enhance efficiency and effectiveness
• Develop conflict resolution processes
• Drive new maintenance processes that adopt 3D modelling technologies
• Ensure procedures and operations are implemented according to plan and WSH requirements
• Assess efficiency and effectiveness of 3D modelling to the maintenance processes

Design Standards and Specification:

• Lead the establishment of design standards and specifications to facilitate designs’ fulfillment of regulatory requirements, and drive strategies to enhance quality of designs
• Anticipate and plan for potential new regulations impacting design and development
• Determine the cost impact of changes to design standards and specifications for the organisation
• Guide the revision of procedures and standards for technical documentation

Design and Aesthetic Sensibility:

• Establish overall conceptual frameworks to define the organisation’s sense of aesthetics and correlate aesthetics to overall organisational success
• Direct the development of the overall brand identities of products, and ensuring coherence of brand elements across all product and service lines
• Define desired experiences that are associated with particular aesthetic styles
• Establish an overall sense of aesthetic for the organisation’s creative design work
• Embed deeper brand identities and philosophies into product design aesthetics
• Drive the development of aesthetically pleasing products that make lasting impressions with audiences
• Drive research activities to uncover the principles behind aesthetically pleasing designs for users
• Develop the art direction for new aesthetics, expressions and forms for design projects and creative work

Design for Safety, Sustainability and Maintainability:

• Establish overall conceptual frameworks to define the organisation’s sense of aesthetics and correlate aesthetics to overall organisational success
• Direct the development of the overall brand identities of products, and ensuring coherence of brand elements across all product and service lines
• Define desired experiences that are associated with particular aesthetic styles
• Establish an overall sense of aesthetic for the organisation’s creative design work
• Embed deeper brand identities and philosophies into product design aesthetics
• Drive the development of aesthetically pleasing products that make lasting impressions with audiences
• Drive research activities to uncover the principles behind aesthetically pleasing designs for users
• Develop the art direction for new aesthetics, expressions and forms for design projects and creative work

Qualification and Experience

• Master's Degree in Architecture
• Minimum of 8-10 years in a similar capacity

Skills and Competency Requirements:

• Proficient in AutoCAD, SketchUp, Revit, Illustrator or other design programs
• Excellent portfolio of previous works
• Creative talent, imagination and eye for design
• Communication and presentation skills
• Project management skills

Other Behavioral Competency Requirements:

• Fosters team spirit and collaboration, encourages and creates mechanisms for sharing of expertise
• Championing results orientation and excellence
• Foster a culture that values creativity, innovation, and an openness to diverse perspectives
• Delivers effective presentations and speeches, either prepared or extemporaneous, to internal and external audiences on behalf of the organization.
• Handles complex on-the-spot questions (e.g. from the public and other stakeholders)
• Able to effectively allocate responsibilities to others and provide direction