Design Lead Modular Interiors | Hyderabad | Customfurnish

Design Lead – Modular Interiors

Location:

Hyderabad

Experience: 5+ years in Residential Interiors / Modular Furniture

Position Overview

CustomFurnish is looking for an experienced Senior Design Lead to manage multiple residential interior projects and lead a team of designers and junior designers.

This is a customer-facing leadership role requiring a strong combination of design capability, team management, project ownership and commercial understanding. The Design Lead will be responsible for ensuring that customers receive creative, practical and budget-appropriate design solutions while ensuring that projects move through the design stage efficiently and on schedule.

Key Responsibilities

Design Leadership & Project Ownership

• Take overall responsibility for multiple interior design projects simultaneously, from design initiation through final design sign-off.
• Review and guide designs prepared by designers and junior designers to ensure they meet CustomFurnish's standards for aesthetics, functionality and execution.
• Provide customers with strong design ideas and solutions based on their requirements, lifestyle, space and budget.
• Ensure designs are practical, technically feasible and suitable for manufacturing and installation.

Team Management

• Lead, mentor and review the work of a team of designers and junior designers.
• Allocate projects effectively and monitor the workload, timelines and performance of each designer.
• Conduct regular design reviews and intervene where projects are delayed or require senior-level inputs.
• Coach junior team members to improve their design capability, customer handling and commercial understanding.

Customer Management & Escalations

• Step in for important customer discussions and manage design-related escalations.
• Build customer confidence by providing clear and practical solutions to design concerns.
• Ensure customer expectations are managed appropriately and that commitments made by the design team are realistic and deliverable.
• Drive projects towards timely customer approvals and final design sign-off.

Budget & Commercial Discipline

• Ensure designs are developed within the customer's agreed budget and avoid unnecessary cost escalation during the design process.
• Help designers recommend the right combination of materials, finishes and solutions to achieve the desired look within budget.
• Work closely with the sales team to ensure continuity between the initial quotation, customer expectations and final design.
• Identify potential cost deviations early and discuss alternatives with the customer before finalisation.

Design Process & Timelines

• Ensure projects progress according to defined design timelines and do not remain unnecessarily pending in the design stage.
• Monitor design iterations, customer meetings, approvals and pending decisions.
• Ensure final designs, specifications, measurements and selections are complete and accurate before release for production.
• Coordinate closely with Sales, Production and Installation teams to ensure smooth handover and execution.

Qualifications & Skills

• 5+ years of experience in residential interiors, modular furniture, kitchens, wardrobes or full-home interiors.
• Prior experience leading designers or managing a design team is strongly preferred.
• Strong design sense with excellent understanding of space planning, materials, finishes, colours and modular furniture.
• Good understanding of design costing and the ability to design within a defined customer budget.
• Strong customer-facing, presentation and communication skills.
• Ability to manage difficult conversations and resolve customer escalations confidently.
• Strong attention to detail and understanding of technical feasibility and execution.
• Ability to manage multiple projects, customers and team members simultaneously.
• Experience with interior design software;

What We Are Looking For

We are looking for someone who is not just a good designer, but a strong design leader—someone who can guide customers, mentor designers, control budgets, resolve escalations and ensure that multiple projects move smoothly from concept to final design approval.

The ideal candidate should combine creativity with commercial thinking, customer management and execution discipline.