About us

- Own the interior design vision, creative strategy and quality benchmark across Arada’s portfolio, ensuring a consistent level of design excellence while allowing each project to develop a distinctive identity.

-Lead and manage the interior design process across multiple concurrent projects and all design stages, from brief and concept through SD, DD, tender, IFC, construction and handover.

-Establish and issue interior design briefs, design standards, room data sheets, specification benchmarks and project requirements against which consultants are appointed and measured.

-Manage, direct and hold accountable interior design consultants, specialist consultants, operators, contractors, suppliers and internal stakeholders.

-Critically review and challenge consultant design submissions for design quality, technical resolution, compliance, constructability, cost and alignment with the approved brief.

-Lead design reviews, multidisciplinary technical coordination, value engineering, design optimisation and design risk management.

-Protect design intent through tender, procurement and construction: shop drawings, material submittals, mock-ups, benchmark units, site reviews and handover.

-Drive design decisions that reconcile design excellence with programme, budget, operational requirements, sales strategy and customer expectations.

-Lead and develop Arada’s internal interior design management team and provide strategic direction to the wider design function.

-Represent interior design to executive leadership, partners, operators and authorities, securing clear and documented alignment at every key decision gate.

Design Management Responsibilities

-Set the interior design strategy and stage-gate process for each project: deliverables, design programme, review cycles, approval gates and sign-off protocols.

-Prepare, issue and maintain design briefs, employer’s requirements, interior design standards, area and room data sheets and scope matrices as reusable Arada standards.

-Plan and manage the interior design programme in alignment with the development and construction programme, identifying dependencies, float and critical-path design decisions.

-Coordinate interior design with architecture, structure, MEP, façade, landscape, lighting, AV, kitchen, acoustics, signage, branding and art packages, closing out interface and clash issues before they reach site.

-Run structured design reviews at concept, SD, DD, tender and IFC stages; issue consolidated comment trackers and verify close-out of every comment.

-Lead value engineering and design optimisation exercises, assessing alternatives for design impact, cost, programme, durability and operational performance, and recommending decisions to management.

-Maintain a live interior design risk register; identify design, coordination, procurement, long-lead, programme and delivery risks, early and direct mitigation and escalation.

-Manage the design change process: design changes, variation orders, RFIs, technical queries, substitutions and site instructions, assessing design, cost and programme impact before approval.

-Verify consultant deliverables for completeness, coordination and constructability ahead of tender and IFC issue, confirming packages are fully priceable and buildable.

-Ensure authority requirements, building codes, accessibility, fire and life safety, sustainability targets and operator technical standards are embedded in the design and cleared through approvals.

-Provide construction stage design management: shop drawing and material submittal review, mock-up and benchmark unit sign-off, site design queries, snagging and design-related handover close-out.

-Establish and continuously improve design governance: trackers, decision logs, material libraries, lessons learned and design standards, that carry forward across projects.

Interior Design Responsibilities

-Direct the development of interior concepts, spatial strategies, planning principles, material palettes, lighting character, FF&E direction and design narratives across project types, scales and stages.

-Translate brand positioning, operator standards, customer insight, sales strategy and market benchmarking into clear, defensible interior design briefs and design direction.

-Critically review and challenge consultant design output at every stage: plans, reflected ceiling plans, elevations, sections, details, joinery, schedules, specifications, renders, samples and mock-ups, rather than necessarily producing the documentation personally.

-Interrogate and approve materials and finishes selections for design intent, quality, durability, maintainability, availability, lead time, cost and compliance.

-Direct FF&E and OS&E strategy and specification, including loose furniture, joinery, sanitaryware, ironmongery, lighting fixtures, artwork and accessories.

-Review technical detailing and interior interfaces: floor build-ups, ceiling voids, services integration, tolerances, junctions, transitions, waterproofing and acoustic detailing.

-Ensure interior design is resolved to the level required for accurate pricing at tender and for construction at IFC, with no material gaps left to be closed on site.

-Direct customer-facing interior deliverables like show apartments, sales centres, visualisations, material boards and handover packs and ensuring they represent what will actually be built.

-Benchmark design and specification quality against comparable regional and international developments and set the expected standard for each product tier.

- Keep Arada’s interior standards current with global trends, emerging materials, hospitality and residential innovations and new technologies, including AI-assisted design and visualisation workflows.

Stakeholder & Team Leadership

-Define consultant scopes of service and deliverables; lead RFPs, prequalification, technical evaluation, fee negotiation and appointment recommendations for interior and specialist consultants.

-Manage consultant performance against scope, programme and fee, and review and recommend approval of invoices, additional service requests and variations.

-Lead the interior elements of tender: scope splits, technical evaluation of contractor and specialist submissions, clarifications, post-tender negotiation and award recommendation.

-Work with cost management to develop, challenge and maintain interior design and FF&E budgets and cost plans from concept through to final account.

-Drive value engineering that protects the customer-facing quality hierarchy, directing savings to areas that are not seen or experienced by the end user.

-Assess the design, cost, programme and risk impact of variation orders, substitutions and claims, and provide the design position on commercial decisions.

-Support procurement strategy for long-lead interior items, nominated suppliers, novated packages and direct-purchase scopes.

-Ensure interior delivery supports sales and handover milestones, including show units, snagging standards, defect close-out and customer handover quality.

-Report design status, risks, decisions and cost and programme implications to senior management at both project and portfolio level.

Required Experience

-Minimum 15 years’ professional experience in interior design or interior architecture, gained within a reputed international design consultancies, developers or operator.

-Minimum 5 years in a developer, client-side or design management capacity, with demonstrable accountability for managing consultants and delivering design on behalf of the client.

-At least 8 years in a senior design leadership role with responsibility for teams, multiple concurrent projects, consultant management and executive stakeholder engagement.

-Proven track record of leading interior design from brief and concept through design development, tender, IFC, construction and handover on completed, built projects.

-Demonstrated experience in design review and technical coordination at DD, tender and IFC stages, including comment trackers, value engineering, RFI and VO assessment and construction-stage design support.

-Exceptional portfolio of design-led interiors with clearly defined personal contribution and role on each project.

-Regional GCC or UAE delivery experience, including authority approvals and working knowledge of the regional consultant, contractor and supply-chain market.

-Experience across residential, hospitality, retail, amenity, workplace and mixed-use developments; International project experience is highly preferred.

Qualifications

-Bachelor’s Degree in Interior Design, Interior Architecture, Architecture or a related field; Master’s Degree advantageous.

-Formal design management, project management or contract administration training (for example PMP, RICS or FIDIC-based qualifications) is advantageous.

-Fluency in English essential; Arabic is an advantage.

Technical & Professional Competencies

-Expert command of the interior design process from briefing, concept and schematic design through detailed design, tender, procurement and construction-stage review.

-Deep understanding of space planning, FF&E, materials and finishes, lighting, joinery, sanitary and kitchen design, schedules, specifications and interior detailing.

-Strong command of drawing standards and the ability to read and interrogate full multidisciplinary packages, not interior packages alone.

-Working knowledge of UAE authority requirements, building codes, accessibility, fire and life safety and sustainability frameworks such as Al Sa’fat, Estidama or LEED.

-Command of design management tools and processes: design programmes, deliverable trackers, comment registers, risk registers, stage-gate reviews and document control platforms such as Aconex.

-Commercial literacy across consultant scopes and fees, cost plans, tender evaluation, value engineering, variations, procurement and contract awareness including FIDIC forms.

-Proficiency in AutoCAD, Revit and BIM-based coordination, Bluebeam, Adobe Creative Suite and MS Office and Project; familiarity with 3ds Max, V-Ray or equivalent sufficient to evaluate and direct visual output.

-Strong ability to evaluate design quality through drawings, details, material samples, mock-ups and visualisations, and to issue precise, actionable design comments.

-Exceptional presentation, communication, negotiation and design storytelling abilities at executive level.

-Decisiveness, accountability, sound design judgment and the authority to direct senior external consultants.

-Awareness of AI-driven and emerging technologies for design, visualisation, review and workflow optimisation.

Desirable Experience

-Branded residences and operator-led developments, including hospitality, fashion and lifestyle brand partnerships.

-Luxury and ultra-luxury residential, waterfront and resort developments.-Large-scale master communities with repeated typologies, phased delivery and extensive community amenities.

-Hospitality interiors including hotels, serviced apartments, F&B, spa and wellness.-Amenity and clubhouse interiors, including gyms, pools, kids’ facilities, co-working, retail and F&B fit-out.

-Show apartments, sales galleries and customer experience centres.-Cultural, museum or experience-led interiors.

-Experience working alongside internationally recognised design consultancies and operator technical services teams.

-Prior experience with a UAE or GCC developer of comparable scale and ambition.