Principal Designer

About this role

Summary

Provides design leadership and strategic direction to ensure design work meets the highest standards of quality, client expectations, and industry best practices. Leads complex, high-impact projects while driving cross-functional collaboration and delivering innovative design solutions. Acts as a mentor, thought leader, and subject matter expert—guiding execution, fostering innovation, and promoting consistency across the organization. Participates in special projects as needed.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities

• Provides expert-level design solutions that align with business goals and client needs.

• Act as the primary client liaison for Design in gathering requirements, aligning design solutions, and ensuring satisfaction throughout the project lifecycle.

• Drive cross-functional collaboration with engineering, operations, sales, and other departments to deliver integrated, high-quality solutions.

• Define and validate technical specifications and compliance frameworks for major programs, ensuring design excellence, consistency, and integrity.

• Partner with Sales to provide technical expertise in support of new proposals, client pursuits, and strategic growth opportunities.

• Support client engagement efforts, participating in presentations and technical discussions to represent design expertise and reinforce company credibility.

• Collaborate with Design Director to lead design strategy, planning, and execution for high-profile, complex, or mission-critical projects.

• Support problem solving creative solutions with engineering leaders and project teams, resolving challenges and ensuring design feasibility.

• Champion innovation and efficiency by evolving design processes, tools, and methodologies.

• Evaluate client documentation — including statements of work, RFQs, and deck plans — and recommend assumptions and solutions to strengthen proposals.

• Deliver regular technical debriefs to internal teams, sharing insights from market research, trade shows, conferences, and vendor engagements.

• Mentor and coach design team members, elevating technical skills, strengthening design judgment, and fostering professional growth.

• Cultivate a positive, collaborative work environment through effective communication, professionalism, and a solutions-oriented approach.

• Other responsibilities as assigned, in alignment with advancing company design excellence and strategic objectives.

Competencies

To perform the job successfully, an individual should demonstrate the following competencies:

Leadership Competencies

• Personal Responsibility (Modeling the Way) - You maintain clear leadership philosophy and build consensus around organization values; you make sound and timely decisions by taking calculated risk while assuming responsibility, you evoke trust by being appropriately open, honest, ethical, and consistent; you seek to eliminate inefficiencies and engage others; and you encourage organization, prioritization, follow-through, and time management.

• Direction Setting (Inspiring a Shared Vision) – You create, articulate and inspire a vision…