Design Manager

Design Manager — Short-Term Rental Interior Design (Remote, Philippines)
Company: Ishita Interiors
Location: Remote — Philippines. US business-hours overlap required.
Compensation: $800–$1,000/month USD, based on experience, plus performance bonus.
Reports to: Director of Operations (process) and Principal Designer (design)


About us
Ishita Interiors is a US-based interior design firm that designs short-term rentals — the Airbnb and vacation properties guests remember and rebook. We run virtual design and full-service design for investors across the United States, with a remote design team across the Philippines and India. We are growing fast, and we build systems, not chaos. If you care about getting the details right, and you like leading people who care about the same thing, you will fit here.

The role
We are looking for a Design Manager who can run several design pods at once and hold every one of them to a high standard. You are not only a designer. You are the person who catches the mistake before it reaches the principal or the client, who develops lead designers into stronger ones, and who owns the quality of everything that leaves your team. This is a leadership seat for someone with real design depth and real management instinct.

What you will own
- Lead and manage multiple design pods (lead designers and their juniors) at the same time, across several live projects.
- Own the quality gate. Every design passes through you before it reaches the principal designer or the client. Occupancy, space planning, finishes, specifications, dimensions, and brief alignment — you check them, and nothing incorrect gets past you.
- Cascade project briefs to your teams clearly, confirm they land, and make sure the design matches the brief every time, including after revisions.
- Hold your team accountable. Coach and develop your designers, give direct feedback, and enforce the standard when work slips.
- Keep projects on schedule and flag risks early, before they become client problems. Present or support client-facing design reviews when needed.

Who you are
- 5+ years of interior design experience, with a strong command of the fundamentals: space planning, occupancy and floor plans, FF&E, finishes and materials, fixtures, lighting, and reading product specifications closely.
- Proven experience managing more than one designer or more than one team at once. You have led people, not only projects.
- Obsessive about detail. You catch the wrong bed in the wrong room, the material spec nobody read, the dimension that does not fit. This is the single most important quality for this seat.
- Clear, fluent English, written and spoken. Comfortable communicating with US leadership and clients.
- Skilled in the tools: SketchUp, Canva, and Google Workspace, plus a project management tool (we use Motion and Airtable). - AutoCAD and 3D rendering are a plus. A disciplined remote worker with a reliable setup and hours that overlap US business time.

Nice to have
- Experience designing short-term rentals, hospitality, or vacation properties.
- Experience working with US-based clients or firms.
- 3D rendering skill.

What we offer
$800–$1,000/month USD, set by experience, plus a performance bonus tied to your team's delivery and client satisfaction.
A real leadership role with room to grow as the company scales.
A remote team that runs on clear systems and standards, not guesswork. Direct work with US clients and a principal designer who sets a high bar.


Our hiring process
1. Application and a short set of screening questions.
2. A brief Loom video introducing yourself and your experience.
3. A DISC behavioral assessment — we hire for fit, not skill alone.
4. A live interview with a real design-review exercise.
5. A short paid trial on live work. We hire people who prove it quickly.

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HOW TO APPLY
Submit the following to be considered:

1. Your updated resume
2. A brief Loom video where you introduce yourself and answer the questions below

Video Questions:

- How many years have you worked in interior design, and in which segments — residential, hospitality, short-term rental, or commercial?
- Have you managed more than one designer or team simultaneously? Describe the structure — how many people, how many concurrent projects.
- Which tools do you use daily? (e.g. SketchUp, AutoCAD, Canva, rendering software, project management tools)
- Have you worked with US-based clients or firms? In what capacity?
- What are your working hours in US time, and what is your remote setup — internet speed, equipment, backup power or connection?


?? Please read before applying.
Applications missing a resume or video will be automatically rejected. Videos that do not answer the questions above will also be automatically rejected, regardless of experience. Only candidates who follow all instructions will be reviewed.