Job Title: High Level Designer
Job Description
The High Level Designer plays a key role on a collaborative, design-led sales team supporting workplace, education, healthcare, and corporate clients throughout the New York metropolitan area. In this role, you partner closely with sales professionals, account managers, and clients to develop innovative, customized furniture solutions. You participate in client meetings, conduct real-time design sessions using CET Canvas, create furniture layouts and specifications, develop project budgets, and oversee quality control activities to ensure accurate, high-performing design outcomes.
Responsibilities
- Lead furniture design and space planning efforts for workplace, education, healthcare, and corporate environments.
- Collaborate with clients to understand functional, aesthetic, budgetary, and scheduling requirements and translate them into effective design solutions.
- Conduct client-facing design presentations and showroom tours to communicate concepts and guide decision-making.
- Develop detailed furniture specifications and comprehensive drawing packages using CET Canvas and other design tools.
- Create budget packages that align closely with project designs, pricing, and specifications.
- Coordinate closely with account managers and sales professionals throughout project execution to maintain alignment and project momentum.
- Review peer work for accuracy and quality control, ensuring specifications and drawings are correct prior to order submission.
- Attend client meetings, project sites, and furniture installations to support design intent and resolve on-site questions.
- Deliver customized furniture solutions that leverage products from multiple manufacturers rather than standardized selections.
- Support a high-touch, consultative client experience by guiding clients through product selections, space planning, and furniture solutions.
- Conduct design meetings with clients and participate in real-time design sessions while reviewing floor plans and layouts.
- Develop functional and aesthetically appealing interior environments tailored to workplace, education, and healthcare needs.
- Perform quality control reviews of design packages to verify accuracy and completeness.
- Align furniture specifications and budgets with design drawings to ensure consistency across all project documentation.
- Contribute as a strategic design partner within a design-led organization, influencing project outcomes from concept through installation and completion.
Essential Skills
- 5+ years of experience preferred, with consideration for candidates with approximately 3+ years of relevant commercial furniture or workplace interiors experience.
- Hands-on experience using CET Canvas in a commercial furniture dealership or contract furniture environment.
- Proven ability to independently produce drawings, layouts, specifications, and budgets for commercial furniture projects.
- Commercial furniture or contract furniture experience, ideally within a furniture dealer, workplace interiors organization, education, healthcare, or commercial furniture-focused design practice.
- Strong client-facing design skills, including conducting design meetings and participating in real-time design sessions while reviewing floor plans and layouts.
- Demonstrated capability in furniture specification and budgeting, including creating specifications and corresponding budgets and aligning pricing with design drawings.
- Space planning and design development experience for workplace, education, and healthcare environments.
- Quality control experience, including performing peer reviews and verifying accuracy of specifications and drawings prior to order submission.
- Strong communication and interpersonal skills for effective collaboration with clients and internal teams.
- High level of detail orientation with excellent organizational skills.
- Ability to manage multiple projects simultaneously while maintaining quality and deadlines.
- Comfort interacting directly with clients in a consultative, professional manner.
Additional Skills & Qualifications
- Experience working for a commercial furniture dealer is strongly preferred.
- Experience within workplace, education, or healthcare interiors is preferred.
- Haworth furniture dealership experience is highly desirable.
- contract furniture, workplace design, educational interiors, or healthcare interiors is beneficial.
- Proficiency with CET Canvas and familiarity with tools such as AutoCAD support success in this role.
- Understanding of furniture installation processes and coordination is advantageous.
- Portfolio of completed commercial interior projects is preferred and helps demonstrate design capabilities.
- Ability to deliver customized solutions utilizing products from multiple furniture manufacturers.
- Professional demeanor that supports a high-touch, consultative client experience.
- Interest in working within a family-owned, design-led organization where designers are viewed as strategic partners.
Work Environment
This role is based within a professional, hybrid work environment serving clients in the New York metropolitan area. The typical schedule includes in-office work on Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday, with remote work on Wednesday and Friday, with flexibility based on experience level and individual circumstances. Office locations are in New York City and Mountainside, NJ, and the position includes client visits, showroom tours, and occasional job site visits to support design presentations and installations. You work within a collaborative team structure that includes a Salesperson, Account Manager, Designers, and Administrative Support, in a culture that emphasizes professionalism, kindness, and low workplace politics. Designers are regarded as strategic partners, with opportunities to work directly with clients, influence project outcomes, and see projects through design, installation, and completion. The environment offers exposure to hundreds of furniture manufacturers, customizable solutions, and a growing New York operation with expansion plans underway
Job Type & Location
This is a Contract to Hire position based out of New York, NY.
Pay And Benefits
The pay range for this position is $43.00 - $60.00/hr.
Individual compensation offered for this position within this range will depend on many factors, including qualifications, skills, relevant experience, job knowledge, geographic location, internal equity, and other pertinent job-related factors.
Eligibility requirements apply to some benefits and may depend on your job classification and length of employment. Benefits are subject to change and may be subject to specific elections, plan, or program terms. If eligible, the benefits available for this temporary role may include the following:
- Medical, dental & vision
- Critical Illness, Accident, and Hospital
- 401(k) Retirement Plan – Pre-tax and Roth post-tax contributions available
- Life Insurance (Voluntary Life & AD&D for the employee and dependents)
- Short and long-term disability
- Health Spending Account (HSA)
- Transportation benefits
- Employee Assistance Program
- Time Off/Leave (PTO, Vacation or Sick Leave) Workplace Type This is a hybrid position in New York,NY. Application Deadline This position is anticipated to close on Aug 31, 2026.
About Actalent
Actalent is a global leader in engineering and sciences services and talent solutions. We help visionary companies advance their engineering and science initiatives through access to specialized experts who drive scale, innovation and speed to market. With a network of almost 20,000 consultants and 5,000 clients across the U.S., Canada, Asia and Europe, Actalent serves many of the Fortune 500. We are proud to be an Engineering News-Record (ENR) Top 500 Design Firm for our engineering design services and a ClearlyRated Best of Staffing® winner for both client and talent service.
The company is an equal opportunity employer and will consider all applications without regard to race, sex, age, color, religion, national origin, veteran status, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, genetic information or any characteristic protected by law.
If you would like to request a reasonable accommodation, such as the modification or adjustment of the job application process or interviewing process due to a disability, please email actalentaccommodation@actalentservices.com for other accommodation options.
San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance: Pursuant to the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance, for all positions located in the city and county of San Francisco, we will consider for employment qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records.
Massachusetts Lie Detector: It is unlawful in Massachusetts to require or administer a lie detector test as a condition of employment or continued employment. An employer who violates this law shall be subject to criminal penalties and civil liability.
Use of Artificial Intelligence (AI): We may use Artificial Intelligence (AI) to support parts of our hiring process, including sourcing, screening, and evaluating candidates. AI helps assess applications and qualifications, but final decisions are made by our hiring team. By applying, you acknowledge and agree that your application may be reviewed using AI tools.
