Senior Physical Designer

ESI Design, an NBBJ Studio, transforms places into experiences that drive excitement and create a unique invitation for personal interaction and empathy. We experiment and collaborate to develop new ideas for high-profile, visionary clients. We are a community of designers that develop and construct large-scale, novel ideas. As a studio within the highly regarded NBBJ Design firm, we are uniquely positioned within the experience industry. We partner with pioneers like Barclays, eBay, Beacon Capital Partners, the Statue of Liberty Museum, and WarnerMedia to create solutions for tomorrow guided by our vision: we design for life.

NBBJ is a design and architecture firm, fueled by ideas and a culture of collaboration. With offices around the globe, the diverse perspectives of your future colleagues and clients will inspire and challenge you to be extraordinary and leverage your entrepreneurial spirit. Innovation and creativity are at the heart of our work: creating spaces and experiences that better connect people to each other as they live, learn, and work in their communities.

ESI Design’s approach to experience design combines the physical, digital and behavioral to create memorable moments. We believe the most compelling experiences are born from interdisciplinary collaboration. As a result, our eclectic team and user-first approach allows us to provide a range of experience solutions and a depth of service that’s unique in the world of design. We don’t do off-the-rack solutions – we create custom experiences that are tailor made for every individual client’s needs.

ESI Design is seeking a Senior-Level Physical Designer who is experienced in iterating concepts and developing them through all project design phases as well as design documentation and oversight of production and installation. The Senior Physical Designer will participate as a member of interdisciplinary teams over a broad range of experiential projects—all dedicated to creating great and novel end-user experiences.

The Senior Physical Designer has a collaborative relationship with creative and business leadership in a team-oriented environment with the aim of conceptualizing, modeling, visualizing and documenting experiences within architectural environments. They collaborate with creative, UX and AV departments to define the right environment for our clients’ businesses. They also provide site analysis and vendor coordination.

The Senior Physical Designer must have a strong opinion and voice when collaborating inside and outside the studio.

Other key responsibilities focus on integration of media elements with architectural hardscape and building systems, high-end visualization methods via current software platforms, fabricator coordination, final specification of Materials/FFE.

• Collaborate with creative leads to prepare pitch materials, work with entire project teams to model and visualize environments in a range of finish levels from sketches to realistic renderings or videos for team and client review.
• Develop design-intent level documentation that clearly communicates all aspects of the design.
• Present visualizations and be able to speak to them on broad-scope and detailed levels with competent reasoning for direction.
• Have a deep understanding of all stages of a project from concept through delivery.
• Meet with clients (corporate, retail, commercial, healthcare and institutional) to discern project goals and intended audience.
• Serve as the voice of the project and represent the design in presentations with clients when necessary. Have a proven track record of selling ideas and strategies to clients.
• Provide material recommendations via research and samples as required for the project.
• Possess a proactive and positive attitude about the work and our industry.

• A minimum of 7 years of experience in Experience Design related fields
• Professional Degree in Architecture, Interior Design, Industrial Design or Exhibit Design with an intimate understanding of the Experience Design industry
• A proven track record working with architects, fabricators and GC teams
• Ability to work independently and as part of a multidisciplinary team
• Excellent communication and presentation skills
• Exceptional time management and organizational skills; ability to work efficiently under multiple deadlines
• Strong portfolio of inspiring work preferably including environments that contain architecturally integrated media
• A passion for pushing the boundaries of form and perception of surroundings
• Proficiency in Rhino or Sketchup modeling architectural environments and rendering in V-ray, Enscape, or Twinmotion
• Proficiency in Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator.
• Working knowledge of Grasshopper, Unreal Engine, Revit, AutoCAD and VR workflows a plus