Design Director Jobs in Illinois
Design Director jobs in Illinois are active and competitive, with demand concentrated in brand strategy, digital product design, and marketing communications across Chicago's dense creative economy, and in corporate design leadership at major Midwest headquarters. Chicago anchors the market, but Evanston and Oak Brook also carry consistent openings, with established employers such as McDonald's, Kraft Heinz, and Leo Burnett regularly seeking design directors from mid-level creative leads through senior executives overseeing enterprise brand systems. Packaging design, UX leadership, and retail brand direction are the specialties Illinois employers pursue most consistently. Find a role that fits below and apply directly.
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About the Role:
As a CBRE Client Consulting Sr. Director, you will oversee consulting services to a large portfolio of high-profile corporate real estate clients. You will also guide the global consulting business.
This job is part of the Client Consulting function. They are responsible for Advisory services in relation to real estate operations and investments.
What You’ll Do:
- Build real estate strategies and consulting for enterprise accounts and high-profile clients.
- Deliver complex strategies with top clients. Drive global portfolio strategic initiatives from start to finish.
- Align business direction and vision with executive management. Conduct strategic portfolio planning with stakeholders.
- Monitor organizational performance and reports on data collected.
- Evaluate space rationalization for all client properties and provide solutions as needed.
- Develop expert strategies to reduce costs for clients.
- Manage and review all consolidation reviews and transactions.
- Present reports and studies on location, labor, and retail properties to executive management and C-suite partners.
- Support major account pitches and strategic deliveries.
- Gain an in-depth understanding of the client's business. Ensure that property and location strategies align with the business’s strategic direction.
- Showcase high level of commercial and financial knowledge during strategy development and presentations.
- Provide formal supervision to employees. Monitor the training and development of staff. Conduct performance evaluations and coaching. Oversee the recruiting and hiring of new employees.
- Coordinate and manage the team's daily activities. Establish work schedules, assign tasks, and cross-train staff. Set and track staff and department deadlines. Mentor and coach as needed.
- Apply deep knowledge of multiple disciplines, broad industry knowledge, and commercial awareness. Drive financial and functional performance within disciplines and across business.
- Lead by example and model behaviors that are consistent with CBRE RISE values. Negotiate with senior management, customers, and external parties of divergent interests to reach an agreement of strategic importance while being guided by the business segment and the organization's functional strategy.
- Conceptualize new methods, techniques, processes, and standards across job disciplines or functions.
- Direct the resolution of highly complex or unusual business problems by applying advanced critical thinking.
What You’ll Need:
- Bachelor's Degree preferred with 12-15 years of relevant experience. In lieu of a degree, a combination of experience and education will be considered.
- Experience in the areas of staffing, selection, training, development, coaching, mentoring, measuring, appraising, and rewarding performance and retention is preferred.
- Ability to exchange sensitive, complicated, and difficult information, convey performance expectations and handle problems.
- Leadership skills to motivate the team to achieve broad operational targets with impacts on own job discipline, multiple job disciplines, and department.
- In-depth knowledge of Microsoft Office products. Examples include Word, Excel, Outlook, etc.
- Expert organizational skills with an unrivaled inquisitive mindset.
Equal Employment Opportunity: CBRE has a long-standing commitment to providing equal employment opportunity to all qualified applicants regardless of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, pregnancy, age, citizenship, marital status, disability, veteran status, political belief, or any other basis protected by applicable law.
Candidate Accommodations: CBRE values the differences of all current and prospective employees and recognizes how every employee contributes to our company’s success. CBRE provides reasonable accommodations in job application procedures for individuals with disabilities. If you require assistance due to a disability in the application or recruitment process, please submit a request via email at recruitingaccommodations@cbre.com or via telephone at +1 866 225 3099 (U.S.) and +1 866 388 4346 (Canada).
About the Role:
As a CBRE Client Consulting Sr. Director, you will oversee consulting services to a large portfolio of high-profile corporate real estate clients. You will also guide the global consulting business.
This job is part of the Client Consulting function. They are responsible for Advisory services in relation to real estate operations and investments.
What You’ll Do:
- Build real estate strategies and consulting for enterprise accounts and high-profile clients.
- Deliver complex strategies with top clients. Drive global portfolio strategic initiatives from start to finish.
- Align business direction and vision with executive management. Conduct strategic portfolio planning with stakeholders.
- Monitor organizational performance and reports on data collected.
- Evaluate space rationalization for all client properties and provide solutions as needed.
- Develop expert strategies to reduce costs for clients.
- Manage and review all consolidation reviews and transactions.
- Present reports and studies on location, labor, and retail properties to executive management and C-suite partners.
- Support major account pitches and strategic deliveries.
- Gain an in-depth understanding of the client's business. Ensure that property and location strategies align with the business’s strategic direction.
- Showcase high level of commercial and financial knowledge during strategy development and presentations.
- Provide formal supervision to employees. Monitor the training and development of staff. Conduct performance evaluations and coaching. Oversee the recruiting and hiring of new employees.
- Coordinate and manage the team's daily activities. Establish work schedules, assign tasks, and cross-train staff. Set and track staff and department deadlines. Mentor and coach as needed.
- Apply deep knowledge of multiple disciplines, broad industry knowledge, and commercial awareness. Drive financial and functional performance within disciplines and across business.
- Lead by example and model behaviors that are consistent with CBRE RISE values. Negotiate with senior management, customers, and external parties of divergent interests to reach an agreement of strategic importance while being guided by the business segment and the organization's functional strategy.
- Conceptualize new methods, techniques, processes, and standards across job disciplines or functions.
- Direct the resolution of highly complex or unusual business problems by applying advanced critical thinking.
What You’ll Need:
- Bachelor's Degree preferred with 12-15 years of relevant experience. In lieu of a degree, a combination of experience and education will be considered.
- Experience in the areas of staffing, selection, training, development, coaching, mentoring, measuring, appraising, and rewarding performance and retention is preferred.
- Ability to exchange sensitive, complicated, and difficult information, convey performance expectations and handle problems.
- Leadership skills to motivate the team to achieve broad operational targets with impacts on own job discipline, multiple job disciplines, and department.
- In-depth knowledge of Microsoft Office products. Examples include Word, Excel, Outlook, etc.
- Expert organizational skills with an unrivaled inquisitive mindset.
Equal Employment Opportunity: CBRE has a long-standing commitment to providing equal employment opportunity to all qualified applicants regardless of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, pregnancy, age, citizenship, marital status, disability, veteran status, political belief, or any other basis protected by applicable law.
Candidate Accommodations: CBRE values the differences of all current and prospective employees and recognizes how every employee contributes to our company’s success. CBRE provides reasonable accommodations in job application procedures for individuals with disabilities. If you require assistance due to a disability in the application or recruitment process, please submit a request via email at recruitingaccommodations@cbre.com or via telephone at +1 866 225 3099 (U.S.) and +1 866 388 4346 (Canada).
See All 9 Design Director Jobs in Illinois
Find roles in Illinois that match your experience and apply in just a few clicks.
Find Design Director JobsDesign Director Jobs by City in Illinois
Where Illinois roles are concentrated, by current openings.
Design Director Job Market in Illinois
A snapshot from current Illinois openings, updated as new roles post.
Who's Hiring
Top Industries Hiring
- Retail
- Education
- Construction & Real Estate
- Healthcare & Medical Services
- Investment & Asset Management
What Illinois Employers Look For
The qualifications that appear most often in design director jobs across Illinois.
- Bachelor's or master's degree in graphic design, industrial design, or a closely related field
- Seven or more years of progressive design experience including team leadership
- Demonstrated portfolio showing brand systems, product design, or campaign direction
- Proficiency in Figma, Adobe Creative Suite, and prototyping tools
- Experience managing cross-functional creative teams and external agency partners
- Strong presentation and stakeholder communication skills for executive-level audiences
Design Director Jobs in Illinois: Frequently Asked Questions
How do you become a design director in Illinois?
Design directors in Illinois do not require a state-issued license, so the path runs through education and progressive experience. Most Illinois employers expect a bachelor's degree in graphic design, industrial design, or a related creative field, often from programs at the Illinois Institute of Art, DePaul University, or the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Candidates typically move from senior designer to art director before reaching the director level, building a portfolio that demonstrates brand leadership and team management.
Which companies hire design directors in Illinois?
Employers hiring design directors in Illinois right now include CBRE, AbbVie, and nuphoriq, based on current listings on Migrate Mate as of October 2026. Illinois's concentration of major consumer goods headquarters, financial services firms, and global advertising agencies in and around Chicago means design director openings appear across a wide range of industries throughout the year.
Which Illinois cities have the most design director jobs?
Chicago, Illinois, and Deerfield hold the most design director openings in Illinois. Chicago dominates because it is home to the headquarters of global consumer brands, major advertising networks, and large technology firms, while suburban locations like Evanston and Oak Brook generate openings tied to corporate campuses and regional brand centers anchored by large Midwest employers.
Are there remote design director jobs in Illinois?
Yes, and more than many senior roles, because design direction increasingly centers on stakeholder alignment, digital systems oversight, and cross-functional coordination that translates well to distributed work. About 63% of design director openings tied to Illinois are remote or hybrid as of October 2026, reflecting the shift among Chicago-area employers toward flexible creative leadership structures. Brand strategy and UX leadership roles tend to have the highest remote availability, while retail and packaging-focused director roles more often require on-site presence.
How can I get hired as a design director in Illinois with little or no experience?
The most realistic entry path is advancing from an art director or senior designer role at a Chicago-area agency or in-house creative team, then stepping into a director title as the team grows. Large Illinois employers such as Leo Burnett, Publicis, and major consumer packaged goods companies often promote from within or hire associate creative directors as a bridge level. Building a portfolio that shows ownership of a brand system from concept through execution, even from a single project, carries more weight than years of experience alone in Illinois's agency-heavy market.
Where can I find and apply to design director jobs in Illinois?
You can find and apply to design director jobs in Illinois on Migrate Mate, which lists current Illinois openings. Search the available roles, find the ones that fit your background and target location, and apply directly to each position.
See All 9 Design Director Jobs in Illinois
Find roles in Illinois that match your experience and apply in just a few clicks.
Find Design Director Jobs