Design Director Jobs in Tennessee
Design Director jobs in Tennessee are in steady demand, with strong hiring concentrated in brand, product, and experiential design across the retail, healthcare, and entertainment sectors, at levels from senior designer through executive creative leadership. Nashville, Memphis, and Chattanooga anchor most of the activity, where established employers like Bridgestone Americas, HCA Healthcare, and Dollar General maintain significant in-house creative teams. Packaging, digital product design, and retail brand identity are the specialties appearing most consistently in Tennessee listings. Find a role that fits below and apply directly.
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See related jobsPOSITION SUMMARY
The Design & Development Director is a strategic business leader accountable for how CKE's International Carl's Jr. and Hardee's physical footprint evolves to meet where the guest is going, not just where the brand has been. This role owns the end-to-end asset strategy: format innovation, capital discipline, and project execution across all international markets, ensuring every new build, remodel, and channel investment strengthens brand equity while always being mindful of franchisee ROI.
As the industry shifts decisively from in-premises dining to off-premises, delivery, and digital-first ordering, this leader translates that shift into the brand's physical and operational blueprint: right-sized restaurants, optimized throughput, and seamless omnichannel experience. Design, construction, and brand standards are tools this role deploys; the role's core is strategy, innovation, and disciplined execution.
KEY RESPONSIBILITIES
STRATEGIC MANDATE
- Own the strategic roadmap for restaurant formats, brand evolution, and asset innovation across international markets, in direct partnership with the COO, CMO, CTO, and Regional GMs - International.
- Lead the shift from in-premises to off-premises/omnichannel formats — translating consumer and channel trends (delivery, mobile order-ahead, drive-thru-only, dark-kitchen/ghost-kitchen models) into next-generation prototypes that reduce footprint, accelerate development, and improve unit economics.
- Build the “Restaurant of the Future” capability for International — a scalable, flexible platform for digital ordering, kiosk/voice AI, kitchen automation, EV-charger readiness, and multi-lane/pickup-only configurations that keep the brand at the forefront of QSR innovation.
- Champion brand evolution of the physical and digital guest experience, ensuring design decisions reinforce brand identity while staying economically viable for franchisees across diverse international economies.
Project Management & Development Execution
- Manage the development pipeline: Lead the review and approval process for international new-site and remodel proposals, ensuring each project is feasible, brand-compliant, and positioned for speed-to-market.
- Drive disciplined execution: Oversee schedules, milestones, vendor coordination, and risk mitigation from site approval through restaurant opening.
- Coordinate market delivery: Partner with franchisees, architects, and local consultants to keep construction timelines on track and aligned with CKE global development benchmarks.
Format Innovation & Omnichannel Strategy
- Monitor and translate global QSR trends: Continuously evaluate emerging formats, including small-footprint restaurants, drive-thru-only prototypes, dual- and triple-lane configurations, mobile-order pickup lanes, and dark-kitchen models—and adapt the most relevant concepts to each international market.
- Redesign assets for off-premises growth: Define how restaurant size, layout, and guest flow should evolve as delivery, mobile ordering, and drive-thru sales continue to grow faster than dine-in traffic.
- Lead technology-enabled format innovation: Advance digital ordering infrastructure, kitchen automation, and guest-facing technology to improve speed, convenience, throughput, and competitiveness against leading global QSR brands.
Capital Discipline & CapEx Stewardship
- Plan and benchmark investment: Own CapEx and cost benchmarking for new units and remodels, partnering closely with franchisees to protect ROI and payback periods.
- Improve future asset decisions: Establish post-launch feedback loops with operations and construction teams to capture performance data from new formats and technology integrations, then apply those insights to strengthen future prototypes and asset development.
- Track performance and address gaps: Report CapEx performance against approved targets and recommend corrective actions when investment levels or returns deviate from plan.
- Reduce cost without diluting the brand: Identify prototype and specification changes that lower build cost and shorten construction timelines while preserving brand standards and guest experience.
Brand Standards & Design Governance
- Protect brand consistency: Ensure all international restaurant assets meet CKE standards for trade dress, layout, guest experience, and operational functionality.
- Strengthen design governance: Maintain and evolve prototype plans, design manuals, and specification standards so they stay aligned with market realities, consumer expectations, and brand strategy.
- Qualify regional execution partners: Identify and accredit regional and local vendors for FF&E, signage, and fabrication, ensuring quality, cost competitiveness, and reliable market execution.
FF&E* & Regional Vendor Network Strategy
- Build resilient vendor networks: Develop and accredit a multi-country vendor base for furniture, fixtures, equipment, signage, and fabrication, reducing reliance on single-source suppliers and protecting development timelines during supply disruptions.
- Optimize sourcing by market: Lead the local-versus-imported sourcing strategy for each market, balancing landed cost, freight, duties, currency exposure, manufacturing capabilities, lead times, and after-sales service to control per-unit CapEx.
- Set clear vendor standards: Define qualification criteria for quality, cost competitiveness, delivery reliability, and sustainability expectations required of global restaurant brands.
- Maintain contingency sourcing plans: Establish qualified backup vendors by category in markets with higher currency, political, or logistics volatility to protect continuity of execution.
Franchisee & Market Support
- Guide franchisee execution: Support franchisees through construction, including coordination with local architects, contractors, and regulators.
- Strengthen market feasibility decisions: Provide feasibility feedback and practical recommendations on new restaurant and remodel proposals across diverse international markets.
SUCCESS METRICS
- Development delivery: Achieve CKE International’s annual new-restaurant development targets.
- CapEx efficiency: Reduce average CapEx per new unit and remodel year over year, while protecting brand equity and guest experience.
- Speed to market: Meet or beat global construction and development benchmarks from site approval through opening.
- Brand compliance: Maintain full brand and remodel compliance across approved projects and program schedules.
- Format adoption: Increase adoption of next-generation, off-premises-optimized formats across new development.
- Franchisee outcomes: Improve franchisee satisfaction and ROI performance on newly developed and remodeled assets.
CRITICAL SKILLS & EXPERIENCE
- Deep QSR industry acumen: fluent in current and emerging trends — off-premises growth, digital penetration, drive-thru and delivery economics, and how they reshape real estate and format decisions.
- Strategic and financial fluency: strong command of CapEx, unit economics, and ROI, able to defend and prioritize investment decisions with data.
- Project management excellence: proven ability to lead complex, multi-market development pipelines from concept to opening.
- Innovation mindset: track record of translating emerging technology and consumer behavior (AI ordering, kitchen automation, omnichannel journeys) into real-world restaurant design.
- Working knowledge of design & construction: comfortable reviewing CAD/design deliverables and construction methods, without needing to be the technical designer — this is a business and strategy leadership role, informed by design literacy.
- Cross-cultural, multi-market leadership: experience developing brands across diverse international economies and regulatory environments; additional languages are an asset.
- Negotiation and vendor management: skilled in managing architects, contractors, and regional supply partners to deliver on cost and quality.
- Location: Based in the United States (preferred: Franklin, Tennessee).
- Travel: 30%– 50% international travel required.
- Education: Bachelor's degree in Architecture, Engineering, Construction Management, Real Estate, Design, Business, or related field required. MBA/PMP preferred.
- Years of Experience: 8 to12+ years of relevant experience in design in the restaurant industry, including 6+ years leading multi-country development programs.
THE COMPANY RETAINS THE RIGHT TO CHANGE OR ASSIGN OTHER DUTIES TO THIS POSITION AS DEEMED APPROPRIATE WITH OR WITHOUT NOTICE.
Equal Opportunity Employer/Protected Veterans/Individuals with Disabilities
This employer is required to notify all applicants of their rights pursuant to federal employment laws. For further information, please review the Know Your Rights (https://www.eeoc.gov/poster) notice from the Department of Labor.
POSITION SUMMARY
The Design & Development Director is a strategic business leader accountable for how CKE's International Carl's Jr. and Hardee's physical footprint evolves to meet where the guest is going, not just where the brand has been. This role owns the end-to-end asset strategy: format innovation, capital discipline, and project execution across all international markets, ensuring every new build, remodel, and channel investment strengthens brand equity while always being mindful of franchisee ROI.
As the industry shifts decisively from in-premises dining to off-premises, delivery, and digital-first ordering, this leader translates that shift into the brand's physical and operational blueprint: right-sized restaurants, optimized throughput, and seamless omnichannel experience. Design, construction, and brand standards are tools this role deploys; the role's core is strategy, innovation, and disciplined execution.
KEY RESPONSIBILITIES
STRATEGIC MANDATE
- Own the strategic roadmap for restaurant formats, brand evolution, and asset innovation across international markets, in direct partnership with the COO, CMO, CTO, and Regional GMs - International.
- Lead the shift from in-premises to off-premises/omnichannel formats — translating consumer and channel trends (delivery, mobile order-ahead, drive-thru-only, dark-kitchen/ghost-kitchen models) into next-generation prototypes that reduce footprint, accelerate development, and improve unit economics.
- Build the “Restaurant of the Future” capability for International — a scalable, flexible platform for digital ordering, kiosk/voice AI, kitchen automation, EV-charger readiness, and multi-lane/pickup-only configurations that keep the brand at the forefront of QSR innovation.
- Champion brand evolution of the physical and digital guest experience, ensuring design decisions reinforce brand identity while staying economically viable for franchisees across diverse international economies.
Project Management & Development Execution
- Manage the development pipeline: Lead the review and approval process for international new-site and remodel proposals, ensuring each project is feasible, brand-compliant, and positioned for speed-to-market.
- Drive disciplined execution: Oversee schedules, milestones, vendor coordination, and risk mitigation from site approval through restaurant opening.
- Coordinate market delivery: Partner with franchisees, architects, and local consultants to keep construction timelines on track and aligned with CKE global development benchmarks.
Format Innovation & Omnichannel Strategy
- Monitor and translate global QSR trends: Continuously evaluate emerging formats, including small-footprint restaurants, drive-thru-only prototypes, dual- and triple-lane configurations, mobile-order pickup lanes, and dark-kitchen models—and adapt the most relevant concepts to each international market.
- Redesign assets for off-premises growth: Define how restaurant size, layout, and guest flow should evolve as delivery, mobile ordering, and drive-thru sales continue to grow faster than dine-in traffic.
- Lead technology-enabled format innovation: Advance digital ordering infrastructure, kitchen automation, and guest-facing technology to improve speed, convenience, throughput, and competitiveness against leading global QSR brands.
Capital Discipline & CapEx Stewardship
- Plan and benchmark investment: Own CapEx and cost benchmarking for new units and remodels, partnering closely with franchisees to protect ROI and payback periods.
- Improve future asset decisions: Establish post-launch feedback loops with operations and construction teams to capture performance data from new formats and technology integrations, then apply those insights to strengthen future prototypes and asset development.
- Track performance and address gaps: Report CapEx performance against approved targets and recommend corrective actions when investment levels or returns deviate from plan.
- Reduce cost without diluting the brand: Identify prototype and specification changes that lower build cost and shorten construction timelines while preserving brand standards and guest experience.
Brand Standards & Design Governance
- Protect brand consistency: Ensure all international restaurant assets meet CKE standards for trade dress, layout, guest experience, and operational functionality.
- Strengthen design governance: Maintain and evolve prototype plans, design manuals, and specification standards so they stay aligned with market realities, consumer expectations, and brand strategy.
- Qualify regional execution partners: Identify and accredit regional and local vendors for FF&E, signage, and fabrication, ensuring quality, cost competitiveness, and reliable market execution.
FF&E* & Regional Vendor Network Strategy
- Build resilient vendor networks: Develop and accredit a multi-country vendor base for furniture, fixtures, equipment, signage, and fabrication, reducing reliance on single-source suppliers and protecting development timelines during supply disruptions.
- Optimize sourcing by market: Lead the local-versus-imported sourcing strategy for each market, balancing landed cost, freight, duties, currency exposure, manufacturing capabilities, lead times, and after-sales service to control per-unit CapEx.
- Set clear vendor standards: Define qualification criteria for quality, cost competitiveness, delivery reliability, and sustainability expectations required of global restaurant brands.
- Maintain contingency sourcing plans: Establish qualified backup vendors by category in markets with higher currency, political, or logistics volatility to protect continuity of execution.
Franchisee & Market Support
- Guide franchisee execution: Support franchisees through construction, including coordination with local architects, contractors, and regulators.
- Strengthen market feasibility decisions: Provide feasibility feedback and practical recommendations on new restaurant and remodel proposals across diverse international markets.
SUCCESS METRICS
- Development delivery: Achieve CKE International’s annual new-restaurant development targets.
- CapEx efficiency: Reduce average CapEx per new unit and remodel year over year, while protecting brand equity and guest experience.
- Speed to market: Meet or beat global construction and development benchmarks from site approval through opening.
- Brand compliance: Maintain full brand and remodel compliance across approved projects and program schedules.
- Format adoption: Increase adoption of next-generation, off-premises-optimized formats across new development.
- Franchisee outcomes: Improve franchisee satisfaction and ROI performance on newly developed and remodeled assets.
CRITICAL SKILLS & EXPERIENCE
- Deep QSR industry acumen: fluent in current and emerging trends — off-premises growth, digital penetration, drive-thru and delivery economics, and how they reshape real estate and format decisions.
- Strategic and financial fluency: strong command of CapEx, unit economics, and ROI, able to defend and prioritize investment decisions with data.
- Project management excellence: proven ability to lead complex, multi-market development pipelines from concept to opening.
- Innovation mindset: track record of translating emerging technology and consumer behavior (AI ordering, kitchen automation, omnichannel journeys) into real-world restaurant design.
- Working knowledge of design & construction: comfortable reviewing CAD/design deliverables and construction methods, without needing to be the technical designer — this is a business and strategy leadership role, informed by design literacy.
- Cross-cultural, multi-market leadership: experience developing brands across diverse international economies and regulatory environments; additional languages are an asset.
- Negotiation and vendor management: skilled in managing architects, contractors, and regional supply partners to deliver on cost and quality.
- Location: Based in the United States (preferred: Franklin, Tennessee).
- Travel: 30%– 50% international travel required.
- Education: Bachelor's degree in Architecture, Engineering, Construction Management, Real Estate, Design, Business, or related field required. MBA/PMP preferred.
- Years of Experience: 8 to12+ years of relevant experience in design in the restaurant industry, including 6+ years leading multi-country development programs.
THE COMPANY RETAINS THE RIGHT TO CHANGE OR ASSIGN OTHER DUTIES TO THIS POSITION AS DEEMED APPROPRIATE WITH OR WITHOUT NOTICE.
Equal Opportunity Employer/Protected Veterans/Individuals with Disabilities
This employer is required to notify all applicants of their rights pursuant to federal employment laws. For further information, please review the Know Your Rights (https://www.eeoc.gov/poster) notice from the Department of Labor.
See All 5 Design Director Jobs in Tennessee
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Find Design Director JobsDesign Director Jobs by City in Tennessee
Where Tennessee roles are concentrated, by current openings.
Design Director Job Market in Tennessee
A snapshot from current Tennessee openings, updated as new roles post.
Who's Hiring
Top Industries Hiring
- Education
- Healthcare & Medical Services
What Tennessee Employers Look For
The qualifications that appear most often in design director jobs across Tennessee.
- Bachelor's degree in graphic design, industrial design, or a related creative field
- Seven or more years of progressive design experience including team leadership
- Demonstrated portfolio showing brand identity, product, or experiential design work
- Proficiency in Adobe Creative Suite, Figma, and current UX or visual design tools
- Experience managing and mentoring designers across cross-functional project teams
- Strong collaboration skills working with marketing, product, and executive stakeholders
Design Director Jobs in Tennessee: Frequently Asked Questions
How do you become a design director in Tennessee?
The path to a design director role in Tennessee typically starts with a bachelor's degree in graphic design, industrial design, or a closely related field from a program like those at Middle Tennessee State University or the Watkins College of Art. No state-issued license is required for the role. Employers in Tennessee expect a strong portfolio, progressive leadership experience, and demonstrated success guiding creative teams, which candidates usually build through senior designer or art director positions before stepping into director-level work.
Which companies hire design directors in Tennessee?
Employers hiring design directors in Tennessee right now include imogene + willie, University of Tennessee, and CKE Restaurants Holdings, based on current listings on Migrate Mate as of August 2026. Tennessee's concentration of retail headquarters, healthcare systems, and entertainment brands in Nashville and Memphis creates consistent demand for design leadership roles beyond agencies and into large in-house creative teams.
Which Tennessee cities have the most design director jobs?
Memphis, Franklin, and Nashville have the most design director openings in Tennessee. Nashville drives the largest share of activity, anchored by its dense cluster of healthcare, entertainment, and consumer brand headquarters, while Memphis adds volume through logistics and retail corporate offices, and Chattanooga contributes through its growing manufacturing and regional corporate presence.
Are there remote design director jobs in Tennessee?
Yes, and more than many senior roles, since design directors frequently work on digital deliverables and can collaborate remotely with distributed creative teams. About 33% of design director openings tied to Tennessee are remote or hybrid as of August 2026, reflecting strong employer openness across brand and digital product disciplines. Brand strategy, UX leadership, and digital campaign oversight are the sub-areas where fully remote arrangements appear most often.
How can I get hired as a design director in Tennessee with little or no experience?
The most realistic entry path is building toward director-level work through an art director or senior designer role, which large Tennessee employers like HCA Healthcare and Bridgestone Americas hire for regularly as stepping stones. Candidates without extensive leadership experience should target associate creative director or design lead positions, build a portfolio that demonstrates team coordination and brand strategy, and consider graduate programs at Tennessee institutions that include practicum or industry-partnership components to accelerate the transition into management.
Where can I find and apply to design director jobs in Tennessee?
You can find and apply to design director jobs in Tennessee on Migrate Mate, which lists current Tennessee openings across industries and experience levels. Find the roles that fit your background and apply directly from the listings on this page.
See All 5 Design Director Jobs in Tennessee
Find roles in Tennessee that match your experience and apply in just a few clicks.
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