Director, Interior & Surface Textile Design
Teague · Everett & Renton, WA
WHO WE ARE:
Teague is an independent design consultancy that combines technology expertise with a deep understanding of human behavior to design what’s next for companies in automotive, commercial aviation, smart cities and infrastructure, advanced mobility, technology, space, and defense. On any given day, you might be prototyping a new space station, designing cutting-edge technology, or traveling around the world conducting research. We are approaching our one-hundred-year anniversary and are proudly employee-owned. Our culture fosters collaboration, accountability, and stability—because when we succeed, we all win. Come be a part of something bigger than just a job—build your career with an employee-owned company that invests in you!
ABOUT THE ROLE:
As the Director, Interior & Surface Textile Design at Teague, you’ll lead the creative, technical, and business direction of a multidisciplinary practice spanning interior, spatial, surface, textile, color, and material design. Working across Boeing aircraft programs, direct-to-airline work, and a diverse commercial portfolio, you’ll translate client ambitions, human needs, brand objectives, and production realities into experiences that are visionary, viable, and implementable.
You’ll set the vision and standards for the practice, develop design leaders and teams, and provide creative direction across both aviation and commercial work. Partnering closely with design and business leadership, Business Development, and clients, you’ll shape engagements, build relationships, identify growth opportunities, and guide the evolution of the practice’s capabilities. This is an engaged leadership role requiring creative vision, business acumen, technical understanding, and strong client judgment.
TRAVEL EXPECTATIONS:
Regular travel between Teague’s studios and client sites within the U.S.; occasional international travel as needed for client reviews and industry events.
WHO YOU ARE:
You are a visionary and engaged design leader who brings equal parts creative conviction, business acumen, and technical fluency. You’re passionate about interior and surface textile design and know how to turn that passion into a clear vision, a high bar for craft, and meaningful opportunities for the teams around you. You’re comfortable moving between big-picture strategy and hands-on creative direction, knowing when to lean in and when to empower others to lead.
You are a trusted partner and natural relationship builder who can earn credibility with clients, design leaders, engineers, and business stakeholders alike. You’re energized by complexity and ambiguity, able to frame challenges, align diverse perspectives, and turn ideas into compelling, feasible outcomes. You think beyond individual projects, constantly looking for ways to evolve a practice, grow talent, strengthen client relationships, and create new opportunities. You lead with curiosity, clarity, and confidence—and you’re motivated by building a high-performing culture where great design and great people can thrive.
WHAT YOU’LL DO:
OWNING
- Lead the Interior Design & Surface Textile Design practice across Boeing aircraft programs and a diverse portfolio of commercial engagements spanning Teague’s broader business.
- Oversee a large-scale, complex, multidisciplinary team across the interior and surface textile design tracks, ensuring alignment, momentum, and excellence throughout each engagement.
- Own the overall health and performance of the practice, balancing creative and technical quality, client satisfaction, team development, staffing, financial performance, and sustainable growth.
- Lead and develop the practice’s design leaders, establishing clear ownership, accountability, and coordination across disciplines while building their capacity to operate independently.
- Build and maintain trusted relationships with managers and directors at Boeing and across Teague’s commercial client base, partnering with senior leadership on executive relationships and account strategy.
- Provide visionary and engaged leadership, connecting big-picture creative direction with practical execution while empowering project and discipline leaders to own day-to-day delivery.
- Champion innovation, growth, and exceptional design and production outcomes across every touchpoint.
- Partner closely with design and business leadership, Boeing, commercial clients, and cross-functional stakeholders to align creative direction, client strategy, business priorities, and delivery.
- Own practice-level workforce and succession strategy, including organizational structure, hiring priorities, performance management, retention, leadership development, and the capabilities needed to support current and future work.
- Provide clear direction, regular feedback, goal setting, performance reviews, and development planning for the practice’s design leaders, holding them accountable for both business outcomes and effective people leadership.
- Communicate a strong passion for interior and surface textile design, offering unique insights that spark curiosity and drive excellence.
- Champion continuous learning and professional growth across the practice, ensuring readiness to meet evolving Boeing, commercial client, market, and technology needs.
- Foster a strong design and technical culture while developing rising leaders and creating clear pathways for professional growth across the practice.
- Consistently deliver on annual goals and performance objectives aligned with fiscal year priorities.
THINKING
- Own and continuously evolve the practice’s offers—determining how its interior, spatial, surface, textile, color, and material capabilities, methods, deliverables, staffing models, tools, and value proposition should respond to client needs, target markets, competitive shifts, emerging technologies, and lessons learned through delivery.
- Drive strategic thinking across Boeing and commercial client engagements and opportunities, bringing expertise in interior, spatial, experience, surface, textile, color, and material design.
- Lead clients and internal teams through discovery, workshops, and project engagements, helping frame complex challenges, establish strategic direction, align stakeholders, and unlock impactful design outcomes.
- Guide teams in developing and delivering compelling, cohesive rationale to Boeing and airline and commercial clients, elevating the impact of ideas through persuasive storytelling and strategic framing.
- Amplify Teague’s thought leadership in interior, spatial, and surface textile design across aviation and adjacent markets by contributing to speaking events, panels, and articles.
- Navigate work with varying levels of definition—from established Boeing programs with rigorous technical requirements to open-ended commercial challenges requiring new approaches, teams, and delivery models.
- Identify opportunities to deepen Teague’s position within Boeing, grow existing commercial relationships, and apply the practice’s expertise across new clients, industries, and project types.
- Connect Interior and Surface Textile Design with experience strategy, brand, communication design, industrial design, architecture, technology, and engineering to create cohesive multidisciplinary offers and outcomes.
- Drive a constant improvement in creative and technical quality and team capabilities, setting a high bar for innovation and execution across both disciplines.
- Contribute to company-wide and design leadership strategy discussions, offering recommendations that keep the practice aligned with market trends, competitive shifts, commercial growth priorities, and evolving Boeing program needs.
- Translate client and engineering requirements into strategic, actionable design and production solutions that support brand and business goals.
- Lead and facilitate design and technical review