Designer

About the Company

Oktra are the UK’s leading workplace design and build company, shaping places that connect people and inspire our every day. With over 30 years of experience and B Corp certification, we create future-focused workplaces where people and businesses thrive.

Oktra's designers, builders & strategists provide complete workplace consultancy — from a single office relocation, design and fit out, to workspace planning, refurbishment, and interior branding on a global scale. Our in-house model means that our clients benefit from speed, simplicity, and a single point of accountability at every stage of their journey.

We're headquartered in London, with a regional presence in the South, Midlands, and North of England.

Role overview

A Mid- weight Designer within Oktra plays a pivotal role that supports creative vision, pitch-winning design and practical delivery. This role spans both conceptual design development and collaboration with construction and delivery teams, ensuring that projects are not only visually compelling and inclusive but also feasible and aligned with client goals, budgets, and timelines.

The Designer is responsible for assisting in shaping compelling design concepts, working within multidisciplinary teams, and creating design integrity— from concept through to completion. Working closely with clients, Pre Construction teams, Project Managers, and Construction teams, the role helps translate client vision into exceptional, buildable environments that align with brand, budget, programme, compliance, and functional needs.

Key Responsibilities:

Leadership & Strategy:

• Understand ‘The Oktra Way’ — our processes, standards, sustainability practices, quality measures, and compliance requirements — across all roles and responsibilities.
• Serve as a leading member of each project team: understand your role and others,’ take ownership of tasks, resolve issues as they arise, and maintain clear communication through to project completion.
• Provide design work across all design phases; detailing, guiding, and collaborating with all members of the extended professional design team including Pre Construction, Commercial and Construction; internal and external teams, respectively.
• Attend project reviews to ensure design integrity, creative coordination, compliance, inclusivity, sustainability, cost, and programme adherence.
• Participate in strategic design input and creative feasibility analysis.
• Ensure continuous learning and stay ahead of design trends and emerging technologies — especially in regard to compliance and sustainability.
• Attend and take part in internal and external events to further promote Oktra and the work we do.

Project Winning, Creative Development and Project Delivery:

• Assist in the strategising of projects, clients etc. in regards to winning strategies, de-risking, quality control, competency and compliance amongst others project specific items.
• Define and articulate the design vision and strategy.
• Assist in the management of client and project expectations, maintaining clear communication on creative aspects of the design for all parties.
• Assist in the creative development of design documentation — from pitch through to contract and construction.
• Assist in the creative design coordination between architectural, structural, mechanical, and full construction teams, working closely with the Technical Design team.
• Translate the conceptual designs into detailed, buildable solutions without compromising design intent, cost, compliance, or programme.
• Create all creative drawing & documentation packages from design development to construction documentation including practical completion.
• Lead the resolution of complex design challenges related to structure, finishes, systems, compliance, and constructability.
• Ensure accuracy, clarity, and compliance in all creative drawings, documentation, and specifications.
• Review reference materials and site documentation to ensure design accuracy through allocated projects.
• Enforce creative design standards and best practices throughout projects.
• Support the Design team by offering solutions that balance aesthetic goals with practical execution, whilst looking to the future and where our industry is heading.

Quality & Risk Management:

• Conduct quality assurance and control reviews.
• Identify design risks early and provide proactive creative and buildable solutions.
• Ensure proper documentation and coordination to minimise site issues, redesigns, and risks.

Coordination & Collaboration:

• Collaborate closely with Pre Construction, Commercial, Project Managers, site teams, consultants, and clients as a professional team to ensure absolute project success.
• Coordinate with consultants, suppliers, contractors, and internal stakeholders to resolve design challenges.
• Ensure all documentation is fully coordinated and up to date with design changes, construction methods, and site constraints.
• Participate in technical review meetings and ensure issues are logged, tracked, and resolved.
• Participate (when required) in clash detection and coordination meetings using Building Information Modelling (BIM) tools (e.g., Revit, Navisworks) in association with the Technical Design Team.

Documentation & Standards including Compliance:

• Organise and maintain drawing files, naming conventions, and documentation sets to maintain company standards and industry best practices.
• Prepare and review design and construction packages for tender, authority approvals, and construction.
• Ensure that all designs comply with relevant codes, standards, regulations, and client specifications — including cost and programme approval.
• Prepare and submit permit drawings, planning applications, Building Regulations submissions etc. from creation of documentation to application approval.
• Ensure compliance with the company role of Principal Designer under Construction (Design & Management) (CDM) Building Regulations and the Building Safety Act.
• Ensure team compliance and competency including the wider professional project team when required.
• Ensure compliance with the role of Designer under Construction (Design & Management) (CDM), Building Regulations and the Building Safety Act.

Site & Construction Support:

• Support site teams with design information, clarifications, and revisions during construction alongside your Technical Design team.
• Respond to Requests for Information (RFI's), the reviews of shop drawings, the management of change control and project-specific requirements as needed, working with your delivery team.
• Ensure all practical completion documentation, including Health & Safety incorporating Operation & Maintenance (H&S+O&M) files, as builts and residual risk registers is to a high quality and present alongside your Technical Design team.
• Conduct site visits to verify design implementation and assist in resolving onsite issues alongside your Technical Design team.
• Participate in internal team meetings and coordination reviews when necessary.

Required Qualifications & experience:

• Bachelor's or Master’s Degree in Architecture, Interior Architecture, or similar related field.
• 2+ years of experience in creative interior design, ideally within a design & build or fast-paced multidisciplinary environment.
• Proficient in Revit, BIM coordination tools, AutoCAD, and other design software’s.
• Common Date Environment (CDE) experience preferable but not essential (Oktra use ACC Autodesk Construction Cloud).

Desirable Attributes:

• Good verbal and visual communication skills.
• Strong portfolio demonstrating a range of design capabilities, including competency, compliance, hand sketching, creative design, design detailing, coordination, programming, and processes.
• Experience with fast-track or design & build procurement models, preferably commercial sector.
• Knowledge and experience of sustainability certifications (LEED, WELL, BREEAM etc.).
• Robust design sensibility with a pragmatic approach to cost, scheduling, construction, and delivery, combined with excellent problem-solving and creative decision-making skills.
• Detail-oriented with a hands-on approach to quality and execution.
• Ability to work independently and as part of a cross-functional team.
• Strong drafting and documentation skills.
• Knowledge of construction detailing, building codes, and material technologies.
• Good organisational, and interpersonal skills.
• Regulatory knowledge of CDM 2015, Building Regulations and all associated documentation, Risk Assessments and Residual Risk Registers, Golden Thread.

What’s in it for you:

• A competitive salary
• 23 days holiday including 3 days automatically allocated for the office closure at Christmas. Rising by 1 day each year, until a maximum of 28 days have been accrued.
• Enhanced parental and maternity leave
• Two volunteering days a year
• Paid training & development opportunities.
• Cycle to work scheme.
• Weekly drinks, quarterly socials, and staff meals
• Daily fresh fruit and biscuits with barista style coffee and monthly birthday cakes.
• Death in service life insurance- 4x annual salary
• Nationwide gym discount with Pure Gym and Gymbox plus free fitness classes
• 24/7 employee assistance programme with BUPA
• Free eye test and discounted eyecare with Specsavers

*Oktra is an Equal Opportunity Employer. Oktra seeks applications from all backgrounds to join our teams, and we encourage our employees to bring their authentic, original, and best selves to work.