Senior Exhibit Designer

The Senior Exhibit Designer position is in the Creative Services group at Ideum. Ideum is a full-service exhibit design and build company with a specialty in multimedia. We are located near sunny, mountainous, and affordable Albuquerque, New Mexico. This is an in-person position without work-from-home options.

The Senior Exhibit Designer will work closely with clients, CEO, CXO, producers, and department leads to design, coordinate, and integrate exhibits, graphics, and media concepts into engaging experiences. The senior designer in this role executes interpretive plans, creative concepts, schematic and detailed designs for museum exhibits and sometimes for corporate clients. They are as great at 3D modeling and rendering for fundraising campaigns as they are at detailing exhibits for the fabrication team. We are flexible to support your desired exhibit design software tech stack. Portfolio required. 

The Exhibit Designer is expected to have a broad and deep understanding of trends and new developments in our industry, including the range of exhibit development approaches for different types of museum or corporate clients, exhibit design and production processes and tools, and hardware and software products and processes. 

The Senior Exhibit Designer will lead the simultaneous planning and design of multiple projects while participating in design quality control. They are also charged with helping more junior-level exhibit staff grow at Ideum. The designer must demonstrate high emotional intelligence, superior listening skills, and creative problem-solving abilities and have a vested interest in helping the teams in Creative Services reach their highest potential. 

Core Requirements and Duties:

• Effectively manage the production of design deliverables for complex projects that include multiple exhibits, large teams, and external collaborators
• 3D modeling and rendering, as well as 2D drafting and detailing of complex, AV-integrated exhibits and exhibitions
• Steadiness and dependability when complex projects with many stakeholders are facing challenges
• Communicate regularly with clients and present designs 
• Quality control of exhibit designs being produced by the department
• Quality control of exhibit fabrication so that it meets design intent, whether produced by internal fabrication and AV team or by outside contractors
• Travel to museums and other client destinations to work with staff at those locations, assess site conditions, review work in production, and oversee the implementation, installation, or commissioning of exhibits
• Investigation and sharing of trends and developments in critical fields, such as museum exhibitions, accessibility, and interactive technologies
• Active participation in and development of opportunities to share Ideum’s breadth and expertise with local and national individuals and professional peer groups involved in museum design, interpretive planning, education, technology, and appropriate STEAM and other communities
• Actively engage with and mentor staff Exhibit Designer.

Competencies

• 3D modeling and rendering of exhibits and exhibitions for clients
• 2D drafting and detailing of exhibits and exhibitions for clients and fabricators
• Ability to read standard exhibit and/or architectural floorplans and elevations 
• Exhibit design and production quality control, oversight, and coordination
• Exhibit design and production estimating
• Exhibit design and production scheduling
• At a minimum, conversant in environmental graphic design
• Planning of exhibits for durability and ease of maintenance
• Experience with traveling exhibits
• Experience working with architects
• Experience with fabrication
• Experience with master planning and/or interpretive planning for museums
• Leadership of client-facing exhibit design workshops
• Maintain positive client relationships
• Experience producing exhibits at a wide range of price points
• Efficient time management of self and others
• Maintain positive staff relationships
• Ability to develop and articulate strong concepts
• Prefers to prototype rather than speculate
• Embrace innovation that may be uncomfortable in the development process

About Ideum
We create meaningful experiences that use emerging technologies. Our approach is to create exhibits that evoke wonder, awe, and surprise and tell important stories about science, art, history, and culture that have a lasting impact. We are committed to creating visitor-centric interactive experiences of substance delivered in immersive and exciting ways.

We work with museums, educational institutions, Fortune 500 compani