About the Role

As Chief Creative Officer, you will shape the creative vision across Staycity Group, bringing our brands to life through interior design, architecture and the spaces we create for our guests.

Staycity Group is one of Europe’s leading aparthotel operators, with 6,576 keys across 41 properties in eight countries. Our two brands, Staycity and Wilde, offer distinct experiences, with 29 Staycity properties and 12 Wilde properties. The UK is our largest market, followed by Mainland Europe and Ireland. With an ambitious development pipeline, we expect to double our key count over the next four years.

You will give both brands a clear and distinctive design identity, creating spaces that feel memorable, enhance the guest experience and deliver commercial value. Working closely with the CEO, ExCom and wider leadership team, you will shape the design of our existing properties and future developments, bringing fresh thinking, creativity and new ideas to life.

This is a great opportunity to make your mark on a growing European hospitality group at an important stage in its journey. As we double our key count over the next four years, you will help shape the creative vision and design standards that will define our brands and guest experiences for years to come.

Key Responsibilities

Group Creative Vision

• Define and lead the Group's creative vision, establishing a clear design philosophy across Staycity and Wilde.

• Translate each brand's positioning, personality and customer proposition into distinctive physical environments.

• Establish a recognisable design language for each brand while allowing individual properties to reflect their location, architecture and local character.

• Act as the Group's creative authority, setting direction and ensuring consistency across all design decisions.

• Work with Brand, Marketing and Commercial leadership to ensure the physical environment reinforces the wider brand proposition.

Interior Design Strategy & Standards

• Own the Group's interior design strategy, standards and creative direction across all properties.

• Establish design principles, specifications and guidelines covering layouts, materials, finishes, furniture, lighting, artwork and overall spatial experience.

• Ensure design standards balance quality, aesthetics, durability, functionality and cost.

• Lead the development of design concepts that can be adapted across different property types, locations and development models.

• Challenge conventional hospitality design and identify opportunities to create more distinctive, contemporary and memorable environments.

Property Development & New Openings

• Lead the creative vision and interior design direction for all new developments, acquisitions, conversions and property openings.

• Provide creative leadership from initial concept and feasibility through design development, specification and project delivery.

• Work closely with Development, Construction, Property, Projects and Operations teams to ensure the creative vision is realised within agreed budgets and timelines.

• Influence design decisions at the earliest stages of property development, ensuring the right creative direction is established before significant investment is committed.

• Ensure new properties reflect the individual brand proposition while meeting Group-wide design standards and commercial requirements.

Existing Estate & Design Evolution

• Own the ongoing creative development and design evolution of the existing estate.

• Establish a clear approach to refurbishment, renovation and reinvestment, prioritising opportunities that will deliver the greatest impact.

• Identify opportunities to improve existing spaces, modernise interiors and strengthen the guest experience

• Ensure properties remain relevant, competitive and aligned with the evolving identity of Staycity and Wilde

• Develop a consistent approach to design reviews, quality assessments and ongoing property improvement.

Guest Experience & Commercial Impact

• Ensure creative and design decisions are informed by guest expectations, customer insight, market trends and changing travel behaviours.

• Create environments that improve the overall guest experience, strengthen brand recognition and encourage repeat visits.

• Balance creative ambition with commercial performance, ensuring design investment delivers tangible value.

• Work closely with Operations, Revenue, Development and Finance to understand the impact of design on property performance, operating costs and long-term asset value.

• Identify opportunities to differentiate the Group through innovative use of space, design, technology and emerging hospitality trends.

Creative Leadership & Capability

• Build, lead and develop the Group's creative and interior design capability.

• Establish the appropriate internal structure, expertise and external partnerships to support the Group's current estate and future expansion.

• Lead relationships with architects, interior designers, design studios, suppliers and other creative partners.

• Establish clear creative governance, decision-making processes and accountability across the design lifecycle.

• Champion creativity, innovation and continuous improvement, developing a culture that challenges thinking and raises design standards.

• Provide creative leadership and influence at ExCom level, ensuring design and brand experience are central to the Group's strategic decisions.

What Success Looks Like

• Staycity and Wilde have distinctive, clearly defined and consistently delivered physical identities.

• A clear Group-wide creative vision and interior design strategy is established and embedded.

• New developments and openings reflect the brands' positioning and meet consistently high design standards.

• The existing estate is progressively improved through a structured and commercially prioritised design programme.

• Design concepts and specifications are scalable, supporting efficient delivery across multiple markets and property types.

• Guest experience, brand perception and property differentiation are strengthened through the physical environment.

• Creative investment delivers measurable value, balancing design quality with cost, durability and operational performance.

• A strong internal creative function and external design network are in place to support the Group's future growth.

• Properties have well-considered spaces that enhance guest experience while maximising their commercial potential.

• Design decisions demonstrably contribute to guest satisfaction, brand differentiation, revenue opportunities and property performance.

• Underutilised spaces are identified and transformed into more valuable guest or revenue-generating environments.

• Design investment is supported by a clear commercial rationale, with its impact evaluated over time.

What You'll Bring

• Significant senior-level experience in creative leadership, interior design or design direction, ideally within hospitality, hotels, lifestyle, residential or other customer-facing environments.

• A strong portfolio demonstrating the development and delivery of distinctive interior design concepts across multiple properties or large-scale projects.

• Experience leading creative strategy and translating brand positioning into physical environments.

• A strong understanding of interior architecture, spatial planning, materials, finishes, lighting, furniture and the wider guest environment.

• Experience managing complex design and development projects, from initial concept through to delivery.

• The ability to balance creative vision with commercial awareness, financial discipline and operational requirements.

• Experience building, leading and developing creative teams and managing external design partners.

• Strong influencing and stakeholder management skills, with the credibility to operate at Group ExCom level.

• A forward-thinking approach, with the ability to identify emerging design trends and translate them into relevant commercial opportunities.

• The ambition to challenge convention, raise standards and create environments that differentiate our brands in the European hospitality market.