Chroma

Project Manager
 

About Chroma

At Chroma, we believe that interior design should continually push the boundaries, seeking to make each home a bold, unique and beautiful expression of its residents and the world they live in.

Chroma is a San Francisco-based, boutique residential interior design studio and art consultancy led by Alexis Tompkins and Leann Conquer. The studio focuses on artful, luxury homes. Each project is designed in dynamic dialogue with the architecture, pulled through a conceptual lens of art, fashion, and contemporary culture executed pristinely with a compelling mixture of vintage, contemporary and custom furnishings. Each project is passion driven and entirely unique.  

About the Role

Chroma is looking for a highly capable Project Manager who sees the whole board: someone who instinctively understands how decisions made today create ripple effects tomorrow, and who keeps complex, multi-layered projects moving with clarity and intention.

You will work in close partnership with a Senior Designer and Creative Director on each project. The Creative Director drives the creative vision, the Senior Designer owns technical design decisions, and you own the operational architecture that brings it to life: tracking every moving piece, anticipating what's coming, bringing the client along, and making sure nothing falls through the cracks.

This role reports to the Director of Operations and currently is an individual contributor position. You will shepherd projects across the full lifecycle: from early creative development and concept through production, fabrication, and final install. Project budgets for the Project Manager role typically range from $500K–$5M+.

What You'll Do

Client Service & Relationship Management: As the primary point of contact for clients throughout each project, you will be the face and voice of the firm, translating our design vision into clear, confident communication at every stage.

• Deliver exceptional, white-glove client service throughout the project, bringing clients along for the ride with confidence, warmth, and clear communication
• Act as a trusted consultant to discerning homeowners, principals, and their representatives when navigating budget decisions, helping them understand trade-offs and make informed choices. You’ll anticipate needs and manage expectations with discretion.
• Translate complex design, procurement, and construction details into clear narratives that give clients confidence and clarity at every decision point.
• Maintain fluency in the visual, material, and cultural codes of luxury design. You’re  able to speak credibly about provenance, craftsmanship, and style with clients who expect the same.
• Handle sensitive conversations:  budget shifts, timeline changes, design pivots with composure, candor, and solutions-oriented framing.
• Represent the firm at client residences, showrooms, trade events, and industry gatherings with a refined personal presentation aligned with our brand
• Keep communication proactive and seamless across email, calls, and in-person meetings, ensuring clients always feel informed, considered, and prioritized

Project & Creative Process Management: As the operational lead at the project level, you own creating smooth progress with our design team and clients to move through the creative with ease. 

• Partner with the Creative Director and Senior Designer to move projects fluidly through all phases: from full home conceptualization and design development through production and install
• Facilitate meeting agendas, decision logs, and project pacing, ensuring the team always knows where they are, what's been decided, and what comes next
• Track the development of custom items from concept through fabrication approval, keeping design intent and delivery timelines in lock-step
• Manage interior architecture and remodel scopes, keeping contractors aligned and supporting construction timelines
• Anticipate downstream impacts of decisions and proactively surface risks before they become delays

Production & Fabrication Management: You’ll be the lead in the fabrication stages of the project, acting as the main point of contact with our vendors and moving through the production process. 

• Oversee custom fabricated pieces simultaneously across multiple vendors and fabricators, ensuring everything arrives on time and on spec
• Serve as the primary operational point of contact with vendors, fabricators, contractors, and artisans through the production and install phases
• Coordinate complex, multi-vendor installs with precision and calm

Operations & Forecasting: You’ll own the financial end of your projects and help connect them to the global health of Chroma. 

• Own all project documentation: scopes of work, schedules, budgets, production plans, and status reports
• Track budget actuals and flag variances proactively to Chroma leaders
• Participate in project forecasting to balance team workloads across projects and understand how individual project timelines and utilization ladder up to overall studio health and finances
• Support the management of team utilization rates and project milestone tracking across the portfolio
• Run weekly internal project status meetings and manage time billing and expense reporting accurately

What We're Looking For

• 5–8 years of project management experience in residential interior design, architecture, luxury construction, or a closely related production-heavy field
• A natural systems thinker. Someone who sees how the details interconnect, understands order of operations intuitively, and stays three steps ahead
• Someone who has demonstrated experience managing fabrication or production across multiple vendors simultaneously. They understand lead times, shop drawings, approvals, and what can go wrong
• Strong working knowledge of interior design and construction phases and how a project moves from creative development through install
• Experience managing project budgets in the range of $500K–$5M+
• Outstanding client-facing skills: warm, polished, and skilled at translating complexity into clarity for clients
• Proficiency with project management tools: we use Google Apps, Asana, Harvest, Forecast and Studio Manager
• Exceptional organizational skills and a high standard for documentation
• A calm, solutions-oriented presence under pressure
• Experience with CAD, rendering or building floor plans is not required but is a plus

Physical Requirements

This role includes occasional physical demands: site visits and installs may require lifting 20–25 lbs, climbing stairs, standing for extended periods, and working some evenings or weekends. This role is a hybrid role requiring 3 days a week in our office in the Dogpatch in San Francisco. Travel to and from client sites and installations may be required. Reasonable accommodations will be made for individuals with disabilities.

Compensation

Compensation and benefits commensurate with experience.