Design Studio & Project Operations Manager
Custom Millwork
QLUX Millwork Solutions
North York, Ontario
Full-Time | In Person
QLUX Millwork Solutions is looking for an experienced, design-minded, highly organized individual to take on a central role within our custom kitchen and millwork operation.
This is not a drafting position, and it is not a traditional office administrator role.
We are looking for someone who can become a key point of connection between our clients, design studio, drafting team, production, estimating, installation, and management.
The right person will understand the custom kitchen and cabinetry industry, have a genuine talent for design, communicate confidently with clients, manage complex projects and changing information, and continuously look for smarter ways to organize and improve the business.
Our Design Studio :
At QLUX, we do not think of our space as simply a showroom.
We are building a Design Studio and Client Experience Center where clients can experience materials, finishes, proportions, lighting, cabinetry details, hardware, and complete design ideas before making decisions.
We believe clients are most confident when they can see, touch, feel, compare, and experience what they are considering rather than simply looking at drawings or samples.
A major part of this position will be helping manage that experience.
The right person should be able to welcome clients into the studio, understand what they are trying to achieve, guide conversations, present ideas confidently, help them make design decisions, and move the project forward.
This requires more than good communication.
It requires design judgment, product knowledge, confidence, organization, and the ability to understand both the aesthetic and practical side of custom millwork.
The Role :
This person will work closely with management and gradually take ownership of a significant portion of the client-facing and project-coordination side of the company.
Responsibilities may include:
- Managing the day-to-day activity of the QLUX Design Studio
- Meeting with clients and leading design and project discussions
- Helping clients understand and visualize cabinetry, kitchens, wall units, bars, closets, vanities, and other custom millwork
- Guiding clients through materials, finishes, colors, hardware, proportions, layouts, and design decisions
- Reviewing client ideas and suggesting stronger design solutions where appropriate
- Coordinating appointments, presentations, selections, revisions, approvals, and follow-ups
- Managing multiple active projects and keeping information organized as projects evolve
- Understanding client requests and identifying changes that may affect design, scope, pricing, materials, production, or installation
- Preparing, reviewing, and updating quotations
- Recognizing when a seemingly small client request creates additional manufacturing, material, hardware, or installation costs
- Coordinating project information between clients, designers, drafting, production, installation, and management
- Working with our existing drafting resources and clearly communicating what needs to be drawn, developed, or revised
- Reviewing drawings and project information before projects move forward
- Reading architectural drawings, elevations, appliance specifications, site measurements, and technical information
- Identifying design, technical, or coordination issues before they become production or installation problems
- Following projects from initial discussion through quotation, design development, approval, production, and installation
- Helping manage client expectations and keeping projects moving toward decisions
- Supporting estimating, purchasing, scheduling, and other operational requirements
- Becoming increasingly involved in sales and business development as knowledge and capability grow
Design Ability Is Important :
We are specifically looking for someone with real design instinct.
You should be able to look at a space and understand what could make it better — not simply whether cabinets physically fit.
You should have a strong sense of:
- Proportion and balance
- Kitchen and cabinetry layouts
- Materials and finishes
- Colors and combinations
- Architectural relationships
- Functional planning
- Lighting and presentation
- Contemporary kitchen and millwork design
- Details that separate ordinary cabinetry from refined custom work
You should be comfortable contributing ideas and respectfully challenging a design when you believe there is a better solution.
Formal education in interior design or architecture can be valuable, but demonstrated design talent and real-world judgment matter more to us than a particular degree.
Kitchen & Millwork Experience :
Previous experience in custom kitchen manufacturing, cabinetry, millwork, or a closely related industry is strongly preferred and will be given significant weight.
We are particularly interested in people who have worked within:
- Custom kitchen companies
- Cabinet or millwork manufacturers
- Kitchen design studios
- Architectural millwork companies
- Cabinet engineering or production
- Millwork project management
- Kitchen or millwork estimating
- Interior design involving custom cabinetry
- High-end residential construction
Someone who already understands how a project moves through:
Client → Design → Quotation → Revisions → Approval → Engineering → Production → Installation
will have a major advantage.
This is not intended to be an entry-level position.
We are looking for someone who already brings useful experience, judgment, and industry understanding to the table.
Technical & Software Capability :
You should be able to understand drawings, communicate design intent, identify potential problems, request proper revisions, and understand how design decisions translate into actual manufacturing and installation.
Experience with the following is valuable:
- SketchUp – strongly preferred
- Architectural drawings and elevations
- Cabinet construction and millwork detailing
- Materials, finishes, hardware, and appliance specifications
- Estimating and quotations
- Project management and coordination
- Cabinet Vision — experience is an asset; training can be provided
- Modern productivity, communication, and project-management software
We Want a Systems Thinker
One of the most important parts of this role is mindset.
We do not want someone who only follows an existing checklist.
We want someone who notices that the checklist itself could be better.
Someone who sees repetitive work, missing information, poor communication, unnecessary steps, or opportunities for error and starts thinking about how the system could be improved.
We want someone who naturally asks:
Can this be automated?
Can this information be captured once instead of five times?
Can we create a better process for this?
Can AI help us make this faster, clearer, or more accurate?
We are actively interested in using AI, automation, and modern technology to improve areas such as:
- Client communication
- Quotation preparation
- Project tracking
- Meeting notes and follow-ups
- Revision management
- Internal documentation
- Design presentations
- Information organization
- Sales follow-up
- Production coordination
- Quality control
You do not need to arrive with every solution already figured out.
But you should be curious, resourceful, technologically comfortable, and excited by the idea of building better systems rather than simply working inside old ones.
The Person We Are Looking For
You are likely a good fit if you:
- Have meaningful experience in kitchens, cabinetry, or custom millwork
- Have a genuine eye for design
- Are confident dealing directly with clients
- Can lead meetings and conversations rather than simply attend them
- Are highly organized
- Have strong English language proficiency is required, both verbal and written, due to the client-facing and coordination nature of the role
- Can manage many changing details without losing control of a project
- Understand that client revisions often have technical and financial consequences
- Think independently
- Have strong practical judgment
- Notice details other people miss
- Solve problems rather than simply identify them
- Are comfortable making decisions
- Take ownership of your responsibilities
- Learn quickly
- Are naturally curious about technology
- Understand the potential of AI
- Enjoy creating systems and improving processes
- Want to grow into greater responsibility
We are not looking for someone who simply waits to be given the next task.
We want someone who eventually knows the projects and operation well enough to anticipate what needs to happen next.
The Opportunity:
This role is intentionally broader than a traditional job description.
For the right individual, it can evolve into a significant management position within QLUX.
As you become familiar with our clients, products, design standards, pricing, manufacturing, and internal systems, your involvement can expand across:
Design Studio Management | Project Management | Client Management | Estimating | Operations | Sales | Process Development | Business Development | Leadership
We are prepared to invest in the right person's knowledge and development.
At the same time, we are looking for someone who wants to build something long term — someone who wants their responsibilities, knowledge, influence, and value within the company to grow over time.
About QLUX
QLUX Millwork Solutions is a North York-based manufacturer specializing in high-end custom kitchens, cabinetry, wall units, bars, vanities, closets, and architectural millwork.
Our operation brings together design, technical development, manufacturing, finishing, project coordination, and installation, giving this role exposure to the complete process rather than one isolated part of it.
Location: North York, Ontario
Work Location: In person
Compensation will reflect the candidate's experience, kitchen and millwork knowledge, design ability, technical capability, and overall fit for the position.
Candidates are encouraged to submit a resume along with examples of relevant work, including completed kitchens or millwork projects, design work, SketchUp work, drawings, presentations, or portfolio material where available.
A portfolio or examples of relevant design/project work are strongly encouraged.
Pay: From $28.00 per hour
Expected hours: 35.0 – 42.5 per week
Work Location: In person
