Designer recommendations for full interior remodel

We recently moved to the area. Our house was built in the 1970s and we bought it from the original owners, so we're starting to think about doing a full remodel of the interior. We are not planning on adding any square footage nor changing the roof line, so I don't believe we need a full blown architect. However, we will be removing at least one load bearing interior wall and putting up some new walls to turn a large unused bonus space into a guest bedroom, bathroom, and a small office. The exterior of the house will be unchanged other than perhaps the size of some windows and changing a sliding door to a window (and vice versa).

For a previous remodel, we just hired a contractor, purchased all the materials ourselves, and told the contractor what to do and where to do it. But everything was a like for like replacement, so we were really just picking out materials. This time around, given the scope of the remodel we're thinking about hiring a designer to draw up plans for us and help us with some decisions on both function (how to layout the new downstairs rooms, etc.) and materials.

Does anyone have any recommendations for designers in the area, as well as how to proceed with a remodel using a designer instead of just hiring a contractor? Should we be looking to hire a designer who points us towards some contractors they normally work with, or should we take the plans and design from the designer and bid it out to multiple contractors as a separate step? Thanks!