Our newly created design vertical, Illuminate, aims to disrupt the traditional design delivery process through a proprietary, collaborative, and fully integrated design-build service offering. Illuminate promises to leverage our core construction capabilities, along with innovative technologies and processes to create world-class design-build and design-management services delivering to its clients design excellence with unprecedented levels of efficiency and predictability. 

The Senior Design Manager will proactively and collaboratively lead integrated teams, made up of both internal and external design and construction professionals, through Illuminate’s optimized, end-to-end design-build management process from design inception to building completion. The ideal candidate will commit themselves to substantially enhancing the efficiency, accuracy, completeness, and speed of the design, documentation, and construction process, and will enthusiastically leverage innovative procedures, tools, and technologies to exceed our client’s expectations.

The Senior Design Manager will be responsible for implementing and executing Illuminate’s design-build management process across multiple concurrent projects throughout Southern California. The successful candidate should expect a fast-pace, flexible, and highly collaborative working environment.

Responsibilities

Core Design Management

• Responsible for the successful realization of client’s project vision, including performance, programming, cost, and schedule objectives.
• Lead the interface between the Illuminate team, our operations, external design and industry professionals, trade partners, regulatory agencies, and other project stakeholders to achieve project goals, all the while embracing culture of authentic collaboration and technical competence.
• Maintain and support client relationships during all project phases, ensuring a client-first mentality that encourages both active engagement in and ownership of all design decisions.
• Lead project team meetings, workshops, and other collaborative communications throughout a project’s life cycle.
• Hold self, and teams, accountable for meeting deadlines and trouble-shoot challenges by leveraging the full capacity of interdisciplinary project teams.
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Design Process Management

• Lead the development and management of optimized design processes for each project, supporting the efficient, linear delivery of fully coordinated and buildable drawings prior to the start of construction.
• Build upon our world-class construction planning and execution capabilities by strategically aligning documentation development with construction sequencing, supporting streamlined workflows.
• In association with our preconstruction experts, lead the execution of rigorous, ‘real-time’, project constructability reviews during design process, ensuring that all documentation is complete, coordinated, and buildable prior to the start of construction.
• At key project design milestones, liaise with preconstruction teams to evaluate and validate that cost and schedule align with project objectives.

Illuminate Operations

• Track and report progress towards project milestone completion, staffing allocations, and project financial health.
• In collaboration with Illuminate leadership and the project team, analyze, refine, and test design-construction workflow assumptions in real-time to optimize Illuminate’s process moving forward.
• Leverage and grow our proprietary constructability knowledge database, which serves as a critical input to a proactive QA/QC process throughout design.
• Support Illuminate’s design technology staff in the introduction of automated design and documentation processes and workflows.

Qualifications

• Certification as licensed architect or professional engineer is strongly preferred.
• Professional degree in Architecture or Engineering is required. Advanced degree preferred.
• 8-10 years’ experience in the professional design services industry, with a background in design project management.
• Shared enthusiasm for executing the Illuminate vision, with a demonstrated willingness to rethink traditional methodologies and to passionately seek out advancements in project delivery outcomes.
• Desire to be part of something bigger than oneself and appreciate the opportunity and Illuminate bring to radically transform the design and construction industry.
• Genuinely collaborative and open to the expert opinions of leading construction and technology industry experts, all the while able to confidently bring technical design knowledge to the discussion.
• Deep awareness and sensitivity to the workings of the design and construction processes, and the ability to interpret and develop creative, technically competent, and constructible solutions to design challenges.
• Demonstrates value-driven design philosophy that incorporates sound business judgement, community benefit and aesthetic excellence.
• Possess a strong design sensibility and promotes a collaborative design mentality, assuring productive working relationships with both internal and external resources and disciplines.
• Strong management capabilities and proactive leadership qualities that allow for systematic and consistent implementation of standard processes, procedures, and systems across Illuminate and our broader design-build delivery business.
• Self-motivated and able to work as part of a team or independently, depending on the situation.
• Excellent communication and organizational skills
• Inquisitive with a passion for excellence and continual improvement.
• Able to travel, as needed.
• Ability to work and thrive in a fast-paced environment.
• Candidate must possess our Core Values: Passion, Integrity, Hard Work, Professionalism, and Caring

Working Conditions

While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly required to sit for long periods of time; talk or hear; perform fine motor, hand and finger skills in the use of a keyboard, telephone, or writing. The employee is frequently required to stand; walk; and reach with arms and/or hands. Specific vision abilities include close vision, distance vision, depth perception and the ability to adjust focus. The employee will spend their time in an office environment with a quiet to moderate noise level.

We provide equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, pregnancy or maternity, national origin, citizenship, genetic information, disability, protected veteran, gender identity, age or any other status protected by law. This policy applies to recruiting, hiring, transfers, promotions, terminations, compensation, benefits, and all other terms and conditions of employment. We will not tolerate any unlawful discrimination toward, or harassment of, applicants or employees by anyone working on behalf of our company.