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Client Leader, Higher Education

Nashville, Tennessee, United States

DLR Group is an integrated design firm with a promise to elevate the human experience through design. This fuels the work we do around the world and inspires our mission to improve the lives of our clients, our communities, and our planet. If this sparks your interest, you’re in the right place.

Our Nashville studio has an opening for a Client Leader to help lead our Higher Education sector. We operate within a hybrid work model, supporting flexibility between office time and work from home.

About Higher Education at DLR Group

DLR Group’s Higher Education practice fully embraces our responsibility to society by designing spaces that emphasize academic learning and social development. We are transforming the educational landscape, working with our clients to set new horizons for learning and living that enrich school communities, the spaces they strive to provide, and what they can achieve. Our team draws from evidence-based design to work with shareholders to affect student and teacher engagement, ensuring that learning is enhanced through design. We also understand the rapid pace of technological, social, and cultural change; our teams work with schools to navigate these challenges.

Position Summary

 

As a Client Leader at DLR Group, you will be responsible for leading and growing our client relationships and projects for Higher Education in Tennessee. As a part of an integrated design team, you will participate in the creation of buildings that elevate the human experience through design. You will be responsible for building upon our growing portfolio in Tennessee and discovering new and untapped opportunities in the region, while maintaining close contact with clients during active projects. DLR Group has recently completed and/or has ongoing projects at Vanderbilt University, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, University of Tennessee at Martin, University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, Tennessee State University, and the Tennessee Board of Regents. You will partner with the Southeast Higher Education Regional Sector Leader and the talented design professionals across the practice nationally to lead the pursuit strategy, project awards, and the implementation of planning and design excellence in support of our clients’ mission.

What you will do:

  • Manage project execution, ensuring alignment with budget, schedule, and scope while maintaining client expectations
  • Collaborate with the Project Manager on staffing, responsibilities, and performance feedback for project team members
  • Track project milestones and deliverables, ensuring adherence to quality standards and preparing regular status reports
  • Facilitate and document meetings with staff and clients, coordinating project personnel, vendors, and consultants
  • Participate in client contract negotiations, manage change requests, and approve project plan modifications
  • Support business development initiatives by contributing to RFP responses and participating in client interviews
  • Oversee project invoicing, ensuring accuracy and alignment with work deliverables, and manage account receivables

Required Qualifications:

  • Bachelor's degree in Architecture, Engineering, Interior Design, or related construction field (Professional licensure preferred)
  • At least 10 years of professional experience in the AEC industry, inclusive of at least 5 years in a client-facing role
  • Strong understanding of business management principles, including strategic planning, resource allocation, and leadership
  • Knowledge of customer service principles, including needs assessment, quality standards, and customer satisfaction
  • Expertise in design techniques and tools for producing technical plans, drawings, and models
  • Familiarity with building methods, materials, and systems for construction and renovation projects
  • Strong critical thinking, time management, and communication skills, both verbal and written
  • Ability to actively listen, understand others' perspectives, and respond thoughtfully in conversations

*TO BE CONSIDERED, PLEASE SUBMIT CURRENT PORTFOLIO/WORK SAMPLES IN PDF FORMAT*

#LI-MIS

DLR Group is an integrated design firm delivering architecture, engineering, interiors, planning, and building optimization for new builds, renovations, and adaptive reuse projects.

We are 100% employee-owned: every employee is literally invested in our clients’ success. At the core of our firm are interdisciplinary teams engaged in every step of project lifecycles. Our teams champion true collaboration, open information sharing, shared risk and reward, value-based decision making, and proficient use of technology to deliver exceptional design. We are pursuing the goals of the 2030 Challenge, the ME2040, and the SE2050, and are an initial signatory of the China Accord and the AIA 2030 Commitment.

Through our values – commitment, creativity, environmental stewardship, fun, integrity, ownership, sharing, teamwork – we elevate the human experience through design, together.

We are proud to be an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action/M/F/Veteran/Disabled employer.

 

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