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Client Leader, Justice+Civic

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 the growth of our Justice+Civic sector. We operate within a hybrid work model, supporting flexibility between office time and work from home.

About Justice + Civic at DLR Group 

As a nationally recognized expert in Justice + Civic facility planning and design, DLR Group serves municipal, county, state, and federal public-sector clients to deliver civic, public safety, and justice design solutions that achieve excellence in operations, sustainable design, resilience planning, space planning, building assessment, cost of ownership analysis, and project management. As stewards of the built environment, DLR Group's Justice + Civic practice elevates behavioral, environmental, and social betterment, resulting in healing, equity, and transformation for the individual and community.

Position Summary

Lead all aspects of project delivery and client relationships while driving business development initiatives in the Justice+Civic sector. Oversee project teams, financial performance, and design excellence from pursuit through completion. Serve as the primary client contact while ensuring successful project outcomes that meet both client goals and firm objectives.

What you will do:

  • Drive business development through RFP responses, client interviews, and contract negotiations
  • Lead comprehensive project planning including schedules, staffing, budgets, and scope development
  • Manage relationships with government agencies, public stakeholders, and institutional clients
  • Oversee project teams, consultants, and vendors to ensure quality deliverables within established parameters
  • Monitor project financial performance, including invoicing and accounts receivable
  • Develop and track project milestones, status reports, and quality standards
  • Provide leadership and performance feedback to project team members
  • Coordinate and document client/staff meetings and key decisions
  • Collaborate with design leaders to maintain design excellence across all project phases

Required Qualifications:

  • Bachelor's degree in Architecture, Engineering, Interior Design, or related field
  • Professional licensure preferred
  • 8+ years experience, including 5+ years in justice and civic architecture with demonstrated expertise in courthouses, detention facilities, or government buildings
  • Strong understanding of public sector procurement processes and government contracting
  • Expertise in design techniques, tools, and construction methods specific to secure facilities
  • Proficiency in project management software (Vantagepoint, Planifi, INDEPRO) and Microsoft Suite
  • Excellence in stakeholder management and public presentation skills
  • Proven ability to lead teams and manage complex public projects
  • Understanding of building codes, security requirements, and institutional design standards

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

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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