Demographic and Planning Projections Expert
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.
Position Summary
We are seeking an experienced Planning Projections / Demographic Expert to join DLR Group, with a focus on our public practices, including Justice + Civic, Higher Education, and K-12 Education market sectors. In this role, you will lead data analysis and forecasting efforts that inform facility planning through evidence-based population projections, demographic analysis, and caseload forecasting solutions.
About DLR Group’s Justice + Civic & Education Market Sectors
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. Our Higher Education and K-12 Education practices transform the educational landscape by designing spaces emphasizing academic learning, social development, and community engagement. Drawing from evidence-based design principles across all our studios, we work with stakeholders to enhance student and teacher engagement while navigating technological, social, and cultural changes. Population projection and demographic analysis are growing specialties in our portfolio. As stewards of the built environment, DLR Group elevates behavioral, environmental, and social betterment, resulting in healing, equity, and transformation for individuals and communities through thoughtfully designed spaces.
What You Will Do:
- Collaboratively work with integrated teams of architects, engineers, and specialty consultants
- Collect, clean, and validate diverse datasets from various public & private sources
- Develop and refine statistical models to forecast future educational & secure treatment populations
- Incorporate factors such as demographics, crime rates, sentencing guidelines, and release rates into projections
- Analyze historical enrollment, caseload data, including case types, dispositions, and processing times
- Identify trends, patterns, and correlations within the education & justice system data
- Create clear and informative visualizations to communicate findings effectively
- Prepare comprehensive reports summarizing findings, trends, and recommendations
- Present insights to stakeholders, including policymakers and administrators
- Develop and implement statistical models to predict future court caseloads & enrollment rates
- Consider factors such as population growth, economic conditions, and legislative changes
- Evaluate the accuracy and reliability of forecasts through statistical analysis
- Support facility planning teams with data-driven decision-making tools
- Contribute to research initiatives and thought leadership in education and justice facility planning
- Conduct post-occupancy evaluations to validate projection accuracy
- Mentor team members on data analysis and projection methodologies
- Support cost estimation through accurate population and spatial need assessments
Required Qualifications:
- Bachelor's degree in statistics, data science, economics, or related field
- 5+ years of experience in data analysis, population projections, or demographic forecasting
- Knowledge of statistical software (e.g., R, Python, SAS)
- Experience with data mining techniques and predictive modeling
- Experience with public sector projects and stakeholder engagement
- Strong analytical and problem-solving capabilities
- Excellent written, verbal, and graphic communication skills
Preferred Qualifications:
- Actuary
- Master's degree in statistics, data science, economics, or related field
- Experience with geographic information systems (GIS)
- Knowledge of specific correctional data systems and reporting standards
- Familiarity with data privacy and security best practices
- Experience with legal databases and case management systems
- Professional certification in data analysis or related field
- Background in criminal justice or public policy
- Strong understanding of criminal justice systems and incarceration trends, court systems and caseload analysis methodologies, and relevant policy factors affecting justice populations
- Familiarity with facility planning principles
- Knowledge of justice system operations and procedures
- Experience with secure facility needs assessment
- Understanding of behavioral health impacts on justice populations
- Research experience in justice system trends
- Publication history in relevant professional journals
- Experience with grant writing and funding applications
- Professional affiliation with criminal justice or data science organizations
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.
DLR Group follows a four-day in-office work model, with employees having the flexibility to work somewhere other than the office on Fridays.
We are proud to be an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action/M/F/Veteran/Disabled employer.
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