Design Manager - Education, Culture & Community

Cities are shaped by the strength of their institutions. Universities inspire discovery. Cultural organizations connect communities. Mission-driven organizations create opportunities for learning, innovation, and belonging. Our San Francisco Cities studio partners with clients who are advancing education, culture, research, and community impact to create places that contribute to a more vibrant, resilient, and equitable future. We believe great design can strengthen institutions, enrich communities, and positively shape the future of our cities. As designers, thinkers, makers, and problem-solvers, we see creativity, technical rigor, sustainability, and collaboration as essential parts of the same process. The best work emerges when bold ideas, thoughtful execution, and deep human understanding come together, and we are committed to developing designers and architects who embrace all three.

About the role

Gensler's San Francisco Cities studio is seeking a Design Manager with 7-12 years of experience to join our team focused on higher education, cultural, community, and other mission-driven projects. We are looking for a collaborative project leader who is interested in building upon a strong foundation in design and project delivery while developing deeper expertise in project leadership, client engagement, and design management.

In the Cities 2 studio, Design Managers are active participants throughout the life of a project. They help lead projects by building trust, facilitating decisions, coordinating teams, and maintaining alignment between design ambition, technical execution, project goals, schedule, budget, and client expectations. The ideal candidate enjoys being deeply engaged in projects, from early planning conversations and stakeholder engagement through documentation, bidding, construction administration, and occupancy. Our projects are often delivered by small, highly collaborative teams, and project leaders remain closely connected to both design and delivery throughout the process. This role is ideal for someone who has begun managing projects or major project workstreams and wants to continue developing leadership skills while remaining closely connected to design, technical quality, and client service.

Responsibilities

• Help lead educational, cultural, and community-focused projects through all phases of design and construction.
• Build productive relationships with clients, user groups, consultants, contractors, and project teams.
• Facilitate project communication, decision-making, and coordination across all project phases.
• Collaborate with project teams to maintain alignment between design intent, project goals, schedule, budget, and quality.
• Support project planning, staffing, scheduling, consultant coordination, and project execution.
• Participate in programming, stakeholder engagement, workshops, presentations, design reviews, and client meetings.
• Coordinate multidisciplinary teams and help resolve project challenges through proactive leadership and communication.
• Monitor project scope, schedule, resources, and project performance while supporting overall project success.
• Help guide projects through permitting, bidding, construction administration, and project closeout.
• Support fee proposals, scope development, and project planning activities.
• Mentor and support emerging designers and technical staff.
• Contribute to a collaborative studio culture that values design excellence, technical rigor, mentorship, continuous learning, and shared success.

Requirements

• Bachelor's or Master's degree in Architecture from an accredited program.
• 8+ years of professional experience in architecture, including experience leading projects or significant project workstreams through multiple phases of design and delivery.
• Licensed architect or actively pursuing professional licensure.
• Experience serving as a Project Architect, project lead, or similar role with increasing responsibility for project coordination, client communication, and project delivery.
• Demonstrated ability to build trust with clients, consultants, contractors, and project teams.
• Strong design judgment and technical understanding, with the ability to support both project vision and project execution.
• Experience contributing to projects through design development, construction documentation, bidding, and construction administration.
• Strong organizational, communication, and collaboration skills.
• Ability to manage multiple priorities while maintaining attention to quality, detail, and team performance.
• Proficiency in Revit and familiarity with project delivery workflows and consultant coordination.
• Understanding of building systems, construction methodologies, project delivery methods, and architectural detailing.
• Familiarity with building codes, accessibility requirements, and the fundamentals of project delivery.
• Initiative, accountability, and a desire to continue growing as a project leader.

Skills

• Experience working on higher education, cultural, institutional, civic, or other mission-driven projects.
• Experience contributing to projects from programming and planning through construction administration.
• Familiarity with public bid environments, institutional procurement processes, and/or publicly funded projects.
• Experience working with highly engaged clients, user groups, and stakeholders who actively participate in shaping project outcomes throughout the design process.
• Curiosity about both the design and business sides of professional practice.
• Success balancing diverse stakeholder perspectives while advancing project goals, design vision, and project outcomes.
• Comfort working within small, highly collaborative project teams where responsibilities evolve across project phases.
• Experience coordinating consultants and multidisciplinary project teams.
• Experience working within design-build, progressive design-build, or other highly collaborative project delivery models.
• Interest in building long-term client relationships and serving as a trusted advisor.
• Experience coordinating projects with sustainability, resilience, wellness, electrification, LEED certification, or other high-performance building goals as part of project planning, design, and delivery.
• Familiarity with LEED, WELL, Living Building Challenge, Fitwel, Net Zero, or similar frameworks is a plus.
• Interest in the relationship between design excellence, technical craft, client experience, and project delivery.

Benefits

• Comprehensive medical, dental, and vision benefits.
• Disability and wellness programs.
• Flex spending and paid time off.
• Paid holidays.
• 401k, profit sharing, and employee stock ownership.
• Twice annual bonus opportunities.
• Reimbursement for certain professional licenses, associated renewals, and exam fees.
• Tuition reimbursement for certain eligible programs or classes.
• Industry-leading training, mentorship, and professional development resources.

Pay

Competitive compensation package that includes an estimated base salary of $106,000-$150,000 and bonus opportunities. Compensation is based on experience, qualifications, and market factors.

Schedule

This is not a remote position. This position is expected to be in the office full-time.