Sr. Design Leader

About the role

We are seeking a senior-level creative leader who will be a senior member of the office leadership team(s) and part of a network of other creative leaders across the firm. You will help nurture and develop people and design culture and be a leading voice for design excellence firm-wide and to the outside world.

Responsibilities

• Accountable for design excellence and the overall design quality of our work.
• Perform in a lead design role communicating and representing design goals to the client and the team for the life of the project, with particular emphasis on early phase development.
• Partner with our most strategic thinkers, co-leading visioning and setting conceptual direction.
• Collaborate with teams throughout all phases of development to ensure design quality.
• Create innovative design concepts that synthesize our clients’ culture, goals, and aspirations with the needs of people, community, society and the environment.
• Deliver solutions uniquely responsive to this expanded view of design impact.
• Prepare and direct the preparation of client presentation materials to convey the design in a compelling and sophisticated manner.
• Lead design presentations, with an emphasis on storytelling and aiding client understanding of the design.
• Capture and communicate key client goals and metrics and how our design solutions add value to our clients’ success.
• Collaborate with marketing and communications team to build strong narratives of our work.
• Work within our culture of being an integrated practice by collaborating with technical leaders, subject matter experts and others, creating holistic design solutions that fulfill the complex array of demands our projects require.
• Integrate performance-based and sustainable design strategies into design solutions.
• Further our goals to decarbonize the built environment and meet the AIA 2030 Commitment.
• Contribute to the firm’s portfolio with externally recognized design work.
• Publish projects in design and market-specific media outlets, as well as other potential opportunities for publication such as articles on research and innovation.
• Regularly submit and successfully win design awards.
• Engage in activities that strengthen, differentiate, and promote our brand locally, regionally, and nationally, including cultivating your personal reputation as a creative leader in the profession.
• Present at and contribute to conferences.

Culture, Growth and Mentorship

• Partner in creating a strong design culture in your office(s) and the firm.
• Mentor and grow emerging through mid-career design professionals toward current and future creative leadership.
• Set the standard for an environment that exemplifies collaboration, experimentation, innovation, creativity, and entrepreneurship.
• Recruit, retain and grow entering through mid-career design talent.
• Create a stimulating and rewarding environment that sets the tone for design excellence and demonstrates it across the firm.
• Empower staff and delegate effectively; build high-performance teams by encouraging innovation and continuous improvement.
• Provoke critical thinking and critique of our work.
• Lead by example, pursuing and winning design work that represents our future selves and advancing our Living-Centered Design philosophy.

Client and Business Development

• Have a close working relationship with market and client leaders in the office(s) and firm, contributing to business strategy.
• Develop and maintain client relationships; build client trust and loyalty; and collaborate in bringing in work.
• Build upon CannonDesign’s legacy clients as well as your own prior relationships for these purposes.
• Seek out and identify new client opportunities for CannonDesign in collaboration with the business development and marketing teams.
• Actively lead and participate in client and project pursuit strategies from the early identification of target clients and opportunities through the proposal submittal and interview process.
• Contribute to top line success with a goal of $3M annually in net signed fees, in collaboration with your partner practice and market leaders.

Business Plan Leadership

• Responsible for the ideation and implementation of key strategies in our business plans, focused on creative process, imagination, improving our work, investing all our staff in design and innovation, and disseminating ideas both internally and externally that achieve firm distinction.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in architecture; Master’s degree in architecture preferred.
• Current US Architectural Registration preferred.
• 18 years minimum experience in related roles, of which a minimum of 5 years are leading others in a design studio or design practice segment required.
• Additional accreditation and/or training relevant to this role is preferred, including LEED.
• Nationally recognized design portfolio of significant built and unbuilt work.
• Third-party recognition of your work as a lead designer with local, regional or national design awards programs and recognized design publications or digital platforms is required.
• Strong communication, presentation, and leadership skills required.
• Business acumen and proven ability to define and execute strategy.
• Professional acumen and maturity demonstrated by the ability to communicate authentically and respectfully.
• Travel required.