Project Manager, Higher Education - DLR Group

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.?

Join Our Team in California!

DLR Group has an opening for a Project Manager. We operate within a hybrid work model, supporting flexibility between office time and work from home.

This position is available in the following location(s):

• Los Angeles, CA
• Riverside, CA
• San Diego, CA

Position Summary

As a Project Manager, you will lead and oversee all aspects of one or multiple higher education campus projects, ensuring design excellence and project quality throughout the contract duration. This role involves managing project teams, coordinating with external consultants, and overseeing schedules, budgets, and financial health. You will play a key role in upholding our commitment to sustainability and delivering exceptional design standards that enhance the educational environment.

Responsibilities

Project Management:

• Manage project execution to meet client scope, quality, budget, and schedule expectations.
• Coordinate activities among project personnel, vendors, and consultants.
• Monitor project milestones and deliverables to ensure timely completion.
• Review and confirm the quality of project submissions and deliverables.
• Communicate project status and implement necessary planning revisions.
• Prepare proposals for client-directed changes and additional services.
• Assist in invoice preparation and account receivables collection.

Project Planning:

• Support business development by participating in RFQ, RFP, and interview processes.
• Negotiate scope of services and fees, preparing agreements with clients and consultants.
• Ensure accurate project information is input and maintained in Vantagepoint.
• Identify key services and coordinate deliverables, fees, and schedules across disciplines.
• Select qualified team members for project needs.
• Develop and update comprehensive project plans, including schedules and staffing.

Project Team & Client Management:

• Provide proactive leadership to foster design excellence and innovation within the project team.
• Communicate project plans and revisions to ensure team alignment.
• Assign roles and responsibilities to project personnel in coordination with discipline leads.
• Facilitate and document meetings with staff and clients.
• Monitor team performance and provide feedback, participating in recruitment efforts.
• Maintain clear communication with clients about project progress and decisions.

Design Excellence:

• Collaborate with design leaders to ensure access to relevant design expertise.
• Confirm compliance with integrated design processes and quality standards.
• Engage all design disciplines throughout the project phases.
• Monitor design progress to ensure alignment with project goals and client expectations.

Required Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree in a design-related field.
• Minimum of 8 years of professional experience in the design industry, with at least 3 years in project management.
• Proven ability to lead, communicate effectively, and collaborate with team members and clients.
• Detail-oriented, process-driven, and highly organized.
• Strong proficiency in industry-standard software relevant to the role.
• Familiarity with design techniques, tools, and sustainable design principles for creating accurate technical plans, drawings, reports, and models.
• Understanding of local building and zoning codes.
• Must be eligible to work in the United States without need for work visa or residency sponsorship

Preferred Qualifications:

• Professional licensure is preferred but not required.
• Excellent written, verbal, and visual communication skills.
• Capacity to manage multiple tasks while maintaining high standards of quality and productivity.

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.

Our comprehensive benefits at X include medical, dental, vision, disability, wellness programs, flex spending, paid holidays, and paid time off. We also offer 401k, employee stock ownership, and bonus opportunities. Compensation considerations are based on location, experience, and skills; the potential pay range for this role is $100,000 - 130,000 annually.

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.