Pursuit Leader - Private Markets - DLR Group

We are an integrated design firm with a promise to elevate the human experience through design. This promise fuels our work 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.

DLR Group operates within a hybrid work model, supporting flexibility between office time and work from home. Live somewhere other than the listed locations? DLR Group has a network of 30+ studios across the United States. For this role, we encourage exceptional applicants across the ecosystem.

Locations:

• Chicago, IL
• Denver, CO
• Minneapolis, MN
• Omaha, NE
• Los Angeles, CA
• Nashville, TN
• San Francisco, CA
• Seattle, WA

The Pursuit Leader – Private Markets (Hospitality, Mixed-Use, and Workplace) evaluates and ensures quality deliverables for project pursuits in our Workplace, Hospitality, and Mixed-Use sectors, from the receipt of an RFP to interview completion. They mentor and grow a high-performing team that is instrumental in achieving sector(s) annual new fee and ROI goals. Daily, the Pursuit Leader will assign work and guide Pursuit Managers and Proposal Specialists in producing deliverables to capture new work. The Pursuit Leader will partner with Global Sector Leaders, Business Development Leaders, Regional Sector Leaders, and Client Leaders to evaluate opportunities, finalize Go/No Go decisions, and develop win strategies executed in RFI/RFQ, RFP responses, and interviews.

Essential Functions:

• Manage and mentor a team in assigned sectors, inspiring a creative growth mindset, cultivating a strong conversion strategy, and maintaining effective and efficient workflows.
• Manage the pursuit pipeline across assigned sectors, including reviewing and assigning all new incoming opportunities.
• On critical pursuits, lead the pursuit process with on-time, brand standard compliant deliverables (statement of qualification, request for proposal response, and interviews) from nose-to-tail with no supervision. This includes leading multi-disciplinary critical pursuit team(s) (designers, project managers, client leaders, and creative services) to leverage business development intelligence, develop persuasive win themes, and deliver content in support of the client’s needs.
• Establish and uphold standard processes, workflows, and communication patterns to support efficient and effective teamwork and deliverable production across your team.
• Develop and maintain on-brand sector(s) pursuit asset libraries including resumes, project plates, and boilerplate information, populated by proactive content capture following submittal.
• Support DLR Group’s ROI, shortlist, and win rate goals with strong conversion strategy and execution.
• Target using your robust knowledge base—including industry research, business development intelligence, firm capabilities, and market sector expertise—to add value and increase the likelihood of winning.
• Champion DLR Group as a best-in-class brand by developing and enforcing systems for comprehensive quality control.

Required Experience and Skills:

• Degree in Marketing, Communications, English, or similar
• 10+ years of experience with progressive pursuit management responsibilities in a professional services environment, preferably the AEC industry
• Experience hiring, leading, mentoring, and managing high-performance teams
• Proven ability to thrive under multiple concurrent deadlines with agility and ease, expert in prioritization to maintain focus on established strategic direction
• Demonstrated systems thinking and ability to recognize patterns and affect organizational improvements, especially within a pursuit / proposal ecosystem.
• Attention to detail and an ability to craft deliverables that comply with RFP requirements while creatively expressing the DLR Group brand and differentiators
• Critical thinker who can quickly evaluate needs and recommend responsive solutions
• Strong project and people management skills with a high degree of sophistication in navigating internal stakeholders and competing deadlines; ability to quickly build consensus, and positively 'manage up' to get senior-level individuals to support established processes with input and insight in a timely manner
• Proficiency in Adobe Creative Suite, especially InDesign; proficiency in Microsoft Suite, including PowerPoint and Teams

Preferred Experience and Skills:

• Knowledge in RFP response for private sector audiences including developers and Fortune 500 end users
• familiarity with information gathering from a database, Deltek Vantagepoint preferred

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 DLR Group include: medical, dental, vision, disability, wellness programs, flex spending, paid holidays, and paid time off. We also offer a 401k, employee stock ownership, and bonus opportunities. Compensation considerations are based on location, experience, and skills.

Through our values—commitment, creativity, environmental stewardship, fun, integrity, ownership, sharing, and teamwork—we elevate the human experience through design together.

We are proud to be an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action/M/F/Veteran/Disabled employer.