Client Leader, Public Safety

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.

DLR Group's Texas region has an opening for a Client Leader to lead Public Safety projects for our Justice + Civic sector. This role could be based in the following cities:

• Austin

• Dallas

• Fort Worth

• Houston

About Public Safety at DLR Group

As a nationally recognized expert in Justice + Civic facility planning and design, DLR Group has documented expertise and experience in public safety facilities related to operations, sustainable design, resilience planning, space planning, building assessment, cost of ownership analysis, and project management.

As one of the few large integrated design firms in the nation, DLR Group specializes in public safety facility design. We work with critical agencies and communities of all types, distilling needs into numbers, creating criteria, and providing realistic budgets for moving projects forward. DLR Group’s knowledge of how to design police operations environments is unsurpassed in the realm of public safety architecture.

Position Summary 

As a Client Leader, you will play a key role in business development, managing client relationships and leading contract negotiations. You will educate clients on our design process while collaborating with the project manager to ensure the financial success of each project. Throughout the project lifecycle, you will maintain consistent client contact, foster a collaborative and innovative work environment, and ensure that both client and DLR Group goals are met. 

If you are a collaborative thought leader with a strategic mindset this might be the position for you. DLR Group is 100% employee owned and as such you’ll enjoy the opportunity to have ownership in the Firm. We rely on all our employee-owners to apply their financial acumen to grow the Firm profitably. 

What you will do:

• Collaborate with the Project Manager on staffing, responsibilities, and performance feedback for project team members

• Facilitate and document meetings with staff and clients, coordinating project personnel, vendors, and consultants

• Participate in client contract negotiations, manage change requests, and approve project plan modifications

• Support business development initiatives by contributing to RFP responses and participating in client interviews

• Oversee project invoicing, ensuring accuracy and alignment with work deliverables, and manage account receivables

• Assist in negotiating scope of services, fees, and preparing Owner/Architect and Architect/Consultant Agreements

• Ensure complete and accurate client and project information is input into Vantagepoint and updated as necessary

• Lead the identification of key services, coordinating scope, fees, deliverables, and schedules for all disciplines involved

• Develop comprehensive project plans in Planifi, including schedules, milestones, and staffing, and initiate tasks in INDEPRO

• Manage project execution to meet client expectations for scope, quality, budget, and schedule, while coordinating activities of project personnel, vendors, and consultants

• Track project milestones, ensuring deliverable quality and submission, and provide status updates with adjustments as needed

• Assist in preparing proposals for design changes, managing additional services, and supporting invoicing and fee collection efforts

• Lead and mentor project teams, ensuring alignment with project plans, and maintain regular communication with clients to manage expectations

• Collaborate with design leaders to ensure compliance with DLR Group quality standards and integrate design expertise into the project at every phase

Required Qualifications:

• Bachelor's degree in Architecture, Engineering, Interior Design, or related construction field (Professional licensure preferred)

• At least 12 years of professional experience in the AEC industry, inclusive of at least 5 years in a client-facing role

• Proven experience leading large-scale architectural projects

• Experience with state and local jurisdictions

• Strong understanding of business management principles, including strategic planning, resource allocation, and leadership

• Knowledge of customer service principles, including needs assessment, quality standards, and customer satisfaction

• Expertise in design techniques and tools for producing technical plans, drawings, and models

• Familiarity with building methods, materials, and systems for construction and renovation projects

• Strong critical thinking, time management, and communication skills, both verbal and written

• Ability to actively listen, understand others' perspectives, and respond thoughtfully in conversations

• Proficient in Vantagepoint, Planifi, and Microsoft Suite (including Project)

• High proficiency in standard A/E/I/P software, with the ability to mentor and train team members in technical and software skills

• Strong working knowledge of design techniques, tools, and sustainable design principles for producing technical plans, drawings, and models

• Excellent written, verbal, and graphic communication skills, with demonstrated ability to lead, mentor, and develop junior staff while multitasking and maintaining high standards of quality

• Working knowledge of local building and zoning codes, with experience guiding teams in compliance and regulatory requirements

*TO BE CONSIDERED, PLEASE SUBMIT CURRENT PORTFOLIO/WORK SAMPLES IN PDF FORMAT*

#LI-MIS

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.