Design Leader II

Summary

Join CannonDesign as a Design Leader in the Commercial market, contributing to the firm's vision of being a leading design firm globally. You will lead design projects, mentor emerging professionals, and build client relationships. Responsibilities include leading design teams, preparing client presentations, and integrating sustainable design strategies. The role requires a Bachelor's or Master's degree in Architecture, 15+ years of experience in design leadership, and strong presentation skills. Preferred qualifications include US Architectural Registration, LEED accreditation, and a portfolio showcasing significant design work. CannonDesign offers a full benefits package including medical, dental, vision, paid time off, flex-time schedules, remote work options, and a 401k plan.

Requirements

• Bachelor or Master degree in Architecture required
• 15 years minimum experience in a design leadership role, of which a minimum of 3 years are leading others in a design studio or design practice segment required
• Strong oral presentation and storytelling skills required
• Must be able to understand and execute business strategy
• Must have professional acumen and maturity demonstrated by the ability to communicate authentically and respectfully
• Travel required

Responsibilities

• Participating in the leadership of the Commercial market, be a voice in its evolution, culture and integration across the firm and help to define its new place in the industry
• 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. Support Senior Design Leaders on significant strategic pursuits
• 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 other design leaders as well as 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
• Engage in activities that strengthen, differentiate, and promote our brand locally, regionally, and nationally. This includes cultivating your personal reputation as a creative leader in the profession. Presentation at and contribution to conferences is encouraged
• Mentoring and growing emerging professionals toward future creative leadership. You will assist in nurturing an environment that exemplifies collaboration, experimentation, innovation, creativity, and entrepreneurship
• Recruiting and retaining design talent
• Creating a stimulating and rewarding environment that sets the tone for design excellence and demonstrates it across the firm
• Empowering staff and delegating effectively; building high-performance teams by encouraging innovation and continuous improvement
• Provoking critical thinking and critique of our work
• Leading by example, pursuing and winning design work that represents our future selves and advancing our Living-Centered Design philosophy
• You will be responsible for developing and maintaining client relationships; building client trust and loyalty; and collaborating in bringing in work. You will be expected to build upon CannonDesign’s legacy clients as well as your own prior relationships for these purposes. You will seek out and identify new client opportunities for CannonDesign in collaboration with the market leadership, business development and marketing teams
• You will be expected to participate in client and project pursuit strategies from the early identification of target clients and opportunities through the proposal submittal and interview process. Today, the commercial market targets various sectors including workplace solutions, developer-driven products, entertainment, hospitality, science and technology, professional sports, and other opportunities outlined in our annual business plan
• In service of ownership expectations, you will have a contributory goal of $2M in net signed fees annually in collaboration with your market and office leaders

Preferred Qualifications

• Bachelor or Master degree in Architecture from an accredited program preferred
• Current US Architectural Registration preferred
• Additional accreditation and/or training relevant to this role is preferred, including LEED
• Design portfolio of significant built and unbuilt work. Third party recognition of your work as a lead or supporting design role by local, regional, or national design awards programs and recognized design publications or digital platforms is preferred

Benefits

• Medical, dental and vision coverage
• Flexible spending account options and voluntary insurances
• Paid time off
• Flex-time schedules
• Remote work options
• 401k plan
• Employee perk programs
• Employees may be eligible for discretionary bonuses