Senior Design Manager – A/E Services

Location: Los Angeles, California

Position Type: Full-Time, In-Person

Openings: 1

Position Summary

seeking a Senior Design Manager – A/E Services to support Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD).

The Senior Design Manager will manage multiple capital improvement and facilities projects, with a strong focus on seismic, critical repair, retrofit, engineering repair, and educational facility projects.

The role will lead and coordinate architects, engineers, consultants, and District stakeholders throughout the design process. The successful candidate will ensure projects meet scope, budget, schedule, design quality, regulatory, environmental, and LAUSD standards.

This is a Los Angeles-based, full-time, in-person position.

Key Responsibilities

• Manage multiple design and capital improvement projects, particularly seismic, critical repair, retrofit, and engineering repair projects.
• Lead and supervise architects, engineers, design professionals, consultants, and other project team members through the design review process.
• Manage and coordinate the A/E design process from planning through design completion.
• Ensure designs comply with project scope, program requirements, budget, schedule, environmental requirements, legal requirements, and applicable codes.
• Coordinate with architects, engineers, consultants, contractors, and LAUSD personnel to ensure timely project delivery.
• Oversee the design of new, modernized, repaired, and renovated educational facilities.
• Ensure projects comply with LAUSD design standards, guidelines, educational requirements, and applicable building standards.
• Support the selection of architectural and engineering firms based on qualifications, capabilities, and performance.
• Establish project goals, objectives, design standards, schedules, budgets, and site requirements for A/E teams.
• Develop and maintain an effective design review process.
• Review design documents and proposed changes for quality, compliance, cost, and constructability.
• Monitor project planning and design progress and provide status reports, recommendations, and updates.
• Review design changes and help ensure projects remain within approved budgets.
• Maximize value for project expenditures while meeting functional, community, environmental, and long-term facility requirements.
• Perform other duties as assigned.

Minimum Qualifications

Required Experience

• 14+ years of full-time professional experience managing facilities design, planning, or coordination of capital projects.
• Experience must include responsibility for areas such as:
• Overall project design
• Design management
• Contract administration
• Cost estimating
• Scheduling
• Project coordination
• At least 4 years of experience with educational facilities or similar public-sector/public-agency projects.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills.
• Demonstrated experience managing architects, engineers, consultants, and multidisciplinary design teams.

Required Education

• Bachelor's degree from an accredited college or university in:
• Architecture, or
• Engineering

Preferred Education

• Master's degree in Architecture or Engineering.

Preferred License/Certification

One of the following is preferred:

• California Registered Architect (RA) – California State Architectural Board
• California Professional Engineer (PE) – California State Board for Professional Engineers and Land Surveyors

Ideal Candidate Profile

The ideal candidate will have:

• 14+ years of design/project management experience.
• Strong A/E design management background.
• Experience managing large-scale public-sector capital projects.
• At least 4 years of K-12/educational facilities or comparable public-agency experience.
• Experience with seismic upgrades, critical repairs, retrofits, modernization, or facility rehabilitation.
• Strong understanding of architectural and engineering design processes.
• Experience managing project scope, budget, schedule, cost, and design quality.
• Experience coordinating architects, engineers, consultants, and public-agency stakeholders.
• Knowledge of applicable building codes, regulations, and public-sector design requirements.
• Excellent communication, leadership, and stakeholder-management skills.
• California RA or PE license is highly desirable.

Candidate Submission Requirements

At minimum, the resume must clearly include:

1. Educational history
2. Professional licenses and certifications
3. Awards received
4. Detailed employment history, including:

• Company or government agency name
• Contact information
• Start date and end date (month/year)
• Position/title held

1. Projects and programs managed, including:

• Project/program name
• Project value
• Project location
• Candidate's role
• Key responsibilities
• Specific contributions to the project

Recruiter Screening Priorities

Must Have:

• 14+ years relevant professional experience
• Bachelor's degree in Architecture or Engineering
• 4+ years educational facilities or similar public-agency experience
• Design/project management experience
• Experience managing A/E teams
• Experience with capital projects
• Strong communication skills
• Ability to work full-time, in person, in Los Angeles

Strongly Preferred:

• California RA or PE license
• LAUSD or other K-12 school district experience
• Seismic/structural retrofit experience
• Critical repair/modernization experience
• Public-sector capital improvement program experience
• Large-project budget and schedule management experience