Design Director

Description

Your Role

As a Gensler

Design Director

, and a member of the studio’s leadership team, you will collaborate with talented colleagues to enhance Gensler’s culture for design excellence, elevate the quality of design, and achieve recognition for our clients and the firm. You are a mix of strategic and creative, with the ability to create great form while embracing sound business strategy. Use your unique design perspective to lead design teams, develop next-generation talent, bring new approaches to the design process, and help our clients redesign what’s possible.

Design Directors lead the design of projects, acting as stewards of Gensler’s mission. You will design for all of humanity, driving a passionately curious design culture to create solutions that are emotionally resonant and that positively impact people’s everyday experiences. You look beyond, surpassing expectations to create transformational work for our clients, our peers, and our communities.

You will act as an advocate and committed mentor for Gensler’s next generation of talent. You will advance the understanding that design resilience is a responsibility of every person at Gensler. You cultivate design expertise with the desire to always learn, grow and evolve. You will champion our diversity and inclusion goals with respect to staff, partners, and consultants. You will also build our talent pipeline through recruiting and outreach with local design communities and universities.

You display an uncommon design talent, with a personal brand and a clear point of view. You are a fearless integrator and advocate for diverse points of view and expansive thinking. You will define a project’s creative foundation through storytelling, merging goals and strategies with a clear conceptual vision. You will be the climate champion for the project, establishing an impactful design direction to meet climate goals.

You are a passionate advocate for our clients, ensuring that our designs respect cultural context and that the design vision exceeds goals and expectations. You foster a genuine, accountable relationship with the client, becoming a trusted advisor and confident voice of design throughout the entire project and beyond.

In this role, you will partner with other studio leadership and the design synergy team to guide vision, culture, process and talent development. You will collaborate with your peers in design leadership and will be actively involved in design-related initiatives. You will make design visible, creating a forum for work sharing, design dialogue and critique. You will engage studios and teams in inspirational knowledge sharing through explorations such as pin-ups and design review sessions.

As a leader in our firm, you will create work with a positive impact on local communities and will lead efforts to engage with community outreach programmes and non-profit organisations. You will participate in public speaking engagements and industry events, articulating our thought leadership. You will strive to win awards and share our stories in publications, online and in other media outlets.

What You Will Do

• Lead the creative efforts on a variety of client projects, developing overall design concepts and design presentation strategies.
• Develop and own strategic planning, conceptual designs, design development, and production.
• Review drawings, mockups, materials, and finish samples submitted by project contractors.
• Collaborate on and deliver project solutions based on market expertise and deep understanding of client goals.
• Maintain a strong communication platform and build effective business relationships with existing and new clients.
• Act as the primary design interface with clients, team members, and a wide range of consultants and collaborators.
• Guide, advise, and mentor other designers on projects, developing design directions and leading design critiques/forums.
• Collaborate with practice area leaders and colleagues to enhance Gensler’s culture for design excellence, elevate the quality of design, and achieve recognition for clients and the firm.
• Work closely with office leadership to identify and recruit best-in-class talent.
• Participate in and help lead exciting research projects to bring a new perspective to what we do for our clients.
• Work with office and regional leadership in business development efforts to grow our practice in the region through expanding existing client relationships, developing new relationships and diversifying our lines of work.
• Provide vision for proposals and strategy for interviews to secure project opportunities.
• Assist in the development of Gensler’s design portfolio for reference in pursuing new work.
• Strengthen our market reputation through thought leadership and a differentiated point of view.
• Advance our reputation through conference presentations, authoring publications and active social media presence.
• Be an advocate for Gensler sustainability commitments internally and externally.
• Make sustainability an integral part of every project.
• Define project sustainability targets in collaboration with the client and the project team at the start of each project.
• Understand clients ESG goals and work with project teams towards achieving them.
• Support and encourage team members to pursue sustainability learning.
• Contribute to office activities, initiatives, and learning programs.

Your Qualifications

• Bachelor’s or Master’s degree from an accredited school of design.
• 15\+ year’s professional experience including proven track record
• Strong, persuasive communicator with excellent storytelling skills and the ability to communicate complex design concepts to clients.
• Proven track record of success in maintaining and growing client relationships.
• Strong graphic skills to communicate design ideas.
• Leadership experience, including managing client expectations, multi-disciplinary teams, and meeting scope/schedule/budget.
• Skilled at developing, inspiring and motivating teams of people both internally and externally, along with a desire to mentor team members.
• Experience leading design teams through all phases of the design process.
• Knowledge of furniture, finishes, materials and specifications.
• Knowledge in sustainable design principles required.
• LEED, WELL, Fitwel, Greenmark or other rating systems accreditation preferable.
• Understand key principles for leading and achieving net zero projects.
• Capacity to drive sustainability focused discussions with clients and teams.
• Demonstrated commitment to sustainability and sustainable building practices required.
• Previous experience in sustainable design projects preferred. At least one project of the candidate portfolio should showcase this focus. Especially built projects with LEED, Living Building Challenge, WELL Building Standard, Fitwel and /or Net Zero Building certification.

Life at Gensler

As a people-first organization, we are as committed to enjoying life as we are to delivering best-in-class design. From internal design competitions to research grants to “Well-being Week,” our offices reflect our people’s diverse interests.

We encourage every person at Gensler to lead a healthy and balanced life. Our comprehensive benefits include medical, dental, vision, disability and wellness programs. We also offer profit sharing and twice annual bonus opportunities.

As part of the firm’s commitment to licensure and professional development, Gensler offers reimbursement for certain professional licenses and associated renewals and exam fees. In addition, we reimburse tuition for certain eligible programs or classes. We view our professional development programs as strategic investments in our future.

NOTICE TO APPLI

CANTS

We are proud to be an Equal Employment Opportunity and Affirmative Action employer of choice. All aspects of employment decisions will be based on merit, performance, and business needs. We do not discriminate on the basis of any status protected under appliccable regulatory laws.

Individuals with disabilities and protected veterans are encouraged to apply. We also consider qualified applicants with criminal histories consistent with applicable regulatory laws.

Gensler endeavors to make gensler.com/careers accessible to all applicants. If you need assistance or an accommodation due to a disability, you may contact us.

Regarding Gensler’s approach to recruiting new talent, we will never ask an applicant for sensitive or personal financial information during the recruitment process. We advise all applicants seeking employment with Gensler to review available information on recruitment fraud. Anyone who suspects that they have been contacted by someone falsely representing Gensler should email [email protected].