Director of Architecture bei Salas O’Brien

Director of Architecture Fed-Florida

At Salas O’Brien we tell our clients that we’re engineered for impact. This passion for making a difference applies just as much to our team as it does to our projects. That’s why we’re committed to living our values every day: inspiring, achieving, and connecting as shared owners of our success with a focus on a sustainable future.

Building for the long-term means that all of our team members can expect to work on amazing projects with a people-first approach to problem solving. It also means that each member of our team has truly limitless potential to build a unique, meaningful, and high-impact career—and they’ll receive great total rewards along the way.

About Us: 

Founded in 1975, Salas O’Brien is an employee-owned engineering and professional services firm focused on achieving impact for our clients, our team, and the world. We know that tomorrow’s requirements are today’s opportunities, and we are here to design lasting solutions for pressing challenges.

We work across a variety of industries providing integrated engineering and consulting services. Our specialized experience includes design for data centers, healthcare, science and technology, high-rise buildings, clean energy, education, and other building types as well as structural and building sciences, infrastructure asset management, advanced robotics, and more.

Our technical expertise is paired with an exceptional team of business development, human resources, finance and accounting, information technology, and marketing professionals, all of whom play a key role in bringing our commitments to life every day.

Job Summary – Director of Architecture Fed-Florida:

The Lead Architect functions as the overall technical, operational and business development lead for the Fed-Florida Architectural Department. Technical work tasks will vary and require flexibility and versatility in the architectural field. Examples of the type of work to be performed include customer charrettes and scoping, building code analysis, architectural layout and design; facility condition assessments and capital asset management planning; review of cost analyses and material take-off support of a variety of building types and site infrastructure throughout the US and other countries; BIM coordination for architectural and building systems; and construction management/administration for ongoing construction efforts.

This position operationally reports to the Director of Design Operations and administratively reports to the Managing Principal.

Here are the details of your duties in your primary role:

Technical Responsibilities (50%-65%):

• Oversee and coordinate a team of professionals performing highly technical design projects across multiple geographic regions.
• Lead client meetings and provide communications to maintain proactive client relationships through attentive and result-oriented service.
• Develop project priorities and schedules for program deliverables, review meetings with key stakeholders, and bidding / construction procurement.
• Support the construction process by timely response to RFI’s, review of submittals, and processing approved change orders.

Operational Responsibilities (15%-25%):

• Ensure architectural resources assigned to each project have been provided clear expectations for the technical scope of work, budget, and schedule as well as subcontractor management expectations.
  • Responsible for coordination/communication with PMO to validate adequate budget and schedule for architectural personnel assigned to projects.
  • If budgets and schedules have not been provided through the PMO Process, establish interim/temporary budget and schedule expectations to ensure customer satisfaction until final budget and schedule are established.
• Provide constructive criticism to Fed-Florida Directors and Leadership based on interactions with personnel from other Fed-Florida departments. Solicit constructive criticism from Fed-Florida Directors to improve the Architectural Department.
• Support personnel training program and work with the Training Coordinator that balances industry-specific technical, safety, leadership and business development elements, at least quarterly for architectural-specific training.
• Manages the architectural design standards (drawings, specifications, calculations, architectural/life-safety specific reports, cost estimation) with focus on frequently used systems, regions, standards, and client-specific templates.
• Act as Fed-Florida point of contact with National Architectural team:
  • Support long-term strategic goal of establishing of an East Coast Architecture Studio and building a regional team to support that work.
  • Coordinate Fed-Florida and East Coast Architectural activities and development with National Team.
  • Coordinate Fed-Florida Architectural workload and business development activities with National Architectural Department.

Business Development Responsibilities (25%-35%)

• Client Management –
  • Supports Florida project teams with client management.
  • Establishes relationships with existing Florida clients to discuss current project successes and challenges.
  • Establishes relationships with existing Florida clients to discuss current project successes and challenges.
• Tactical business development - Lead and/or authorize all architectural primed and subcontracted work. Review RFP/RFQ/SOW as well as prebid drawings and specifications to determine resource requirements and risk/benefit potential for each proposal opportunity. Tactical business development tasks can be delegated.

• Strategic business development:
• Cultivate and maintain Fed-Florida’s strategic growth targets and growth areas.
• Coordinate resources and business development activities of Fed-Florida with National Architectural Department.
• Strategic business development tasks may not always include Department-specific goals but will always be a strategic benefit to Fed-Florida.
• Lead or participate in go/no-go decisions, oral presentations, capture management, technical approach narratives, qualification packages, elevator pitches, industry days, and conferences.
• Identify opportunity-specific teammates, subcontractors, hardware, software, training, badging, certifications, licenses, safety and travel needs that are likely to be required to perform the architectural scope of work. Clarify scope of services to clearly explain Fed-Florida’s understanding of the architectural scope of work through clarifications, assumptions, and exclusions.
• Coordinate with other Salas O’Brien Business Units and Offices to market and provide Architectural services on their projects.

Qualifications and Experience:

To succeed in this role, you need to meet the following basic requirements:

• Registered Architect
• 15 – 20 Years Experience with commercial, industrial, or other highly technical building types, telecom, data center, or laboratory projects a plus
• Proficient in Revit, AutoCAD, Sketchup and other visualization tools
• Proficient with local, state, and federal building/safety codes and ADA requirements.
• Experience in the federal, aerospace, and/or DoD workspace.
• Proficiency in Revit and working in a collaborative BIM environment
• Excellent organizational skills and an extremely high level of attention to detail
• Excellent written and verbal communication
• Excellent problem-solving skills
• Excellent teamwork and collaboration skills
• Effective at handling multiple tasks
• Able to learn quickly and adapt to changes
• Able to demonstrate a high standard of professionalism, customer service oriented.

Location: Remote or in office, flexible

Travel: Up to 25%

Compensation & Benefits:

Salas O’Brien health and welfare benefits are designed to invest in you, and in the things you care about. Your health. Your well-being. Your security. Your future. Team members have access to medical, dental, vision, and basic life insurance, a 401(k) plan, and the ability to purchase company stock at a discount.  Salas O’Brien has both U.S. and Canadian (PTO) plans for full-time salaried, exempt and non-team members, 10 paid holidays, and paid leave programs for military service and new parents. And certain roles may be eligible for additional rewards, including merit increases, performance discretionary bonus, and stock.

The base salary range for this position is $150k-170k. Within the range, individual pay is determined by work location and additional factors, including job-related skills, experience, and relevant education or training.

Equal Opportunity Employment Statement

Salas O’Brien provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment and prohibits discrimination and harassment of any type without regard to race, colour, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability status, genetics, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state/provincial, or local laws. Salas O’Brien will accommodate the disability-related needs of applicants as required by law.