Client Leader, K12 (OPK)

DLR Group; Overland Park (KS); On-site; USD 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Four-day in-office work model

Fridays remote work option

Job summary

DLR Group's Overland Park office is seeking a K-12 Education Client Leader to drive business development, manage client relationships and lead contract negotiations. You will educate clients on our design process while collaborating with the project manager to ensure financial success throughout each project lifecycle.

The role requires deep knowledge of the Kansas City area K-12 market, strong leadership, and the ability to coordinate staffing, budgets, and invoicing to deliver value through

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Architecture, Engineering, Interior Design, or related construction field (Professional licensure preferred).
• At least 10 years of professional experience in the AEC industry, including 5+ years in a client-facing role.
• Strong knowledge of the K-12 Education market in the Kansas City area.
• Solid business management, strategic planning, resource allocation, and leadership skills.
• Excellent verbal and written communication, and ability to listen and respond thoughtfully.

Responsibilities

• Manage project execution to align with budget, schedule, and scope while meeting client expectations.
• Collaborate with the Project Manager on staffing, responsibilities, and performance feedback for the project team.
• Track milestones and deliverables; prepare regular status reports and ensure quality standards.
• Facilitate and document meetings with staff and clients; coordinate personnel, vendors, and consultants.
• Participate in client contract negotiations; manage change requests and approve plan modifications.
• Support business development through RFP responses and client interviews.

Skills

Client leadership

Business development

Contract negotiations

Project management

Relationship management

AEC industry knowledge

K-12 market knowledge

Education

Bachelor's degree in Architecture/Engineering/Interior Design or related field

Job description

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 Overland Park office has an opening for a K-12 Education Client Leader.

Our team of educators, researchers, anthropologists, planners, architects, engineers, building performance experts, and interior designers draw from evidence-based design to aid schools in bridging the gap from old and new to improve all facets of operations, and elevate learning through design. Understanding the rapid pace of technological, social, and cultural change, our K-12 Education Studio works with schools across the country to navigate this change to better serve communities and improve educational experiences and outcomes for students.

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.

What you will do

• Manage project execution, ensuring alignment with budget, schedule, and scope while maintaining client expectations
• Collaborate with the Project Manager on staffing, responsibilities, and performance feedback for project team members
• Track project milestones and deliverables, ensuring adherence to quality standards and preparing regular status reports
• 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

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Architecture, Engineering, Interior Design, or related construction field (Professional licensure preferred)
• At least 10 years of professional experience in the AEC industry, inclusive of at least 5 years in a client-facing role
• Robust understanding of K-12 Education market in the Kansas City area
• 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

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.

Voluntary Self-Identification

For government reporting purposes, we ask candidates to respond to the below self-identification survey.Completion of the form is entirely voluntary. Whatever your decision, it will not be considered in the hiringprocess or thereafter. Any information that you do provide will be recorded and maintained in aconfidential file.

As set forth in DLR Group’s Equal Employment Opportunity policy,we do not discriminate on the basis of any protected group status under any applicable law.

If you believe you belong to any of the categories of protected veterans listed below, please indicate by making the appropriate selection.As a government contractor subject to the Vietnam Era Veterans Readjustment Assistance Act (VEVRAA), we request this information in order to measurethe effectiveness of the outreach and positive recruitment efforts we undertake pursuant to VEVRAA. Classification of protected categoriesis as follows:

A 'disabled veteran' is one of the following: a veteran of the U.S. military, ground, naval or air service who is entitled to compensation (or who but for the receipt of military retired pay would be entitled to compensation) under laws administered by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs; or a person who was discharged or released from active duty because of a service-connected disability.

A 'recently separated veteran' means any veteran during the three-year period beginning on the date of such veteran's discharge or release from active duty in the U.S. military, ground, naval, or air service.

An 'active duty wartime or campaign badge veteran' means a veteran who served on active duty in the U.S. military, ground, naval or air service during a war, or in a campaign or expedition for which a campaign badge has been authorized under the laws administered by the Department of Defense.

An 'Armed forces service medal veteran' means a veteran who, while serving on active duty in the U.S. military, ground, naval or air service, participated in a United States military operation for which an Armed Forces service medal was awarded pursuant to Executive Order 12985.