Design Leader, Sports

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

Job summary

DLR Group’s Kansas City office is seeking a Senior Sports Designer to shape the future of sport and entertainment venues. You will lead design efforts for collegiate and professional arenas and provide technical expertise from concept through construction documents.

Join a collaborative, multi-disciplinary team and mentor staff while aligning with project budgets, deadlines, and client goals. This role emphasizes holistic, human-centered design for athletic environments.

Qualifications

• Ten+ years of professional architecture experience.
• At least 10 years in collegiate and/or major professional sports stadia, arenas, and training facilities.
• Professional degree in architecture from an accredited program.
• Proficiency with CAD, modeling, and rendering software (Revit, Rhino, Grasshopper, rendering programs).
• Knowledge of executing technical drawings and construction documents.
• Experience coordinating work with interior design and engineering disciplines.

Responsibilities

• Plan, design, and coordinate projects of varying sizes, including large, complex projects.
• Lead client-facing design efforts and team interactions; translate institutional goals into design solutions.
• Apply advanced architectural concepts and develop new techniques.
• Guide and mentor team members and ensure project deliverables meet standards.
• Meet deliverable deadlines and manage project budgets.

Skills

Ten or more years of professional exp

Sports stadia/arenas experience

CAD/3D modelling & rendering (Revit,Rh

Education

Professional architecture degree

Tools

Revit

Rhino

Grasshopper

Rendering software (Enscape/Lumion)

BIM

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 Kansas City Office has an opening for a Sports Design Leader .

DLR Group’s Sports Studio is helping define the future of sport and entertainment.

Today’s fans seek more than participation. They expect connection, community, and memorable experiences. This shift is redefining the role of venues, moving beyond passive viewing to creating a sense of belonging. At the same time, the demands on athletes continue to evolve. Their environments must support not only development and high performance, but also overall well-being. From training and recovery to mental health, nutrition, team dynamics, and life beyond sport, today’s athletes require spaces designed for holistic human performance.

At DLR Group, we don’t just respond to change; we define it. As a Senior Sports Designer, you will help shape next-generation environments that:

• Create memorable experiences through immersive, emotionally engaging design
• Foster authentic community by promoting connection, belonging, and shared energy
• Elevate athlete performance and well-being through integrated, holistic environments

Position Summary

As a Senior Designer at DLR Group, you will collaborate with our multi-disciplinary design teams to design projects from conception through construction documents and support the project team through construction administration for a variety of project types and sizes. As part of our integrated design teams, you will create buildings that elevate the human experience through design.

You will partner directly with the Client Leader and Project Manager to ensure the quality of project documents, meet Client responsibilities, support DLR Group's financial goals, and facilitate team collaboration and communication.

If you are a collaborative thought leader with a strategic mindset, this might be the position for you. DLR Group is 100% employee-owned, and as such, you’ll enjoy the opportunity to own a stake in the Firm. We rely on all our employee-owners to apply their financial acumen to grow the Firm profitably.

What you will do:

• Plan, design, and coordinate projects of varying sizes, including large, complex projects
• Lead client-facing design efforts, teams, and client interactions; generate storylines and designs that inspire clients and partners, capture the essence of their institutional goals, and translate them into creative design solutions
• Independently apply advanced architectural concepts and designs, and carry out complex or novel assignments that require developing new or improved techniques and procedures
• Engage and guide innovative idea generation within the integrated team in pursuit of design excellence
• Review cost estimates for alignment with the design
• Guide and mentor your team’s design and architectural staff
• Apply DLR Group practice standards to project deliverables across the project team
• Demonstrate a strong foundation in comprehensive design and technical skills
• Engage and guide innovative idea generation within the integrated team in pursuit of design excellence
• Actively lead project and integrated team collaboration by generating design ideas and solutions
• Communicate effectively with project team members through timely and appropriate written, oral, and visual means
• Engage peers and specialty experts to proactively develop holistic solutions
• Meet deliverable deadlines to maintain the overall project schedule
• Manage time in alignment with the project work plan
• Respect construction and material costs in alignment with the project budget

Required Qualifications:

• Ten or more years of professional experience
• At least 10 years of experience in collegiate and/or major professional sports stadia, arenas, and training facilities
• Professional degree in architecture from an accredited program
• Proficiency with computer-aided design, modeling, and rendering software, including Revit, Rhino, Grasshopper, and rendering programs
• Positive, entrepreneurial spirit and strong work ethic
• Desire to continually learn, grow, and pursue design excellence in a fun environment
• Knowledge of executing technical drawings and construction documents
• Experience coordinating and integrating work with interior design and engineering disciplines

Preferred Qualifications:

• Licensure as an architect and NCARB certification
• Sustainability certification or accreditation, such as LEED or WELL, and a demonstrated interest in sustainable building design
• Skill in hand drawing techniques for visual communication
• Knowledge of Building Information Modeling (BIM) and parametric design software, such as Grasshopper, and other modeling software
• Proficiency with visualization software, such as Lumion or Enscape

*TO BE CONSIDERED, PLEASE SUBMIT CURRENT PORTFOLIO/WORK SAMPLES IN PDF FORMAT*

DLR Group is an integrated design firm delivering architecture, engineering, interiors, planning, and building optimization for new builds, renovations, and adaptive reuse projects.

We are 100% employee-owned: every employee is literally invested in our clients’ success. At the core of our firm are interdisciplinary teams engaged in every step of project lifecycles. Our teams champion true collaboration, open information sharing, shared risk and reward, value-based decision making, and proficient use of technology to deliver exceptional design. We are pursuing the goals of the 2030 Challenge, the ME2040, and the SE2050, and are an initial signatory of the China Accord and the AIA 2030 Commitment.

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.