Design Manager: Education, Culture & Community Studio

Gensler; San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 106,000 - 150,000; Full time

Job summary

Gensler is seeking a Design Manager in our San Francisco Cities studio with 7–12 years of experience to lead higher education, cultural, and mission-driven projects. The role emphasizes collaboration, design leadership, and client engagement across all project phases.

You will mentor designers, coordinate multidisciplinary teams, and ensure alignment between design ambition, budget, and schedule while supporting development of leadership skills and delivering high-quality projects in a

Qualifications

• 8+ years of architecture experience including leading projects or major workstreams through multiple phases.
• Licensed architect or actively pursuing licensure.
• Experience as Project Architect or project lead with increasing responsibility for client communication and delivery.
• Strong design judgment and technical understanding to support vision and execution.
• Experience in design development, construction documentation, bidding, and construction administration.
• Proficient in coordinating multidisciplinary teams and consultants.

Responsibilities

• Lead educational, cultural, and community-focused projects through all design and construction phases.
• Build relationships with clients, user groups, consultants, contractors, and teams.
• Facilitate communication, decisions, and coordination across project phases.
• Maintain alignment between design intent, goals, schedule, budget, and quality.
• Support planning, staffing, scheduling, consultant coordination, and execution.
• Participate in programming, stakeholder engagement, workshops, and client meetings.
• Mentor emerging designers and technical staff.
• Contribute to studio culture valuing design excellence and collaboration.

Skills

Project leadership

Client engagement

Communication

Design judgment

Team coordination

Multiphase delivery

Education

Bachelor's or Master's degree in Architecture

Licensed architect or pursuing licensure

Tools

Revit

Job description

Gensler is seeking a Design Manager in our San Francisco Cities studio with 7–12 years of experience to lead higher education, cultural, and mission-driven projects. The role emphasizes collaboration, design leadership, and client engagement across all project phases.

You will mentor designers, coordinate multidisciplinary teams, and ensure alignment between design ambition, budget, and schedule while supporting development of leadership skills and delivering high-quality projects in a