Mixed-Use Studio Leader

DLR Group; Nashville (TN); On-site; USD 110,000 - 170,000; Full time

Job summary

DLR Group's Nashville studio seeks a Studio Leader/Client Leader to drive growth in the Mixed-Use sector and manage client relationships. You will lead project teams, guide contract negotiations, and educate clients on the design process while balancing design excellence with financial success.

You will work in a hybrid environment, collaborating with project managers and design leaders to deliver projects on time and within budget, with a focus on team development and client satisfaction.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Architecture, Engineering, Interior Design, or related construction field with licensure preferred.
• At least 10 years in the AEC industry, with 5+ years in client-facing Mixed-Use leadership in the Southeast.
• Strong business management, strategic planning, and leadership capabilities.
• Customer service focus including needs assessment and client satisfaction.
• Expertise in design techniques and tools for technical plans, drawings, and models.
• Familiarity with construction methods, materials, and systems.

Responsibilities

• Manage project execution, ensuring budget, schedule, and scope alignment with client expectations.
• Collaborate with Project Manager and design leader on staffing and performance feedback.
• Track milestones, ensure quality, and prepare regular status reports.
• Lead meetings with staff and clients, coordinating personnel, vendors, and consultants.
• Participate in client contract negotiations and approve plan changes.
• Support business development via RFP responses and client interviews.
• Oversee project invoicing and manage account receivables.

Skills

Client relationship management

Leadership

Communication

Project management

Staffing coordination

Education

Bachelor’s degree in Architecture

Professional licensure (Architecture)

Tools

CAD

3D modeling

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.

Our Nashville, TN office has an opening for a Studio Leader to support and lead the growth of our Mixed-Use sectorlocally.Weoperatewithin a hybrid work model, supporting flexibility between office time and work from home.

About Mixed-Use at DLR Group

DLR Group’s Mixed-Use practice bridges enterprise and community through transformative design that enlivens social hubs, curates distinctive stories, and creates cultural identity. Our goal is to create a meaningful connection between communities and the built environments where people can thrive.From the first step inside to the last step out, our studio is focused on designing a people-first journey that feeds the soul of the end-user. This can start witha carefullyworkshopped design focused on diversification of uses, access to a network of public spaces, mobility, and adaptability to create crucial measures of resiliency.

Position Summary

As a Studio Leader/ Client Leader , you will play a key role in business development, managing clientrelationships,and leading contract negotiations. You will educate clients on our design process while collaborating with the project managerand design leader toensure the financial successand design excellenceof each project. Throughout the project lifecycle, you willmaintainconsistent client contact, foster a collaborative and innovative work environment, and ensure that both client and DLR Group goals are met.The Nashville studio has a culture of focusing ongreat designwith great people. We pride ourselves in elevatingthe humanexperience through design internally and externally.

What you will do

• Manage project execution, ensuring alignment with budget, schedule, and scope whilemaintainingclient expectations

• Collaborate with the Project Managerand design leaderon 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 andparticipatingin client interviews

• Oversee projectinvoicing, 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 roleleadingMixed-Useprojectsin the southeast, preferably in Nashville.

• 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

• Expertisein 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

Preferred Qualifications

• Professional licensure in Architecture

• Experience leading integrated teams on complex, high-profile mixed-use projects

• Active engagement in professional or community organizations related to design, development, or urban planning

• Recognized participation in industry events, publications, or design awardsdemonstratingleadership in the profession

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.