Senior Behavioral Health Design Leader

DLR Group; Lincoln (NE); Hybrid; USD 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Job summary

DLR Group seeks a Behavioral Health Design Leader to advance planning and design of care environments that support dignity, recovery, and safety. You will guide projects spanning community to secure treatment, collaborating with clients and multidisciplinary teams to translate care models into architectural and interior solutions.

Ideal candidates bring architecture or interior design credentials with strong leadership, client management, and healthcare facility experience.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in architecture, interior design, or a related design field.
• Significant experience planning or designing behavioral health environments.
• Experience leading design work and collaborating with clients and multidisciplinary project teams.
• Understanding of behavioral health care settings, clinical workflows, and safety.
• Knowledge of trauma-informed and evidence-based design principles.
• Ability to communicate design ideas clearly through presentations, drawings, and written materials.
• Licensure or NCIDQ certification preferred.

Responsibilities

• Lead behavioral health planning and design from early programming through project delivery.
• Partner with clients, care providers, staff, and stakeholders to understand services, workflows, safety needs, and patient experience goals.
• Guide architectural and interior design solutions for crisis care, inpatient/outpatient treatment, residential/ community-based programs.
• Translate clinical/operational requirements into clear programs and layouts.
• Apply trauma-informed design principles to support dignity, comfort, recovery, and staff wellbeing.
• Integrate safety, observation, privacy, and de-escalation into therapeutic environments.
• Collaborate with architects, interior designers, engineers, planners, and consultants across teams.
• Lead client workshops, design presentations, and discussions to evaluate options and decisions.
• Provide guidance on design requirements, materials, furnishings, and building systems with project specialists.
• Mentor colleagues, share expertise, and contribute to research and business development.

Skills

Leadership

Trauma-informed design

Stakeholder management

Revit

Healthcare design

Communication

Mentoring

Education

Architecture degree

Tools

Revit

Job description

DLR Group seeks a Behavioral Health Design Leader to advance planning and design of care environments that support dignity, recovery, and safety. You will guide projects spanning community to secure treatment, collaborating with clients and multidisciplinary teams to translate care models into architectural and interior solutions.

Ideal candidates bring architecture or interior design credentials with strong leadership, client management, and healthcare facility experience.