Studio Manager - Architecture & Interior Design

LSI; Austin (TX); On-site; USD 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Job summary

LSI invites applications for Studio Manager to lead the Architecture & Interior Design Studios in Austin, directing day-to-day operations, staffing, and project delivery with a focus on quality and budget adherence.

You will guide teams through complex challenges, mentor staff, and partner with leadership to optimize processes, drive performance, and uphold LSI’s standards for excellence in a growing firm.

Qualifications

• 8+ years of professional experience in architecture, including execution of projects from start to finish.
• Proven leadership and mentoring ability guiding diverse teams.
• Strong ability to coordinate complex projects with internal staff, consultants, and contractors.
• Solid command of construction documents, detailing, code coordination, and QA/QC processes.
• Experience monitoring project budgets, schedules, staffing, and financial performance.

Responsibilities

• Lead day-to-day studio operations and staffing for Architecture & Interior Design.
• Direct performance development, coaching, and workload management of studio staff.
• Lead regular studio meetings, communicating priorities, deadlines, risks, and initiatives.
• Support onboarding, identify training needs, and contribute to performance evaluations.
• Build a collaborative culture aligned with the firm’s mission, values, and standards.
• Monitor project health: schedule, budget, staffing, deliverables, and client commitments.
• Coordinate staffing with Operations to balance workload and capacity.
• Hold project managers accountable for schedules, budgets, and key client commitments.
• Identify risks early and drive corrective actions with project managers.
• Forecast resource needs and resolve conflicts to protect delivery.

Skills

Leadership

Mentoring

Project management

Budgeting

Client communication

KPI tracking

Education

Bachelor's or Master's in Architecture

Professional licensure preferred

AIA/NCARB/LEED valued

Job description

The Studio Manager leads the day-to-day performance and development of LSI’s Architecture & Interior Design Studios, helping strengthen the leadership structure needed to support the firm’s continued growth. This role is accountable for people leadership, project execution, technical quality, resource management, and studio operations, ensuring teams have the direction, resources, and accountability needed to deliver high-quality work on schedule and within budget.

We are looking for an experienced professional who combines technical excellence and design judgment with emotional intelligence, financial discipline, and strong people leadership. The right leader brings clarity to complexity, knows how to bring out the best in people, and has the technical depth to guide teams through complex challenges without becoming the person every decision or solution depends on. They delegate effectively, build trust, develop others’ judgment and capabilities, and create clear accountability so both people and projects perform consistently.

Success in this role requires a servant-leader mindset: confident without ego, decisive without being controlling, and committed to creating an environment where people can grow, take ownership, and do their best work. The result is a studio where quality, accountability, creativity, and collaboration reinforce one another.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

• Lead the day-to-day operations of the Architecture & Interior Design Studios and serve as the primary point of contact for routine studio questions and decisions.
• Directly manage studio staff, with accountability for performance, development, workload, one-on-one coaching, and day-to-day leadership.
• Lead regular studio meetings and communicate priorities, deadlines, project risks, and firm initiatives clearly and consistently.
• Support onboarding, identify training and professional development needs, provide timely feedback, and contribute to formal performance evaluations.
• Build a collaborative, accountable, solutions-oriented culture aligned with LSI's mission, vision, values, and operating standards.
• Maintain visibility into the health of all Architecture & Interior Design projects, including schedule, budget, staffing, scope, deliverables, and client commitments.
• Coordinate staffing with Operations to balance workload, capacity, utilization, project needs, and staff development.
• Hold Project Managers accountable for maintaining current project schedules, budgets, forecasts, staffing plans, and key client commitments.
• Identify project and resource risks early, work with Project Managers to establish corrective action, and escape material concerns appropriately.
• Forecast upcoming resource needs and resolve routine staffing or scheduling conflicts before they affect project delivery.

Technical Leadership & Quality

• Serve as a senior technical resource for Architecture & Interior Design project teams.
• Maintain and enforce studio standards for QA/QC, construction documentation, code compliance, constructability, consultant coordination, permitting, and construction administration.
• Review complex technical issues and guide teams toward practical, coordinated solutions without taking over responsibilities that belong with Project Managers or project teams.
• Ensure appropriate QA/QC reviews occur at defined project milestones and that identified issues are resolved before deliverables are issued.
• Develop technical capability throughout the studio through mentoring, knowledge sharing, standards, templates, best practices, and training.
• Actively manage the operational drivers of studio financial performance, including utilization, LER, project budgets, schedules, staffing plans, margins, forecasting, billing, and other defined KPIs.
• Partner with Operations and firm leadership to convert performance data into timely staffing decisions, corrective actions, fee strategies, and process improvements.
• Continuously identify and eliminate inefficient or unnecessary processes, simplify and standardize workflows, and strengthen consistent use of firm systems and technology to improve project delivery.
• Support implementation of EOS processes and studio-level accountability while keeping systems as simple, useful, and repeatable as possible.
• The Studio Manager is accountable for managing the operational drivers of studio financial performance; ultimate accountability for studio profitability remains with the President.

Client & Business Development Support

• Support client relationship management and represent LSI with professionalism, confidence, and sound judgment.
• Assist with proposal preparation, project interviews, and technical content for marketing materials.
• Identify potential additional services and communicate opportunities to the appropriate firm leaders.
• Contribute to firmwide priorities and cross-discipline collaboration beyond the Architecture & Interior Design Studios.

DECISION-MAKING AUTHORITY

The Studio Manager is expected to make routine studio and project decisions independently while escalating matters that materially affect firm strategy, risk, compensation, contracts, or profitability.

Studio Manager Owns

Daily studio leadership and workload coordination

Routine staffing assignments and resource adjustments in coordination with Operations

Project performance oversight and corrective-action follow-up

Technical quality, QA/QC implementation, and studio standards

Staff coaching, one-on-ones, feedback, and workflow implementation

Routine project and studio coordination decisions

Studio Manager Recommends or Escalates

Hiring and termination decisions

Compensation recommendations and major staffing changes

Significant fee, scope, or contractual issues

Serious client disputes or material project risk

Studio financial performance concerns requiring strategic intervention

President Retains

Design vision and major design decisions

Major client relationships and business development strategy

Studio profitability and major strategic decisions

Operations Retains

Firmwide operational and financial systems

HR, technology, policies, and cross-studio processes

Firmwide resource planning structure and performance reporting

WHAT SUCCESS LOOKS LIKE

The Studio Manager is evaluated through a combination of studio performance metrics, project delivery outcomes, leadership-team contribution, staff development, and qualitative feedback. Annual KPI targets are established through LSI's operating plan and reviewed regularly with the Leadership Team.

• Projects are appropriately staffed and resource conflicts are addressed early.
• Project schedules, budgets, forecasts, and staffing plans are current and actively managed.
• Project risks are identified before they become emergencies and corrective actions have clear owners and deadlines.
• Architecture & Interior Design work consistently meets LSI's QA/QC and technical standards.
• Studio utilization, LER, project performance, and other defined KPIs meet established targets.
• Project Managers increasingly operate independently and effectively within defined decision parameters.
• Staff receive consistent coaching, feedback, and professional development support.
• Studio communication is clear, timely, and reliable across disciplines and leadership.
• The Studio Manager solves problems, develops others, and improves performance without becoming the bottleneck.

PROFESSIONAL REQUIREMENTS

• 8+ years of successful professional experience in architecture, including execution of projects of varying typologies from start to finish.
• Proven leadership and mentoring ability.
• Demonstrated ability to coordinate complex projects with internal staff, consultants, ownership teams, authorities having jurisdiction, and contractors.
• Strong technical command of construction documents, detailing, code coordination, consultant coordination, permitting, and construction administration.
• Demonstrated ability to monitor project budgets, schedules, staffing, and financial performance.
• Strong client communication skills and working knowledge of project management platforms, production workflows, resource planning, and KPI-driven accountability.

EDUCATION & CREDENTIALS

• Bachelor's or Master's degree in Architecture or related field required.
• Professional architectural licensure strongly preferred.
• AIA membership, NCARB certification, LEED accreditation, or similar professional credentials valued but not required.
• Experience in Central Texas, Austin-area permitting, mixed-use, multifamily, hospitality, commercial, adaptive reuse, or residential typologies is a plus.

WORK AUTHORIZATION

Applicants must be currently authorized to work in the United States on a full-time basis. LSI does not provide employment-based visa sponsorship for this position.

ABOUT LSI

Our Mission:

To design meaningful places that enrich lives and strengthen communities.

Our Vision:

Our vision is a built environment that prioritizes people—enhancing experiences, nurturing community, and improving quality of life at every scale.

Our Identity:

We are Placemakers - design professionals who define and enhance a sense of place through excellence in planning, architecture, interior design, and landscape architecture.

Our Design Framework:

Context, Performance, and Impact guide how we evaluate design decisions, project outcomes, and the value our work creates for clients and communities.

Our Core Values (GOALS) are:

Growth, Optimism, Artistry, Leadership, and Self-Discipline.

WHY JOIN LSI?

This is an opportunity to help shape the next generation of a respected Austin design firm. You will work with a multidisciplinary team committed to placemaking, design excellence, technical rigor, and meaningful community impact. You will have the opportunity to lead people, improve systems, elevate architectural quality, and help build the leadership structure that supports LSI's long-term growth.