Design for Manufacture and Assembly (DfMA) Lead

Parsons•Houston, TX

11d

About The Position

Parsons is seeking a Design for Manufacture and Assembly (DfMA) Lead to join its Owner’s Advisor team supporting the Medical Enlisted Training Campus (METC) Recapitalization Program at Joint Base San Antonio–Fort Sam Houston. The program will deliver five modern dormitory facilities for up to 6,000 joint-service medical students, along with associated infrastructure. The role works with government leaders, military stakeholders, designers, and contractors to manage risk, protect the government’s interests, and support delivery of a Progressive Design-Build program. The DfMA Lead provides Owner’s Advisor review of DfMA integration across design, fabrication, transportation, installation, and commissioning. The position evaluates modularization and design coordination to support repeatable manufacturing, efficient assembly, reliable transportation, rapid installation, and successful field integration while meeting performance, quality, maintainability, and lifecycle requirements. The role also tracks issues and risks, supports design optimization, and incorporates lessons from early production and installation into later units.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in architecture, engineering, construction management, manufacturing engineering, or a related field.
15+ years of relevant design, construction, manufacturing, or modular delivery experience.
Direct experience with DfMA, volumetric modular construction, BIM/VDC, offsite manufacturing, tolerance management, digital fabrication, prototype/first-article reviews, and modular commissioning.
Demonstrated experience with multidisciplinary design integration, constructability reviews, prefabrication, modularization, or offsite manufacturing.
Strong understanding of design coordination across structural, architectural, mechanical, electrical, plumbing, fire protection, and building-envelope systems.
Ability to review BIM models, drawings, specifications, shop drawings, fabrication documentation, interface details, and construction sequencing.
Ability to obtain and maintain unescorted access to JBSA Fort Sam Houston.
Ability to communicate effectively, maintain accurate records, collaborate across disciplines, and handle project information in approved systems.
Ability to maintain a one team mentality amongst all stakeholders.

Responsibilities

Lead Owner’s Advisor review of DfMA integration throughout design, fabrication, transportation, installation, and commissioning.
Evaluate whether the Design-Builder’s design supports repeatable factory production, efficient module assembly, reliable transportation, rapid onsite installation, and successful field integration while maintaining performance, quality, maintainability, and lifecycle requirements.
Lead DfMA reviews during design development, including review of manufacturing, assembly, transportation, module setting, field connections, testing, commissioning, and future maintenance.
Evaluate modularization strategies, module boundaries, repeatability, standardization, dimensional coordination, tolerances, connection details, and factory-versus-field scope allocation.
Facilitate interdisciplinary reviews with architecture, structure, mechanical, electrical, plumbing, fire protection, controls, commissioning, manufacturing, logistics, and construction personnel.
Identify design features that create unnecessary factory complexity, field rework, transportation constraints, tolerance risks, or installation inefficiencies.
Review structural and MEP interfaces between modules and between modular and conventionally constructed components.
Coordinate constructability and DfMA findings with the Design-Builder while preserving design responsibility and avoiding inappropriate transfer of design liability to the Owner’s Advisor.
Establish and track DfMA-related issues, decisions, technical risks, and interface requirements through closure.
Support value engineering and design optimization by evaluating total program impacts, including schedule, cost, quality, logistics, maintainability, and lifecycle performance.
Capture lessons learned from early module production and installation and apply feedback to subsequent production units.