Studio Lead, Calgary

HDR • Calgary, AB

9h

About The Position

At HDR, our employee-owners are fully engaged in creating a welcoming environment where each of us is valued and respected, a place where everyone is empowered to bring their authentic selves and novel ideas to work every day. As we foster a culture of inclusion throughout our company and within our communities, we constantly ask ourselves: What is our impact on the world? We believe architecture is more than designing buildings, it’s about providing solutions to societal challenges and creating stronger, more vibrant communities. As part of our Architecture practice at HDR, you’ll contribute to the design and delivery of spaces and experiences that advance community well-being around the world. From healing environments and learning spaces to research labs and civic landmarks and infrastructure, your work will directly influence how individuals experience the world around them. We bring together architects, planners, designers, and technical experts to solve complex design challenges with creativity, curiosity, and collaboration. From championing design excellence with an emphasis on resilience and sustainability to pioneering innovative building technologies, your contributions will leave a lasting impact on the built environment. This isn’t just a job, it’s a chance to drive meaningful change and help define the future of our communities.
The Studio Lead’s primary role is to successfully lead the Calgary Studio through balancing the responsibilities of senior studio leadership, project leadership and delivery, and business development. In this role the Architecture Studio Lead will work closely with the regional Managing Principal and be supported by many colleagues holding various local, regional, and firm-wide positions.
The successful candidate must possess the drive, skillset, and charisma needed to win new work and oversee projects of all sizes. They would report directly to the Western Canada Managing Principal and be responsible for the growing the 10+ Architecture employees located in the Calgary studio as well as coordinating and collaborating with additional employees from our engineering consulting teams who also sit in our Calgary studio.

Requirements

• Bachelor's degree in a Professional, Architecture, Engineering or closely related field
• Outstanding leadership, communication and team-building skills
• Experienced in management and development of diverse teams
• Work cooperatively with company operations managers, business group and technical directors and marketing managers on departmental efforts
• Committed to quality, improvement and promoting HDR values
• An attitude and commitment to being an active participant of our employee-owned culture is a must

Nice To Haves

• A minimum of 15 years of project leadership and management experience in Architectural design
• Maintains a professional Engineering or Architecture registration and has extensive related technical management experience
• Experience on large-scale projects
• Knowledge and experience within the local and regional market
• Experience and/or interest in sustainable design
• Experience and/or interest in computational design

Responsibilities

• Manage Local Business Goals - Support the Managing Principal and leadership to ensure that the Calgary office is meeting the business objectives for the firm from a local, regional and national perspective.
• Collaborate with Sector Leadership - Work with the Regional Sector Directors and firmwide leaders to implement key initiatives, investments and strategies for growth and practice development, obtain new project work, generate thought leadership, and contribute towards local office profitability.
• Grow Local Team – Support the Managing Principals and Sector Leadership to grow a well-balanced, multi-disciplinary team; assess capabilities of staffing resources; grow, develop, recruit, and mentor expertise, balancing all aspects of an expertise and design-driven top tier architecture practice.
• Team Resourcing – Support the Managing Principal and Regional Sector Leaders in collaborative and strategic staffing solutions across local and regional projects, ensuring the Studio has appropriate staffing resources sufficient for supporting ongoing project requirements.
• Build Client Relationships - Develop strong local client relationships and serve as a key client relationship manager on local projects.
• Demonstrate Local Leadership - Participate as an HDR leader in professional organizations, activities and services in/around the local region that further the firm’s vision, value and relationships.
• Represent and Advance the Firm - Increase awareness and understanding within the community of the firm’s architecture practice.
• Business Development and Marketing - Coordinate regularly with the Managing Principal, Regional Sector Directors and Business Development team on all local BD, marketing and practice growth efforts. Identify, qualify and develop business leads. Support development of effective capture plans to convert leads to wins.
• Proposal Writing - Lead the analysis of local RFQs and RFPs and the development of written proposal responses in collaboration with the Business Development and Marketing teams. Support the development of proposals and the preparation of qualifications packages with all contributing parties both inside and outside the firm.
• Interviews and Presentations - Support the development of interview presentation strategies, messaging, and all team preparations for winning presentations and interviews.
• Regional Teamwork - Work and collaborate with the other leaders, marketing staff and design professionals throughout the firm and particularly within the region to develop relationships and win work.
• Direct and coordinate work of single or multidiscipline teams throughout the project’s life cycle (from development and initiation to close-out).
• Responsible for any project assignment regardless of size, visibility, number of disciplines, technical complexity or number of staff.
• Produce and coordinate several projects concurrently.
• Establish client relations and be involved with marketing, contractual, design and production meetings.
• Conduct work sessions for deliverable development in conjunction with other staff and stakeholders.
• Coordinate staffing and workload in collaboration with Managing Principal to ensure completion of deliverables on schedule throughout the project life cycle.
• Track financial aspects of projects and coordinate and adjust work effort with team to ensure that work is completed within parameters of agreed-to budget and schedule.
• Work with the Accounting, Operational and Business leadership for periodic project reviews.
• Implement QA/QC procedures.
• Ensure successful project outcomes through oversight of the project delivery process.
• Help foster a design-focused culture within the studio and promote innovation and creativity in architectural solutions.

Benefits

• employee-owners are fully engaged in creating a welcoming environment where each of us is valued and respected, a place where everyone is empowered to bring their authentic selves and novel ideas to work every day.
• foster a culture of inclusion throughout our company and within our communities
• Employee Network Groups (Asian Pacific, Black, Hispanic/Latino(a), LGBTQ+, People with Disabilities, Veterans, Women, Young Professionals) help create a sense of belonging and foster a supportive environment where everyone is empowered to engage and contribute.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Senior