Vice President of Design

Vaughan Buckley Construction•Cambridge, MA

12d•$215,000 - $225,000•Hybrid

About The Position

The Vice President of DfMA Integration and Operations is responsible for leading the systems, processes, governance, and cross-functional integration required to deliver design excellence at scale. This role serves as the bridge between design, engineering, manufacturing, supply chain, and project delivery, ensuring that design intent is consistently translated into efficient, manufacturable, and production-ready solutions. Reporting to the Chief Design Officer, the VP will establish and lead the operational framework through which design is executed across the organization, and is accountable for design workflow optimization, integration management, design governance, production readiness, and continuous improvement across all design delivery functions. This position does not own product, platform, or kit-of-parts strategy as those responsibilities remain with the Chief Design Officer. Instead, this role ensures the successful implementation, adoption, and execution of the company's design standards, systems, and platform decisions throughout the organization.

Requirements

Minimum bachelor’s degree in Architecture, Engineering, Construction Management, Industrial Design, Manufacturing, or related field required.
15+ Years of progressive leadership experience in design, engineering, manufacturing, construction, or product development environments required.
DfMA (design for manufacturing and assembly) familiarity required.
Demonstrated experience leading cross-functional teams and complex organizational initiatives required.
Strong understanding of design delivery, engineering coordination, and manufacturing processes required.
Experience implementing operational systems, governance frameworks, and process improvement programs required.
Exceptional leadership, communication, and stakeholder management skills required.

Nice To Haves

MBA or advanced technical degree preferred.
Experience in modular, volumetric, or industrialized construction, prefabrication, or advanced manufacturing environments preferred.
Familiarity with BIM, digital delivery workflows, and model-based coordination preferred.
Experience driving DfMA implementation and production integration initiatives preferred.
Lean manufacturing, Six Sigma, operational excellence, or continuous improvement experience preferred.

Responsibilities

Develop and lead the operating model for the design organization.
Establish scalable workflows, standards, and procedures that improve design quality, consistency, and efficiency.
Create visibility into team capacity, resource planning, delivery performance, and operational risks.
Drive continuous improvement across all DfMA Studio functions.
Implement operational metrics and reporting systems to support optimal organizational performance.
Ensure all deliverables are aligned with fabrication, assembly, procurement, and production requirements.
Lead the integration of design, engineering, and manufacturing workflows to reduce downstream issues and rework.
Coordinate with manufacturing leaders to identify and eliminate recurring design-related production challenges.
Establish design readiness criteria and release standards for production execution.
Serve as primary integration leader across Architecture, Systems Engineering, DfMA Data, Manufacturing, Supply Chain, Product Development, and Project Delivery.
Facilitate structured decision-making and issue resolution across disciplines.
Establish governance and communication processes that improve collaboration and accountability.
Ensure organizational alignment around design and engineering execution priorities and standards.
Develop and manage design review, design freeze, and release gate processes for Studio teams.
Ensure compliance with Studio operational requirements.
Lead risk identification and mitigation efforts related to Studio design delivery.
Create consistent documentation, model management, and information exchange protocols and standards.
Support quality assurance initiatives for Studio teams.
Define and monitor key performance indicators for optimized Studio performance.
Establish reporting tools and dashboards that measure organizational effectiveness.
Analyze root causes of design and engineering related deficiencies and implement corrective actions.
Track performance against schedule, quality, cost and other operational objectives.
Build, mentor, and develop a high-performing DfMA integration and operations team.
Foster a culture of accountability, collaboration, operational excellence, and continuous improvement.
Partner closely with senior leadership to align design execution with business objectives.
Lead organizational change initiatives associated with process improvement and DfMA transformation.
Serve as a trusted advisor to the Chief Design Officer on operational strategy and organizational performance.