Design Manager

As a member of the project leadership team, the Design Manager (DM) is responsible for the timely development of the project design and its alignment with the project execution plan. As the project execution plan includes client expectations, scope of work packaging, delivery methods, cost budget, sequence of work, quality expectations, and planned schedule, the Design Manager establishes and manages processes on their projects to build and maintain alignment between the design and these project objectives. As design documents are not the design itself, but rather a snapshot in time of particular project design aspects, the Design Manager’s key points of interface start with the designers themselves at the outset of the project.
 

Key Responsibilities

Responsibilities may vary depending upon project type, location, delivery method, phase of project engagement, and DPR team experience, skills and capacity.

• Lead and manage successful competitive Design-Build pursuits.
• Facilitate and advise design team selections and teaming agreement negotiations.
• Review and validate A/E scopes and support fair fee negotiations that benefit DPR and A/E team.
• Facilitate integration of Self-Perform Work (SPW), Digital Building Components (DBC), Prefabrication, DPR Technical Design Services, EIG, SurePods and Vueops into the design and fabrication model where value is added to the project.
• Understanding ways the design creates opportunity for prefabrication, self-performed work, and modularization to deliver more project value while enabling their successful integration into the design and fabrication process.
• Facilitate a culture that builds and sustains open and honest, trusting relationships with the design team.
• Support or organize and facilitate High Performing Team (HPT) project workshops to create an aligned Vision, Mission, Charter and Key Performance Indicator’s (KPI’s) to measure successful outcomes.
• Organize and support cluster group, or similar, formation strategy during the design phase and project workshops. Align and sustain the (OAEC) team in delivering a Design Execution Plan that streamlines design and preconstruction processes.
• Utilize a comprehensive understanding of design scope contract risk to develop a mitigation plan for effectively managing design related project risk.
• Evaluate the project for needed design scope and develop a comprehensive strategy for integrating ALL stakeholder design responsibilities, including design assist, delegated design, and deferred design, into a seamless and complete design scope.
• Understand and use the Owner’s business case and steer the design to meet client expectations.
• Actively engage and coordinate with the DPR team to ensure alignment on key responsibilities in support of the design process.
• Work as part of the Design-To-Build team to support the identification of opportunities and integration for DPR services during the design phase to improve the predictability, safety and efficiency of construction.
• Recognize and encourage value enhancing design iteration while driving timely design resolution that supports the project budget, project plan and client expectations.
• Proactively identify gaps between the agreed basis of design and developing scope creep with the capability to mitigate those scope gaps.
• Manage the Program and Concept Design Validation to budget prior to schematic design production, enabling and steering design-to-budget.
• Work with Authorities Having Jurisdiction to establish the appropriate design package permit submittal review process ahead of the start of permitting.
• Lead and facilitate Milestone Alignment Planning (MAP) workshops to align design production with the needs of construction, by identifying design packages (including non- traditional fast-track not supported by traditional SD/DD/CD design package definitions), prescribing design package acceptance criteria (DPAC), and driving timely complete design package delivery that enables a seamless supply-chain aligned with planned construction.
• Schedule and Lead Design Quality & Constructability Reviews aligning the design team with how we present the information and getting items closed through proven integration into the design and continued tracking of unclosed items for incorporation into the project risk mitigation plan.
• Set up and manage the internal DPR bulletin review process to provide feedback to design teams before we accept and distribute drawings/changes to subcontractors This is for everything up to IFC but also after – bulletin acceptance criteria and setting up and coordinating the Bulleting review (QC) meetings internally with DPR team.
• Develop and manage an accountable design change decision-making and change management process that enables timely design production and proactively informs the client of cost and schedule consequences for late decisions.
• Implement DPR’s Design Acceptance Criteria (DAC) process – Collaboratively and proactively managing quality into the design with the architect, and into DPR’s Quality Control (QC) plan; creating design acceptance criteria with design teams for Basis of Design (BOD), non-traditional design packages, traditional SD, DD, CD packages, RFI’s and supplemental post-Issue For Construction (IFC) Bulletins.

Experience / Skills

• Proven successful experience in Construction Manager at Risk (CMAR), Design/Build and Integrated Project Delivery (IPD) in the design and construction phases.
• Leadership and management skills required to create one cohesive team with varying abilities and priorities.
• Multi-disciplinary fluency in architectural design, engineering, pre-construction and construction processes.
• Ability to influence contractual differences and risks managed by the project team. Fluent in prime contract delivery systems and language with the ability to negotiate optimal deal terms and mitigation strategies leading to successful outcomes.
• Adept at the creative problem-solving of design issues by identifying optimized solutions through simultaneous consideration of cost, quality, constructability, supply chain support for construction and overall customer value.

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