Studio Leader, K-12 Education

DLR Group is an integrated design firm with a promise to elevate the human experience through design. This fuels the work we do around the world and inspires our mission to improve the lives of our clients, our communities, and our planet. If this sparks your interest, you’re in the right place.

Our Nashville, TN office has an opening for a Studio Leader, K-12 Education to support and lead the growth of our K-12 Education practice locally. We operate within a hybrid work model, supporting flexibility between office time and work from home.

About K-12 Education at DLR Group:

DLR Group is helping shape the future of education through design. Recognized as the No. 1 education architecture firm in Building Design’s 2026 World Architecture 100 report, our firm brings 60 years of experience in educational design to creating places that empower students, support educators, and strengthen communities.

Our K-12 Education practice brings together educators, researchers, planners, architects, engineers, and interior designers to reimagine how learning happens. Through BOLD, our education change management service, we help school districts connect their educational vision with teaching practices and learning environments. This collaboration brings research and firsthand educational experience directly into the design process.

As a leader in our Nashville studio, you will bring this expertise to local school communities while helping shape the growth of our practice across Tennessee. This is an opportunity to build lasting client relationships, champion design excellence, and help create learning environments that will serve generations of students.

Position Summary:

As a Studio Leader/Client Leader , you will play a key role in business development, client relationship management, and contract negotiations. You will educate clients about our design process while collaborating with the Project Manager and Design Leader to ensure each project's financial success and design excellence. Throughout the project lifecycle, you will maintain consistent client contact, foster a collaborative and innovative work environment, and ensure that both the client's and DLR Group's goals are met.

You will help grow our K-12 Education practice in Nashville and across Tennessee, strengthening relationships with school districts and community partners. The Nashville studio has a culture of focusing on great design with great people. We pride ourselves on elevating the human experience through design internally and externally.

What you will do:

- Manage project execution, ensuring alignment with budget, schedule, and scope while maintaining client expectations.

- Collaborate with the Project Manager and Design Leader on staffing, responsibilities, and performance feedback for project team members.

- Track project milestones and deliverables, ensure adherence to quality standards, and prepare regular status reports.

- Facilitate and document meetings with staff and clients, coordinating project personnel, vendors, and consultants.

- Participate in client contract negotiations, manage change requests, and approve project plan modifications.

- Support business development initiatives by strengthening relationships with school districts in Nashville and across Tennessee, contributing to RFP responses, and participating in client interviews.

- Oversee project invoicing, ensuring accuracy and alignment with work deliverables, and manage accounts receivable.

Required Qualifications:

- Bachelor’s degree in Architecture, Engineering, Interior Design, or a related construction field.

- At least 10 years of professional experience in the AEC industry, including at least 5 years in a client-facing role leading K-12 Education projects in the Southeast, preferably in Nashville or across Tennessee.

- Strong understanding of business management principles, including strategic planning, resource allocation, and leadership.

- Knowledge of customer service principles, including needs assessment, quality standards, and customer satisfaction.

- Expertise in design techniques and tools for producing technical plans, drawings, and models.

- Familiarity with building methods, materials, and systems for construction and renovation projects.

- Strong critical thinking, time management, and communication skills, both verbal and written.

- Ability to actively listen, understand others’ perspectives, and respond thoughtfully in conversations.

Preferred Qualifications:

- Professional licensure in Architecture.

- Experience leading integrated teams on complex, high-profile K-12 Education projects.

- Established relationships with school districts and educational leaders in Nashville and across Tennessee.

- Active engagement in professional or community organizations related to education, design, or school facility planning.

- Participation in industry events, publications, or design awards demonstrating leadership in the profession.

TO BE CONSIDERED, PLEASE SUBMIT CURRENT PORTFOLIO/WORK SAMPLES IN PDF FORMAT.

DLR Group is an integrated design firm delivering architecture, engineering, interiors, planning, and building optimization for new builds, renovations, and adaptive reuse projects.

We are 100% employee-owned: every employee is literally invested in our clients’ success. At the core of our firm are interdisciplinary teams engaged in every step of project lifecycles. Our teams champion true collaboration, open information sharing, shared risk and reward, value-based decision making, and proficient use of technology to deliver exceptional design. We are pursuing the goals of the 2030 Challenge, the ME2040, and the SE2050, and are an initial signatory of the China Accord and the AIA 2030 Commitment.

Through our values – commitment, creativity, environmental stewardship, fun, integrity, ownership, sharing, teamwork – we elevate the human experience through design, together.

DLR Group follows a four-day in-office work model, with employees having the flexibility to work somewhere other than the office on Fridays.

We are proud to be an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action/M/F/Veteran/Disabled employer.