{"id":660642,"url":"https://alion.io/job/dlrgroup-higher-education-client-leader","title":"Higher Education Client Leader","company":{"id":672866,"name":"DLR Group","domain":"dlrgroup.com","url":"https://alion.io/company/dlrgroup","size_band":"501-1000","is_staffing_agency":false,"employer_type":"direct","is_intermediary":false,"listed_via":null,"ats_vendor":"Greenhouse","truth_index":{"grade":"B","score":81,"open_postings":26,"ghost_share":0,"stale_share":0.577,"repost_share":0,"time_to_fill_p50_days":95,"computed_at":"2026-10-13T05:45:00Z"}},"role":"Early Careers","role_family":"Early Careers","seniority":"lead","employment_type":null,"work_mode":"on_site","remote_scope":null,"remote_scope_basis":null,"remote_working_hours":null,"hiring_geo_confidence":"explicit","locations":["Columbus, United States"],"countries":["US"],"hiring_countries":[],"hiring_countries_total":0,"salary":null,"salary_estimate":{"min_usd":74000,"max_usd":173000,"period":"year","method":"role_seniority_country_remote_cell","sample_n":73},"experience_years_min":10,"visa_sponsorship":true,"relocation_package":false,"has_equity":false,"technologies":[],"status":"live","first_seen_at":"2026-07-27T14:43:53Z","employer_posted_date":"2026-10-06","last_verified_at":"2026-10-14T00:34:42Z","board_verified":true,"closed_at":null,"days_open":78,"trust":{"level":"ok","repost_count":null,"flags":[],"days_open":78},"description":"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.\nAs a Client Leader at DLR Group, you will lead client engagement from pursuit and marketing through project completion for our Higher Education practice. You will serve as a trusted relationship leader for a major university client in the Columbus market while collaborating with integrated design teams to create environments that elevate the student, faculty, and campus experience.\nAbout Higher Education at DLR Group\nDLR Group’s Higher Education practice fully embraces our responsibility to society by designing spaces that emphasize academic learning and social development. We are transforming the educational landscape, working with our clients to set new horizons for learning and living that enrich campus communities, the spaces they strive to provide, and what they can achieve.\nOur team draws from evidence-based design and works with stakeholders to positively influence student and faculty engagement, ensuring that learning is enhanced through design. We also understand the rapid pace of technological, social, and cultural change; our teams partner with institutions to navigate these challenges.\nOur Higher Education expertise spans campus planning, student life and libraries, science and technology, workforce training, arts, athletics and recreation. Through our ongoing Evolution of Campus research, we translate insights from institutions, students, educators, and employers into design strategies that support learning, wellbeing, belonging, and career readiness.\nIn Columbus, this role will build on an established portfolio of complex academic, research, arts, and student-life environments. You will have the opportunity to pair strong local client leadership with DLR Group’s national Higher Education expertise and integrated design resources.\nPosition Summary\nIn this role, you will be the primary point of contact and trusted advisor for a significant university client, maintaining consistent engagement throughout the project lifecycle and developing a deep understanding of the client’s goals, culture, and long-term campus priorities. You will lead business development, contract negotiations, and client communication while partnering with Project Managers to support project quality, financial performance, schedule, and successful delivery.\nThe ideal candidate is a licensed architect or credentialed interior designer with experience leading complex Higher Education projects and multidisciplinary teams. This individual will bring a relationship-focused, entrepreneurial mindset and a “doer-seller” approach: contributing to project strategy and design while strengthening client relationships and supporting the continued growth of DLR Group’s Higher Education practice in Columbus and the broader region.\nThe successful candidate will:\nServe as the primary relationship leader and trusted advisor for a major university client, building strong connections with executive, facilities, academic, and user-group stakeholders.\nLead client engagement from pursuit and contract development through design, construction, and project closeout.\nGuide integrated teams across architecture, interiors, engineering, planning, and specialty services to deliver a coordinated and responsive client experience.\nCollaborate with the Project Manager to establish and maintain project work plans, schedules, staffing strategies, financial goals, and quality expectations.\nLead contract negotiations, approve contract changes, and help manage risk throughout the project lifecycle.\nMaintain regular client communication, proactively address concerns, and ensure the team remains aligned with the client’s goals and priorities.\nEnsure timely processing of invoices and partner with clients to support prompt payment.\nShape and lead design, planning, and client strategy for Higher Education opportunities in Columbus, Ohio, and the broader region.\nSupport sector growth in collaboration with local and national Higher Education leaders and business development professionals.\nContribute directly to project strategy, programming, planning, design, and presentations as an engaged “doer-seller.”\nEnsure DLR Group practice standards and quality expectations are followed throughout the duration of each project.\nMentor team members and participate in recruiting, training, onboarding, and professional development.\nTravel as project and client needs require.\nRequired Qualifications\n10+ years of experience as a Project Manager, Client Leader, or comparable design professional.\nDemonstrated experience leading multiple Higher Education projects in a client-facing role, including complex projects for colleges, universities, or large institutional clients.\nProven ability to serve as the primary client contact and lead multidisciplinary teams through all phases of project delivery.\nBachelor’s degree in Architecture or Interior Design.\nActive architectural license or professional interior design credential appropriate to the discipline, such as NCIDQ certification.\nExperience with business development, contract negotiations, project financial performance, and client relationship management.\nStrong written, verbal, presentation, organizational, and interpersonal skills.\nMust be eligible to work in the United States without the need for work visa or residency sponsorship.\nPreferred Qualifications\nExperience supporting a major public university or similarly complex institutional client.\nKnowledge of the Columbus, Central Ohio, or Midwest Higher Education market and an established local professional network.\nExperience with academic buildings, research and teaching environments, student life, campus planning, arts, housing, or related campus project types.\nExperience delivering renovations, adaptive reuse, phased work, or projects on active and occupied campuses.\nA demonstrated “doer-seller” approach that combines project leadership, design engagement, client development, and market growth.\nDLR Group is an integrated design firm delivering architecture, engineering, interiors, planning, and building optimization for new builds, renovations, and adaptive reuse projects.\nWe 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.\nThrough our values - commitment, creativity, environmental stewardship, fun, integrity, ownership, sharing, teamwork - we elevate the human experience through design, together.\nDLR Group follows a four-day in-office work model, with employees having the flexibility to work somewhere other than the office on Fridays.\nWe are proud to be an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action/M/F/Veteran/Disabled employer.","description_format":"text","description_chars":7342,"description_truncated":false,"requirements":{"experience_years_min":10,"management_years_min":null,"team_size_min":null,"manages_managers":false,"education":{"level":"bachelor","optional":false},"security_clearance":false,"languages":[]},"benefits":["Professional development"],"hiring_locations":[{"name":"United States","iso":"US","kind":"country"}],"hiring_excludes":[],"relocation_offered":false,"industries":["Higher Education","Architecture","Engineering Services"],"lifecycle":[{"event":"open","at":"2026-09-10T21:29:56Z"}],"visa":[{"country":"US","licensed_sponsor":true,"evidence":"H-1B filings in 12 months: 15 · green card filings: 2","filings_12m":15,"filings_prev_12m":9,"green_card_filings_12m":2,"median_offered_wage_usd":93676,"route":null,"cap_exempt":false,"checked_at":"2026-10-03T21:08:04+00:00","sources":["US Department of Labor: LCA disclosure data (H-1B, H-1B1, E-3)","US Department of Labor: PERM disclosure data (green cards)"],"filings_for_role_12m":0}],"liveness":{"score":34,"band":"fade","label":"Fading","p_open":1,"p_active":0.569,"p_room":0.6,"age_days":77,"expected_fill_days":95,"reasons":["conf:0","stale_co","win:late","crowd:brand"],"computed_at":"2026-10-13T05:45:00Z"},"pay":null,"html_url":"https://alion.io/job/dlrgroup-higher-education-client-leader","json_url":"https://alion.io/job/dlrgroup-higher-education-client-leader.json","meta":{"generated_at":"2026-10-14T03:29:07Z","cache_seconds":300,"methodology":"https://alion.io/methodology","terms":"https://alion.io/terms","contact":"https://alion.io/contact","api":"https://alion.io/developers","about":"Alion is a live layer of people, companies and AI agents: who they are, whether they are real and active right now, what they do and how to work with them, readable by people and by agents and paid per call.","catalog":"https://alion.io/catalog.json","usage":{"tier":"crawler_verified","counted_by":"address","units_charged":1,"used_today":5465,"day_limit":null,"remaining_today":null,"minute_limit":300,"resets_at":"2026-10-15T00:00:00Z"}},"offers":[{"id":"company.slices","title":"One company in depth, by slice","status":"live","price":{"credits":0.02,"usd":0.002,"plus_per_slice":{"credits":0.05,"usd":0.005}},"unit":"per company, plus each slice with data","note":"the employer in depth","call":{"mcp_tool":"get_company","arguments":{"id":672866},"rest":"https://alion.io/mcp/rest/get_company?id=672866"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=company.slices&for=job%2Fdlrgroup-higher-education-client-leader"},{"id":"market.stats","title":"A market slice: pay, demand and time to fill","status":"live","price":{"credits":1,"usd":0.1},"unit":"per slice","note":"pay, demand and time to fill for this role and place","call":{"mcp_tool":"market_stats"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=market.stats&for=job%2Fdlrgroup-higher-education-client-leader"},{"id":"job.search","title":"Open jobs by role, technology, place, pay and visa","status":"live","price":{"credits":0.02,"usd":0.002},"unit":"per posting in a list","note":"similar open postings","call":{"mcp_tool":"search_jobs"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=job.search&for=job%2Fdlrgroup-higher-education-client-leader"},{"id":"company.verify","title":"Is this company real and active right now","status":"pilot","price":null,"unit":"per company","request":{"url":"https://alion.io/catalog/request","method":"POST","body":"{\"offer\": \"company.verify\", \"for\": \"job/dlrgroup-higher-education-client-leader\", \"note\": \"what you need it for\"}"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=company.verify&for=job%2Fdlrgroup-higher-education-client-leader"}]}