Client Leader, Justice + Civic

dlrgroup

Austin, Texas, United States; Dallas, Texas, United States; Fort Worth, Texas, United States; Houston, Texas, United States · Austin · United States

Posted May 22, 2025

Contract
Architecture

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Job 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.

Our Texas region has an opening for a Client Leader for our Justice + Civic sector. This role could be based in the following cities:

Austin
Dallas
Fort Worth
Houston

About Justice + Civic at DLR Group

As a nationally recognized expert in Justice+Civic facility planning and design, DLR Group serves municipal, county, state, and federal public-sector clients to deliver civic, public safety, and justice design solutions that achieve excellence in operations, sustainable design, resilience planning, space planning, building assessment, cost of ownership analysis, and project management. As stewards of the built environment, DLR Group’s Justice+Civic practice elevates behavioral, environmental, and social betterment, resulting in healing, equity, and transformation for the individual and community.

Position Summary 

As a Client Leader, you will play a key role in business development, managing client relationships and leading contract negotiations. You will educate clients on our design process while collaborating with the project manager to ensure the financial success of each project. Throughout the project lifecycle, you will maintain consistent client contact, foster a collaborative and innovative work environment, and ensure that both client and DLR Group goals are met. 

If you are a collaborative thought leader with a strategic mindset this might be the position for you. DLR Group is 100% employee owned and as such you’ll enjoy the opportunity to have ownership in the Firm. We rely on all our employee-owners to apply their financial acumen to grow the Firm profitably. 

What you will do:

Manage project execution, ensuring alignment with budget, schedule, and scope while maintaining client expectations
Collaborate with the Project Manager on staffing, responsibilities, and performance feedback for project team members
Track project milestones and deliverables, ensuring adherence to quality standards and preparing 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 contributing to RFP responses and participating in client interviews
Oversee project invoicing, ensuring accuracy and alignment with work deliverables, and manage account receivables

Required Qualifications:

Bachelor's degree in Architecture, Engineering, Interior Design, or related construction field (Professional licensure preferred)
At least 10 years of professional experience in the AEC industry, inclusive of at least 5 years in a client-facing role
Proven experience leading large-scale architectural projects
Experience with state and local jurisdictions
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

#LI-MIS

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.