Project Lead

Job description

OXMAN OVERVIEW OXMAN is a nature-based research and design company based in Manhattan. We incubate ventures and technologies that reimagine the relationship between humanity and the natural world. Working across disciplines—from architecture and ecology to computation and materials science—we develop nature-centric solutions to critical environmental challenges. TEAM OVERVIEW EDEN is a digital design environment for the engineering and design of ecosystems—modeling the flows, relationships, and processes that sustain ecosystems, while bridging ecology and technology to enable the creation of resilient landscapes. We develop tools that quantify how landscapes can be engineered toward specific performance goals—cooling cities, filtering water, sequestering carbon, protecting key species—then use those tools to guide the design of ecologically active sites. EDEN operates as both a design and innovation practice and an emerging software product. Today, our work spans strategic partnerships with developers, project-based design and analytics engagements, and the development of a software platform that packages our internal tools for broader use across the architecture, landscape architecture, and development industries. As EDEN grows, we are seeking a Project Lead to own and develop dedicated client partnerships, lead the delivery of partner-specific projects, and ensure that project work is clearly scoped, technically grounded, commercially aligned, and executed with discipline. ROLE OVERVIEW OXMAN is seeking a Project Lead to lead the successful delivery of EDEN projects from proposal through closeout, while supporting the management of strategic client relationships. This role sits at the intersection of project management, scoping, design coordination, technical alignment, delivery accountability, and client communication. The Project Lead is responsible for translating partner needs into executable project plans, coordinating interdisciplinary teams, maintaining project discipline, and ensuring that EDEN’s work is delivered on time, within scope, and to a high standard. The Project Lead will work closely with dedicated partners and internal teams to understand project context, define clear scopes of work, manage communication, track decisions and dependencies, and ensure that deliverables are aligned with both client expectations and EDEN’s technical and strategic goals. The Project Lead is not expected to personally own every technical, ecological, or design decision. However, they are responsible for ensuring that the right technical, scientific, design, and leadership stakeholders are engaged at the right moments; that project scope is documented and protected; that client expectations are accurately reflected in internal work plans; and that final deliverables meet the needs of both the partner and EDEN. This role is project-delivery focused and partner-aware. A successful Project Lead is accountable for the structure, coordination, and execution of individual projects, while also contributing to the health of the broader partner relationship through disciplined delivery, clear communication, and thoughtful identification of future opportunities. The ideal candidate is highly organized, commercially aware, design-literate, and technically fluent enough to coordinate interdisciplinary work across ecology, computation, design, research, and product. They should be comfortable operating in ambiguity while building the structure required to move projects from open-ended opportunity to executable scope, successful delivery, and future portfolio development. KEY RESPONSIBILITIES - Lead the planning, coordination, and delivery of EDEN projects, ensuring that scopes, timelines, deliverables, dependencies, review points, risks, and decisions are clearly documented and actively managed. - Serve as a primary project contact for dedicated clients or partners, maintaining clear communication, managing expectations, and building trust through reliable execution. - Develop a strong working understanding of the partner’s business, site portfolio, strategic priorities, constraints, decision-making structure, and near-term opportunities for collaboration. - Lead project scoping, including proposal scope, deliverables, timelines, staffing assumptions, fee logic, exclusions, dependencies, and required technical, scientific, or design review. - Convert client needs and expectations into clear internal project goals, success criteria, workstreams, deliverables, schedules, responsibilities, and execution plans. - Own the project gates process for partner projects, ensuring proposal readiness, project briefing, execution planning, scope management, delivery finalization, and closeout are documented, coordinated, and completed. - Coordinate with technical, scientific, design, research, product, narrative, and communications leads to ensure project commitments are feasible, appropriately staffed, accurately represented, and delivered through a planned process. - Protect internal staff time and project quality by managing scope, handoffs, review points, decision records, risks, changes, and issue escalation throughout the project lifecycle. - Maintain project management systems, meeting cadences, action trackers, documentation practices, and internal communication structures that allow interdisciplinary teams to execute effectively. - Capture lessons learned, reusable assets, process improvements, communication opportunities, and candidates for technical translation into the EDEN tech stack. - Support the identification and development of future project opportunities within the partnership by delivering successful work, communicating EDEN’s value clearly, and maintaining a strong understanding of partner needs. KEY GOALS & OUTCOMES - Maintain a strong, trusted working relationship with dedicated partners through consistent communication, reliable execution, and clear expectation management. - Develop a working understanding of each partner’s business priorities, site portfolio, internal decision-making structure, constraints, and near-term project opportunities. - Ensure partner projects are translated from open-ended needs or opportunities into clearly scoped, executable project plans with defined deliverables, timelines, responsibilities, assumptions, exclusions, and review points. - Own the coordination and delivery rhythm for partner projects, ensuring that internal teams, technical leads, design stakeholders, and leadership are aligned at each major project gate. - Maintain project discipline across the partnership by actively managing scope, decisions, risks, dependencies, changes, feedback, and issue escalation. - Ensure project work is delivered on time, within agreed scope, and to a standard that strengthens the broader partner relationship. - Build repeatable project operating systems for the partnership, including meeting cadences, action trackers, decision logs, documentation structures, review workflows, and closeout processes. - Protect internal team capacity and delivery quality by identifying misalignment, scope creep, unclear ownership, or unresolved dependencies early. - Capture lessons learned, reusable project assets, process improvements, and technical translation opportunities from each partner engagement. - Support the development of future project opportunities by identifying partner needs, communicating EDEN’s value clearly, and connecting successful delivery to future portfolio growth. REQUIRED EXPERIENCE - Bachelor’s degree or equivalent experience in architecture, landscape architecture, urban planning, ecology, environmental design, engineering, business, project management, or a related field. - 5+ years of experience leading complex projects, interdisciplinary delivery teams, client-facing engagements, design projects, strategic initiatives, or project-based consulting work. - Demonstrated experience managing project delivery with accountability for scope, timelines, communication, delivery quality, expectation management, and internal coordination. - Strong project scoping and documentation skills, including the ability to define deliverables, timelines, assumptions, exclusions, workstreams, dependencies, review points, decision records, and closeout criteria. - Experience managing project risks, scope changes, handoffs, timelines, internal dependencies, client feedback, and issue escalation. - Ability to work effectively across technical and non-technical teams, including designers, computational designers, researchers, scientists, product teams, and executive stakeholders. - Technical fluency sufficient to understand computational design workflows, analytical methods, design optimization, data-driven deliverables, and the constraints of technical production. - Strong communication and presentation skills, with the ability to explain complex ecological, design, and technical concepts to external partners. - Excellent organizational judgment, with the ability to convert ambiguous opportunities into structured project plans and executable scopes. - Demonstrated ability to maintain clear project operating systems, including meetings, trackers, documentation, milestones, review processes, and accountability structures. - Ability to operate in a small, fast-moving, interdisciplinary team where processes are still being built and roles may evolve. Strong sense of ownership and accountability for project delivery, internal coordination, and client trust. PREFERRED EXPERIENCE - Experience in architecture, landscape architecture, real estate development, environmental planning, ecological design, climate technology, design technology, or adjacent AEC industries. - Experience working with developers, municipalities, design firms, landowners, or institutional partners on site-based design or planning projects. Familiarity with computational design, geospatial analysis, ecological modeling, environmental analytics, simulation workflows, or design optimization. - Experience developing proposals, scopes of work, client presentations, project briefs, schedules, project trackers, and project management systems. - Experience managing recurring client work, account-based project portfolios, or long-term partnerships where individual projects contribute to a broader relationship. Experience working in hybrid organizations that combine consulting, design services, research, and product development. - Interest in ecology, regenerative design, environmental performance, resilient landscapes, and the role of technology in shaping the built environment. TECHNICAL SKILLS - Technical fluency with computational design workflows used in architecture, landscape architecture, urban planning, environmental planning, or adjacent AEC contexts. - Familiarity with data-driven design processes, including site analysis, scenario testing, spatial optimization, performance modeling, simulation workflows, and analytical deliverables. - Working knowledge of GIS workflows, including spatial data organization, geospatial analysis, map-based communication, site constraints mapping, and interpretation of publicly available planning or environmental datasets. - Ability to coordinate technical work across computational designers, GIS specialists, ecologists, landscape architects, architects, product teams, and external project stakeholders. - Comfort translating technical, ecological, and design analysis into project scopes, client-facing deliverables, internal workplans, schedules, assumptions, and review processes. Familiarity with planning, environmental, zoning, entitlement, permitting, or compliance workflows that shape site-based design and development projects. - Ability to understand and manage technical dependencies, data requirements, review gates, model limitations, analytical assumptions, and production constraints. - Familiarity with compliance-oriented project documentation, including assumptions, exclusions, decision records, risk logs, approval pathways, and closeout criteria. - Ability to evaluate whether proposed technical approaches are appropriately scoped, resourced, documented, and aligned with client expectations. - Working understanding of how computational design, GIS, ecological analysis, environmental performance metrics, and regulatory constraints can inform master planning, preliminary site design, and partner decision-making. ESSENTIAL QUALITIES - Interdisciplinary thinker who is comfortable working across architecture, landscape architecture, ecology, computation, planning, product, and business strategy. - Curiosity-driven approach to unfamiliar problems, with a willingness to learn new technical, ecological, regulatory, and client-specific contexts quickly. Strong communicator who can translate complex ideas between technical teams, design teams, leadership, and external partners. - Systems-oriented mindset, with the ability to understand how project scope, client needs, technical workflows, team capacity, timelines, and commercial priorities connect. - Highly organized and detail-oriented, with strong follow-through on decisions, action items, documentation, risks, and deadlines. - Comfortable operating in ambiguity while creating the structure needed to move projects toward clear decisions and deliverables. - Collaborative and low-ego, with the judgment to bring the right people into the right conversations at the right time. - Commercially aware, with an understanding that strong delivery, clear communication, and disciplined execution directly support long-term partnership health. - Proactive in identifying risks, gaps, dependencies, and opportunities before they become blockers. - Strong sense of ownership and accountability for both project outcomes and the quality of the partner relationship.