Design Manager

Overview

Are you looking for a highly rewarding opportunity that provides extensive career growth opportunity? Gilbane is seeking an Design Manager - Advanced Delivery to lead leads the integration of design and construction teams to deliver coordinated, constructible, and cost-effective designs. This role supports advanced delivery models (Design-Build, IPD, P3, EPC), ensuring design intent, risk management, and project readiness for execution.

Who are we?

As a Top-10 ENR Contractor, Gilbane is a family-owned business with 45 offices that has been shaping communities since 1870. Consistently recognized as one of the most reputable construction management firms in the country, Gilbane is committed to delivering projects safely and on-time. You will have the opportunity to build schools, labs, hospitals, corporate offices, sports arenas and more!

We are dedicated to building a diverse, inclusive and authentic workplace, so if you’re excited about this role but your past experience doesn’t align perfectly with every qualification in the job description, we encourage you to apply anyway. You may be just the right candidate for this or other roles.

Who are you?

You are a coach/leader who leads with an inclusive and empathetic mindset. You provide feedback and guidance to help others excel in their current or future roles. You determine priorities, delegate work, and effectively communicate progress. You establish measures to assess the impact, quality, and timeliness of results while praising successes and sharing lessons learned. You build high performing teams by attracting, engaging, developing, and retaining talented individuals through motivation and discipline to maximize impact on the organization and the individual.

You leverage business insights by understanding industry trends, local market/economic conditions, and Gilbane’s business model to make critical decisions and create competitive advantage. You deploy a strategic mindset when considering solutions to long-term opportunities and risks that may develop in the future.

Your core values match Gilbane’s: Integrity, Caring, Teamwork, Toughmindedness, Dedication to Excellence, Discipline, Loyalty, and Entrepreneurship.

What’s in it for you?

Gilbane offers employees multi-dimensional training opportunities through a number of resources. While managing your responsibilities to projects, you will be able to enroll in trainings through our award-winning Gilbane University to build leadership and technical skills. In addition, you would work with an experienced team which provides you with the opportunity to learn new industry skills every day. You will protect and promote the interests of both Gilbane and the client in all matters as well as demonstrating the personal characteristics of a developing leader.

Responsibilities

• Serves as primary liaison between design and construction teams during proposals

• Leads strategy for design services breakdown and integration of specialty consultants or design/build trades

• Defines technical scope, manage RFIs, and ensure comprehensive bridging documents

• Develops and maintains design deliverable schedules aligned with procurement and build phases

• Validates A/E scope and fee structure; support Teaming Agreements

• Collaborates with estimating to break down RFPs and support subcontractor/vendor pricing

• Assembles and maintains the Endorsed Project Baseline (proposal, estimate, contract, schedule)

• Identifies and communicates requirements to clarify RFPs for design and construction

• Oversees design progression to ensure alignment with budget, schedule, and constructability; lead target value design

• Facilitates design charrettes, team chartering, and owner approval processes

• Coordinates permitting process and maintain related schedules

• Monitors and documents design changes, minimizing scope creep

• Leads design risk management, including cost-benefit analyses for RFIs and changes

• Ensures Health & Safety integration: completes Safety Risk Assessments, introduces Hierarchy of Controls, and incorporates logistics planning into design

• Ensures effective coordination between the VDC (Virtual Design & Construction) team and the design team to align digital modeling, clash detection, and constructability reviews with project goals

• Maintains tools for tracking design issues and changes

• Promotes a design-build mindset and collaboration between disciplines

• Oversees and validates design team invoices

• Communicates design scope and intent to construction teams

• Supports development of construction budgets from design estimates

• Assists in trade contractor/supplier scope definition and procurement

• Provides feedback for future bids and risk assessments

• Resolves scope conflicts and develop recovery plans as needed

• Ensures design team responsiveness to field issues and facilitate risk-mitigating solutions

• Oversees design QA/QC for regulatory and standards compliance

• Improves documentation of design basis and assumptions

• Emphasizes the importance of delivering the proposed design and managing scope changes

• May support preconstruction, estimating, or procurement as needed

• Expected to contribute to organizational learning by sharing lessons learned and best practices

• Responsible for the career development and coaching of team members

• Fosters a positive and inclusive work environment to motivate and engage team members

• Interprets and translates the organizational strategy, ensuring team understanding of their role in accomplishing strategic goals

Qualifications

EXPERIENCE/EDUCATION

• Bachelor’s degree in Architecture, Engineering, Construction Management, or related field; advanced degree preferred.

• 10+ years’ experience in design/project management for large-scale construction.

• Experience with advanced electronics construction experience preferred.

• Proven experience with advanced delivery models (Design-Build, IPD, P3, EPC).

• Or equivalent combination of education and experience

KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS & ABILITIES

• Strong understanding of design-to-budget, constructability, and risk management

• Experience establishing and executing departmental processes and procedures

• Experience with Assumptions Management, Change Management, requirement tracking, and Corrective Action Programs

• Excellent communication, leadership, and team-building skills

• Ability to manage multiple stakeholders and drive consensus

• Proficiency in design and construction management software/tools

• Strategic thinking and problem-solving

• Collaborative leadership and influence

• Risk identification and mitigation

• Innovation and continuous improvement

• Results-oriented and accountable

Salary to be determined based on factors such as geographic location, skills, education, and/or experience of the applicant, as well as the internal equity and alignment with the team.

For Columbus, OH, this ranges from this ranges from $125,000 - $182,000 plus benefits and retirement program plus benefits and retirement program.

Gilbane offers an excellent total compensation package which includes competitive health and welfare benefits and a generous profit-sharing/401k plan. We invest in our employees’ education and have built Gilbane University into a top training organization in the construction industry. Qualified applicants who are offered a position must pass a pre-employment substance abuse test.

Gilbane is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to age, color, national origin, race, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, protected veteran status, or disability status. Click here to view the physical demands and working conditions required to perform this role. Reasonable accommodation may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential job functions.

Note to Recruiters, Placement Agencies, and Similar Organizations: Gilbane does not accept unsolicited resumes from agencies. Please do not forward unsolicited agency resumes to our jobs alias, website, or to any Gilbane employee. Gilbane will not pay fees to any third party agency or firm and will not be responsible for any agency fees associated with unsolicited resumes. Unsolicited resumes received will be considered property of Gilbane and will be processed accordingly.