Project Director (2831)

This is the highest level of architectural management at Cawley Architects. It assumes the individual has successfully been self-directed for a substantial period and is capable of leading others in a team environment.

The Project Director’s main responsibilities are to manage the work of a team of project managers (job captains), to direct work on multiple projects, and to ensure the on-time delivery of quality services. The role of Project Director is vital to increasing and ensuring the quality of our design and construction documents. Directors are also expected to provide team leadership, perform training functions for project managers, and act as the liaison between managers and principals for project-related issues and concerns. Additionally it is important to stay in touch with current design trends in the industry and apply them to new projects as applicable.

Education and Experience: 

• Has at least ten years of working knowledge and practical experience in an architectural office AND two years formal architectural education OR a four or five year (architectural related) degree with more than six years of well-rounded architectural office experience. 
• Has complete knowledge and experience producing architectural drawing packages following industry standards. 
• Licensed architect OR professional level architect in training pursuing registration and who can perform programming and design functions, prepare construction documents without supervision, has a working knowledge of construction practices and can perform all required drafting and CADD functions.

Specific Job Responsibilities and Expectations:

• Performs tasks promptly and according to the project budget.
• Attends pre-design meetings with clients (either with or in place of the principals) as directed. Participates in the design of new projects and the on-going development of project designs. Responsible for overseeing the production of the preliminary design and pricing packages. Supervises, coordinates, and prepares design drawings in conjunction with the principals, preliminary design manager, and project managers. Works with staff to ensure deadlines for preliminary drawing requests.
• Assists in the development of fee proposals and subsequent additional service proposals.
• Identifies, researches, and comprehends project-related zoning and building code issues for each project.
• Resolves discrepancies/architectural conflicts and directs project managers to follow through accordingly
• Supervises, coordinates, and prepares design development drawings (sign off/pricing packages) including site plan, floor plan, and elevation sheets.
• Assists in the ongoing evolution of project checklists and trains project managers on the proper use of these resources during the development of their projects. Contributes to the CADD drawings and office standards.
• Trains project managers on the proper setup and maintenance of all electronic files according to office standards.
• Develops overall timetables for projects in conjunction with the project coordinator. Directs and monitors project benchmarks/milestones throughout the design and permitting process. Updates the information on the weekly progress reports and weekly update reports to facilitate the communication between the architect, consultants, and clients.
• Communicates and coordinates with the client(s) regarding project schedules as they are updated.
• Attends and participates in all weekly client/contractor meetings to update them on the status of all projects under your direction. Follows up after the meeting with items that are of specific importance to the client/contractor. Attends and participates in weekly follow up (in-house) project coordination meetings with the office staff.
• Leads weekly team meetings to review job progress, project manager workloads, and budgets, discuss team-related issues, and disseminate new client standards.
• Supervises, coordinates, and reviews completed packages for pre-application submittal and design review approval processes.
• Performs a preliminary plan check with the city including a review of all building-related code issues (or delegates this to an experienced project manager). Responsible for coordinating the resolution of all exiting, construction, fire rating, and occupancy issues, before working backgrounds are produced for the use of other team members.
• Leads pre-Design Review meetings with the project manager and consultants to identify and resolve site and preliminary design issues. Directs the project manager to make all subsequent changes following the meeting.
• Supervises and coordinates the required documents for city and client submittals (including CC&R submittals when applicable).
• Takes calls from and makes contacts with City staff to stay abreast of city issues and schedules. Notifies Office Manager when aware of upcoming review fee or review schedule changes.
• Supervises and coordinates cartoon sets for the construction drawings before the team starts up meetings (blanks). Reinforces office standards/processes by utilizing the primary activity schedule and directing the set-up of projects with resources mined from other projects during the cartoon set process.
• Leads the blanks meetings or delegates this task to an experienced project manager when appropriate.
• Leads the meeting with the owner on-site as a follow up to the team start-up meeting. Reviews the written notes taken by the project manager of all owner-requested and team-developed changes discussed at the meeting. Has direct contact with the owners of each project and works with the project manager to ensure that the team responds to and follows up on owner requests. Notifies the appropriate office staff when additional service proposals are needed.
• Maintains an awareness of and strives to meet the project’s overall timetable in all aspects of responsibility. Supervises the progress of team projects/project managers through their primary activity schedules. Regularly reviews overall team project budgets and timetables with the Accounting Manager.
• Supervises consultant coordination of initial and updated backgrounds. Resolves project coordination issues with consultants to identify the key issues consultants have on each project and incorporates those into the weekly project reports to include revisions to the plans and minimizing first review corrections.
• Corresponds with team members/consultants to schedule, invite, confirm, and remind staff and consultants of upcoming team meetings. Coordinates team meetings and provides approved blanks team schedules and contact information. (Delegates these tasks as needed to Project Manager or Office Manager as time permits).
• Updates and briefly analyzes weekly consultant tracker reports and works with staff to identify conflicts to prioritize consultant deadlines when necessary. Coordinates with consultants as needed to maintain project schedules.
• Supervises the production of complete sets of construction documents suitable for log in to the city. Insures drawing packages are in accord with our established procedures, checklists, and current construction drawing standards.
• Resolves consultant logs in issues/delays as requested by project managers.
• Supervises the compilation of architectural and consultant pre-log sets (75% sets) for their timely distribution before the team follows up meetings.
• Supervises the distribution of the complete (100%) architectural construction document set with completed checklists to the QA/QC director for review. Meets with QA/QC director and project manager to review redlines and signs off on the QA/QC review form. Directs the completion of all redline corrections before logging in to the city.
• Coordinates with project managers to get all new/idiosyncratic details copied into personal pallets for eventual incorporation into office standard database.
• Performs an overall check of all drawings before having the principals sign/seal documents for submission to the city.
• Directs the submissions and re-logging of construction documents into the city and the subsequent timely distribution of sets to consultants (i.e., CTS). Trains the project manager to inform the design-build contractor that drawings are on file to have blue-line/yellow-line/black-line sets printed. Signs all applications as the main architectural contact person.
• Oversees the production and delivery of color boards to clients and assists in the preparation of color boards when needed. Tracks client signatures on the color boards by working with LGE to get a signed copy returned to us.
• Directs others to (or personally) follows up regularly with the city to determine the status of plans under review and then communicates that status to the client.
• Performs (or delegates to the project manager or others) the pick up of the city comments when available. Ensures the timely distribution of redlines, comments, and revisions to all consultants. Establishes clear deadlines for consultants to return updated documents. Responds to anticipated consultant delays. Supervises the completion of all required city corrections, contractor value engineering changes, QA/QC changes, and owner changes to the documents. Strives to accomplish re-submittal according to the established timetable and secure building permits as quickly and efficiently as possible.
• Works with project managers to resolve issues and provide guidance regarding communication with city review staff. Attends city meetings to resolve open issues (may delegate to experienced project managers as appropriate). Establishes rapport with city staff to facilitate the resolution of issues before re-submittal.
• Performs a thorough review of documents before instructing project managers put them on file for the printing of black-lines by the contractor.
• Maintains close coordination with the field superintendents throughout the construction phase of each project and provides solutions to field issues as they arise. May delegate some of this coordination to experienced project managers as appropriate.
• Supervises, reviews, and investigates all RFI’s from the contractor. Copies QA/QC director on answered RFI’s of significance. Reviews and coordinates all requests received for changes to permitted drawings. Supervises all post-permit revisions performed by the project manager. Supervises the submittal of the revised plans to the city as required.
• Reviews shop drawings. Follows up to make sure shop drawings are logged, reviewed, stamped, and returned to the contractor in a timely fashion. May delegate some of this coordination to experienced project managers as appropriate.
• Trains and reinforces with project managers that it is their responsibility for knowing where original drawings are at all times (file and document management), maintaining all current and correct drawings on file for appropriate milestones, and preparing all electronic files, drawings, and documentation to be archived at closeout (upon notification that the project has Certificate of Occupancy). Directs managers to compile record sets at the clients’ request and begin archiving process.
• Works with the design-build contractors and field staff to ensure completeness of all drawing information and to develop a body of work that is consistent from project to project. This may include field visits to each building during and after construction, with the results of the visit to be coordinated for potential inclusion into the drawing standards. Current construction methods must be incorporated in current project drawing packages and Cawley standard drawings, to ensure completeness of the required information and to maintain quality
• Notifies the Office Manager when a project gets a Certificate of Occupancy and is ready to be archived (or delegates this to the Project Manager to do).
• Pulls together necessary information and drawings for award submissions. Edits site plans, floor plans, photos, etc. (or delegates to others where appropriate). Works with Office Manager to compile award presentation documents for submission as required.
• Performs ongoing evaluations of project managers to assist management in their performance-based appraisal process.

Personal Qualifications, Qualities, and Characteristics: 

• Exhibits professionalism in appearance, behavior, and attitude. 
• Reliable, honest, prompt, and diligent. 
• Actively committed to and involved in personal and professional growth. 
• Able and willing to work and communicate as part of a production team. 
• Able to coordinate and oversee the production of multiple projects with relative ease. 
• Possesses strong leadership and communication skills and is ready to assume management responsibilities. ? Understands commonly used architectural and construction concepts, practices, and procedures. 
• Possesses considerable construction knowledge or experience. 
• Understands construction methodology and building sequences. 
• Knows LEED/green architecture. 
• Possesses excellent AutoCAD 2000+ skills and is familiar with Microsoft Office products and other Windows-based software packages. 
• Requires little or no direction/supervision to complete job functions. 
• Adheres to all office standards. 
• Learns quickly and is willing and able to adapt to new processes and procedures. 
• Has complete working knowledge and personal individual experience preparing architectural preliminary and construction document packages for Cawley Architects, Inc. 
• Follows through on instructions provided by principals. 
• Relies on experience and judgment to meet goals and deadlines with accuracy and convey progress to the principals and clients. A significant degree of creativity and latitude is required. 
• Has a very strong personal organization and time management skills. 
• Exhibits progressive communication and presentation skills with clients, owners, contractors, etc. 
• Works with office staff to maintain smooth working relationships. 
• Trains, assists, and acts as a resource for the growth of other team members.
• Workload/Management Expectation: Able to oversee 20+ projects in various phases at any one time (from preliminary design/pricing packages to construction RFI’s) with little or no principal supervision.