Design Manager, Architecture
About Common
Common is the nation’s leading residential brand and operating platform that designs, leases, and manages multifamily properties that appeal to today's renters. Through smart design and tech-enabled property management, Common delivers exceptional experiences to thousands of residents in coliving, microunit, and traditional apartments in cities from coast to coast. Founded in October 2015, we are the preferred choice for renters looking for a stress-free apartment from a trusted brand, and for real estate owners seeking reliable, above-market returns.
We challenge ourselves every day not just to think about ways to make city living better, but to activate those ideas in meaningful ways. Our team is comprised of real estate professionals, designers, engineers, salespeople, marketers, member service representatives, and so much more. We work collaboratively, value self-startership, and embrace a “whatever it takes” mentality to ensure our work is done and done well. Common sits squarely at the intersection between technology and real estate, working every day to build quality residential solutions that bring positive change to the world’s rental housing crisis.
It’s an exciting time to be part of Common’s team. With over 17,500 units signed and under development and over $110 million in global venture capital investment, Common is expanding it’s reliable, renter-first property operations to 26 cities across the world.
To follow the latest Common news, get to know our community of residents, and learn about what it’s like to work at Common, you can follow us on Instagram, Linkedin, and Twitter. To see more open roles and hear from Common employees check out our Careers Page.
About the Role
Common is seeking a Design Manager to join our Studio Team to develop housing for shared living. We are looking for a proactive individual who has extensive project management experience in the multi-family residential sector. Design Managers will be responsible for managing multiple large projects with institutional clients. Since Common is not the Architect of Record for our homes, they will act as a consultant to provide guidance and assistance to the client to ensure compliance with Common brand standards through schematic programming layouts, participation of meetings, coordination with the architect of record, and review of design submissions.
Responsibilities
Client Management
- Be the primary point of contact for multiple clients across multiple projects, manage expectations and ensure satisfaction with institutional clients
- Ability to lead conversations and make presentations to our clients. Good salesmanship is required
- Advise clients on building an attractive and marketable real estate product, high-density living and brand standards
Project Management
- Have a deep understanding of project contract, scope, deliverables and budget
- Establish and maintain project schedule (including architectural and interior design deliverables), track progress against budget and scope
- Establish and maintain staffing plans for both architecture and interior design team
- Foster cross discipline communication with internal operations, real estate and marketing teams for a successful home delivery and opening
Internal Team Management
- Mentor and coach architectural designers on technical knowledge and design
Business Development
- Bringing in new business through presentations, pitches, and negotiations
- Assist Studio Leadership with scoping, fee determination, and drafting proposals and contracts
Product Development
- Work closely with the internal Real Estate team to design and analyze homes in our pipeline. This includes conducting testfits and feasibility studies in parallel with a financial pro forma across a wide array of housing typologies
- Work closely with other teams for feedback data to optimize our designs and verbally and visually communicate ideas through diagramming and illustrations to fold architectural thinking into our brand
This is an excellent opportunity to join an exciting start up at an early stage, as your work will have a meaningful and significant impact on both the member experience and the formation of future processes at Common. The ideal candidate is someone looking for a less traditional career path, and instead act as a hybrid between a real estate developer, a conceptual housing investigator, and an architect.
Qualifications
- Master’s Degree in Architecture preferred
- 2+ Years of project management experience required, specifically a firm grasp of both the creation and maintenance of project contracts, scope, deliverables and budget
- 5+ Years of professional experience in residential design is required and portfolio must demonstrate experience or thinking in housing or residential design
- 8+ Years of experience in an architecture firm required
- Great presentation skills, business development experience, and excellent salesmanship are required
- Professional experience with US city approvals (code or zoning) required
- Eye for interior design and finishes preferred
- Proficiency in Revit, Bluebeam, Microsoft Project (or other Gantt Chart organization software), Autocad, Adobe Creative Suite required
- Candidate must be detail-oriented and comfortable supporting ideas with both qualitative and analytical reasoning
- Candidate must be very organized and be able to multitask across large number of projects with various deadlines
- Candidate must be a continuous learner who enjoys researching, testing and implementing best practices
- Candidate must be a direct and proactive communicator who can be independent but ask questions when needed
What We Offer
Common truly values our employees and wants to do everything to ensure that our employees are not only happy and professionally fulfilled, but also that they have the opportunity to be healthy. Because of this, we are committed to providing a number of affordable and valuable health and wellness benefits for our employees such as:
- Paid vacation and sick time
- Medical, dental, and vision insurance
- FSA + HSA options
- Company-paid life insurance
- Company-paid STD/LTD
- Paid parental leave
- 401k plans
Additional benefits such as equity, paid holidays, commuter transit benefits, job training + development opportunities + a great wellness program are also available. And as always, we are regularly evaluating our offerings to ensure employees' needs are being met.
Common is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to age, ancestry, color, family or medical care leave, gender identity or expression, genetic information, marital status, medical condition, national origin, physical or mental disability, political affiliation, protected veteran status, race, religion, sex (including pregnancy), sexual orientation, or any other characteristic protected by applicable laws, regulations, and ordinances.