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Sustainable Leader

HDR, Inc.
life insurance, parental leave, paid holidays, tuition reimbursement
United States, California, Los Angeles
Oct 08, 2025

At HDR, our employee-owners are fully engaged in creating a welcoming environment where each of us is valued and respected, a place where everyone is empowered to bring their authentic selves and novel ideas to work every day. As we foster a culture of inclusion throughout our company and within our communities, we constantly ask ourselves: What is our impact on the world?

Watch Our Story:' https://www.hdrinc.com/our-story'

Each and every role throughout our organization makes a difference in our ability to change the world for the better. Read further to learn how you could help make great things possible not only in your community, but around the world.

The Sustainable Design Leader is responsible for support of the offices and projects in their region and direct leadership of the firm-wide Decarbonization and Energy Plan initiatives for Campuses. The Sustainable Design Leader promotes quality design efforts within the region, within partner business units and is acutely involved in the positioning of the practice as well as the pursuit, win, and delivery of regional design projects and firm-wide Decarbonization and Energy projects.

The Sustainable Design Leader will provide sustainable consulting services on a variety of projects related to their area of strategic focus. Responsibilities include marketing, project scoping, fee and scope negotiation, planning, staffing, budgeting, scheduling, technical reviews, writing, analysis, and quality control. The Sustainable Design Leader must actively engage colleagues in appropriate firm-wide business groups to provide sustainable education, improve the quality of sustainable marketing and ensure that their specific initiative is being integrated on key pursuits. Thought Leadership and Public outreach within the design and sustainable industry is required. This includes speaking at conferences, publishing papers, and involvement in strategic industry professional organizations.

Project Facilitation and Leadership

  • Design Projects
  • Initiate project sustainable design concepts and idea discussions and provide guidance to design teams during project design development.
  • Serve as a client liaison for the HDR project team in an active and contributing role throughout the life of the project. Maintains an ongoing client relationship, post occupancy.
  • Guide and advise design teams on projects, providing sustainable design input to ensure consistent and high-quality design throughout the studio. Conduct technical and sustainable design reviews of in-house projects.
  • Assist in the preparation and delivery of sustainable design presentations to clients and drive consultant work to achieve design goals.
  • Mentor by coaching and motivating design teams and individuals. Foster an environment of mutual respect, open communication and trust within team and throughout the office.
  • Participate in interviews to aid project wins and integrated engagement
  • Decarbonization Specific Consulting Projects
  • Serve as Project Sustainable Design Principal on selected projects that relate to their firm-wide Decarbonization projects
  • Understand and enforce conditions of client contract
  • Manage production staff for project deliverables
  • Assist in the preparation and delivery of sustainable design presentations to clients and drive consultant work to achieve design goals

Business Development and Thought Leadership

  • Responsible for the development and execution of the regional business unit plan and managing the business unit's marketing strategy; as well as the overall branding and development of HDR's Sustainable Design Practice.
  • Participate in selected marketing and business development opportunities for key firm-wide design project pursuits. Acts as key presenter in new project interviews.
  • Lead strategic marketing efforts in direct collaboration with the Education, Science and Technology (EST) group to identify clients and pursue RFPs related to Decarbonization
  • Responsible for preparing proposals, fee and workload projections for strategic pursuits.
  • Leads Marketing Department in development of marketing campaigns, materials, webinar and proposal preparation related to their strategic focus area.
  • Assists in preparation of award submittals. Firm-wide strategic initiatives must target at least (1) strategic award per year.
  • Participates in local or state professional associations. Maintains active membership on at least (2) strategic boards or committees for an appropriate industry organization.
  • Attends conferences valued by clients as appropriate and presents at (2) strategic conference per year.
  • Assists in the preparation of press releases and other materials relevant to core practice and sustainable design practice.
  • Is an active member on HDR social media and posts at least (1) time per month

Staff Education and Development

  • Serves as mentor/advisor to sustainability and firm-wide staff for their strategic topic
  • Participates in interviews and recruiting of professional staff.
  • Encourages staff exploration and innovation to achieve project design excellence and continual improvement.

Preferred Qualifications

  • Active tracking for Registered Architect or Professional Engineer licensure
  • Proficiency in HDR work plan tools
  • Proficiency in Newforma
  • Knowledge of Revit, AutoCAD and SketchUp
  • Bachelors or Masters Degree in Architecture, Architectural Engineering or Mechanical Engineering
  • 15+ years of architecture or engineering experience that includes higher education
  • 15+ years in sustainable design experience.
  • 10+ years of energy modeling facilitation, not necessarily production, for buildings, campuses and portfolios
  • At least (3) project engagements that included Campus Energy Master Planning, Decarbonization planning for portfolios, campuses, cities, municipalities, etc.
  • Design Experience with technical lab buildings and city planning preferred
  • LEED Accredited Professional with specialty designation preferred
  • Registered Architect or Professional Engineer preferred
  • Certified Energy Manager designation preferred
  • Significant talent in sustainable design integration, design development and project leadership for large-scale projects.
  • Advanced knowledge of sustainability, integrated design, trends, construction methodology, materials application and manufacturer-supplier relationships.
  • Advanced knowledge in certification standards (LEED, BREEM, LBC etc.) and application to their area of expertise.
  • Ability to manage firm-wide collaboration groups to achieve initiative goals.
  • Excellent presentation skills that help build knowledge and consensus for project teams.
  • Energetic, outgoing personality to inspire project teams
  • Ability to think strategically, implements change, enforces policy and resolve conflict.
  • Thorough understanding of project work plans, schedules, staffing, and budgets.
  • Demonstrated ability to execute projects profitably.
  • Task-oriented; good follow-through and project management skills
  • Proven ability to prioritize oneself and the work of others in order to meet deadlines and provide high quality service to clients.
  • Self-starter with the ability to act in a proactive manner to execute job responsibilities
  • Proven ability to create and maintain strong working relationships with external clients.
  • Proven ability to masterfully present, effectively sell and negotiate the services of HDR.
  • Ability to communicate effectively, both verbally and in writing. Excellent writing, grammar, punctuation, spelling and proofreading skills.
  • Ability to work unscheduled overtime as needed.
  • Travel 50% of the time will be likely
  • Knowledge of Integrated Project Delivery (IDP).
  • Energy Star Portfolio Manager logging and tracking experience
  • Knowledge of the I2SL design database and technical requirements.
  • Proficiency in the basic technical skills of the following computer skills: Proficiency in MS Office, including Word, Excel Outlook and Adobe Creative Suite. Proficiency in Newforma preferred. Knowledge of Revit, AutoCAD and Sketchup preferred. Advanced knowledge of the following modeling software: IES., Equest, Energy Plus, Climate Consultant, DIVA, Radiance, DAYSIM, Sefaira, etc. Knowledge of Grasshopper, Rhino, Ladybug, Honeybee
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Required Qualifications
  • Bachelor's degree in Architecture, Engineering, Interior Design, Planning or closely related field
  • A minimum of 10 years of architecture, interior design, planning or engineering experience and a minimum of 10 years in sustainable design experience
  • Maintains appropriate sustainability certifications
  • Ability to think strategically, implement change, enforce policy and resolve conflict
  • Advanced knowledge of sustainability, integrated design, trends, construction methodology, materials application and manufacturer-supplier relationships
  • Advanced knowledge in certification standards (LEED, BREEM, LBC, etc) and application to projects across all HDR Business Groups
  • Ability to manage the sustainable design group and project design teams with a collaborative leadership style
  • Excellent presentation skills that help build knowledge and consensus for project teams
  • Energetic, outgoing personality to inspire project teams
  • Thorough understanding of project work plans, schedules, staffing, and budgets
  • Demonstrated ability to execute projects profitably
  • Task-oriented; good follow-through and project management skills
  • Self-starter with the ability to act in a proactive manner to execute job responsibilities; Proven ability to create and maintain strong working relationships with external clients
  • Proven ability to masterfully present, effectively sell and negotiate the services of HDR
  • Ability to communicate effectively, both verbally and in writing
  • Excellent writing, grammar, punctuation, spelling and proofreading skills
  • Ability to work unscheduled overtime as needed
  • Some travel will be necessary; Knowledge of Building Information Modeling (BIM) and Integrated Project Delivery (IDP)*
  • Thorough knowledge of sustainability, building science, integrated design and LEED guidelines*
  • Advanced knowledge of sustainability trends, construction methodology, materials application and manufacturer-supplier relationships
  • Proficiency in MS Office, including Word, Excel Outlook and Adobe Creative Suite
  • Understanding of and ability to interpret and apply results from early modeling software: Equest, Energy Plus, Climate Consultant, DIVA, Radiance, DAYSIM, Sefaira, etc*
  • Proven ability to prioritize oneself and the work of others in order to meet deadlines and provide high-quality service to clients
  • An attitude and commitment to being an active participant of our employee-owned culture is a must
*Required for positions with associated responsibility

What We Believe
HDR is our company. Together, we build on each other's life experiences and perspectives to make great things possible every day. This shapes our collaborative culture, encourages organizational trust and connects us closer to the clients and communities we serve.

Our Commitment
As employee owners, we all have a role in creating an inclusive environment where each of us is welcomed, valued, respected and empowered to bring our authentic selves to work every day.

Our eight Employee Network Groups (Asian Pacific, Black, Hispanic/Latino(a), LGBTQ+, People with Disabilities, Veterans, Women, Young Professionals) help create a sense of belonging and foster a supportive environment where everyone is empowered to engage and contribute. Each group has an executive sponsor and is open to all employees.

We provide a comprehensive benefits package that promotes employee ownership, employee health, performance, and success, which includes medical, dental, vision, short and long-term disability, life insurance, an employee assistance program, paid time away, parental leave, paid holidays, a retirement savings plan with employer match, employee referral bonus and tuition reimbursement. The expected compensation range for this position depends upon skills, experience, education and geographical location. (Stated benefits are for full-time regular positions. Temporary and part-time roles eligible for limited benefits.) {Pay Transparency Los Angeles, CA}: $110,446- $157,780
Primary Location : United States-California-Los Angeles
Industry : Architecture
Schedule : Full-time
Employee Status : Regular
BusinessClass : Sustainability and Resiliency
Job Posting : Oct 7, 2025
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