Design Manager

The Work

LAUSD runs about a thousand campuses, and most of them are decades old. The Maintenance and Operations branch handles the work that keeps them open and safe: engineering repair and critical repair projects on buildings that students are still using. As Design Manager for A/E Services, you run the design side of that work.

You manage and coordinate the District's design process so that every set of plans stays inside the program, the budget, the environmental rules, and the law. You carry several projects at the same time, working with architects, consultants, and District staff to get each one finished on schedule.

You pick the architecture firm best suited to each project, then give that firm clear and consistent direction on goals, standards, site, schedule, and budget. You run the design review, you check that the design meets LAUSD's standards for both education and buildings, and you review design changes so the project stays on budget. You report on where planning and design stand, and what needs a decision.

What You Will Own

The District's design process for A&E Services, from first drawings to a set of plans the District can build from

Several engineering repair and critical repair projects at once, and the architects, consultants, and District staff on each one

A clear process for choosing the architecture firm best suited to each project, based on what the firm can actually deliver

Clear direction to architects on goals, standards, site, schedule, and budget

The design review process: designs that meet LAUSD standards and give full value for the money budgeted

Review of design changes, so projects stay within budget

Status reporting on planning and design, with findings and recommendations

What You Bring

8 years of full-time paid professional experience managing facilities design, or planning and coordinating capital projects that included the overall design, contract administration, cost estimating, and scheduling

4 of those years on the design, planning, and construction of schools or similar public agencies

A bachelor's degree in architecture or engineering (required for this role)

The judgment to direct several architects and projects at once and keep decisions moving

Preferred

A current California Certificate of Registration as an Architect, or a Professional Engineer license

Experience with DSA, the state office that approves public school construction

Repair and modernization work on buildings that stay occupied while the work happens

Cost estimating and scheduling on the design side, not just the construction side

Salary range: $167,000 to $183,000 per year, based on experience.

Benefits: health, dental, and vision at low cost; 401k; three weeks of PTO; and an ESOP (employee stock ownership) at no cost to you, with a 3% Safe Harbor contribution vested on day one.

Why MAAS

MAAS has spent nearly 40 years earning the trust of 50+ educational institutions across California, managing over $10B in projects. That track record means the work here is stable, funded, and consequential. You are not chasing the next contract.

As a MAAS employee, you are also an owner. The company is 100% employee-owned through an ESOP, a retirement benefit provided at no cost to you, on top of your salary. MAAS is a profitable, well-run organization and our share price has more than doubled since the plan's inception, with continued growth year over year. Your ownership stake builds the longer you stay, and ESOP participants nationally tend to accumulate 2.5x more in retirement savings than employees at non-ESOP companies.

In an industry not known for prioritizing culture, 96% of MAAS employees say it is a great place to work, and 100% say people genuinely care about each other.