Higher Education Strategist

Description

• Assist in establishing a strong network of SmithGroup strategists across offices
• Develop design strategy briefs through writing, analysis, and graphic content development
• Support and partner with strategy team and others to create thought leadership
• Strengthen and grow team expertise
• Structure, analyze, and synthesize primary and secondary research and data (quantitative and qualitative) to generate actionable materials
• Initiate design and marketing ideas relative to the strategy team
• Support and develop strategy marketing materials and proposal graphics
• Lead programming efforts (observations, data gathering, interviews and workshops), development of program and space requirement reports
• Work collaboratively with other team members to integrate specialized technology and equipment requirements
• Support design strategy awareness and inclusion in proposals and pursuits
• Produce high-quality deliverables such as client presentations, strategic design briefs and collateral materials
• Work with project teams to implement strategy through planning and design concepts
• Assist with guiding and on-boarding of other internal staff
• Plan and lead early phase client strategy engagements (programming, master planning, feasibility study and/or concept design).
• Lead in all aspects of design research, research execution, and analysis (data gathering and research, engaging diverse stakeholders, and assembling multiple stakeholder perspectives.)

Requirements

• 15+ years professional experience, with a minimum of 5 years of direct experience in Higher Education programming, planning, design, and strategy
• Bachelor’s degree in relevant field, Architecture or Interior Design preferred
• Analytical, creative thinker
• Familiarity with data analytics tools, e.g. Power BI, Tableau is a plus but not required
• Confidence in facilitating strategic conversations
• Proficient in programming, planning and benchmarking
• Articulate hypotheses, insights, and points of view to facilitate the development of design solutions and organizational recommendations
• Proficient in MS Office (advanced skill in Excel), Adobe Creative Suite, AutoCAD and/or Revit (preferred but not required)
• Flexible and adaptable to work with multiple teams and initiatives
• Entrepreneurial mindset
• Strong communication and presentation skills
• Demonstrable thought leadership through written publications and conference presentations
• Strong graphic skills, including data visualization, process and adjacency diagrams, and plan visualization
• Specialized expertise in the programming, planning and design of a wide spectrum of learning environments including classrooms and instructional labs for STEM, health education and professional schools as well as informal collaboration spaces

Benefits

Training + Development

Interview process

Visa Sponsorship

Security clearance