Director of Technical Services

Job Description

Title: Director of Technical Services

Overview

The Director of Technical Services (DTS) is accountable for instilling a culture of technical excellence in the firm, across all offices, studios, and disciplines. It requires an ability to lead with an attitude of empathy, encouragement and understanding while also empowering staff to think critically, proactively ask questions and seek the resources they need to inform their own work.

The DTS leads the firm’s technical design standards, delivery quality, and innovation across projects. This senior leadership role combines deep technical expertise (construction detailing, specifications, building systems, codes) with people management, cross-discipline coordination, and practice-wide responsibility for quality assurance, BIM/CAD standards, and technical risk mitigation. The DTS will drive product research and innovation (new materials, detailing methods, digital fabrication techniques), pilot technologies that improve delivery efficiency and educate the appropriate staff.

This role reports to the Director of Operations, works closely Digital Practice Manager and with project teams, clients, consultants and contractors.

Qualifications

• Licensed architect and LEED-AP with specialty
• 15+ years’ experience in architectural practice with substantial experience in technical leadership or senior technical role
• Must be seasoned in large, multi-year, multi-phased new and renovation construction, as well as fast-paced, fast-tracked and/or design build construction contract administration
• Expert knowledge of building codes, standards, building construction and green building strategies
• Deep knowledge of construction methods, detailing, specifications, MEP/structural coordination, and applicable building codes and standards.
• Expert in CSI-formatted specs and authoring platforms (e-SPECS, Specpoint, etc)
• Prior experience managing or mentoring technical teams and implementing office-wide technical standards.

Core skills and attributes

• Excellent communicator — able to translate complex technical issues for clients, contractors, and non-technical stakeholders.
• Exceptional technical drawing and specification literacy; attention to detail and quality orientation
• Strong leadership and people management skills; ability to coach and educate the appropriate staff.
• Proactive problem-solver and decision-maker.
• Strategic thinker with appetite for innovation and continuous improvement.
  
  

Responsibilities

• Define and maintain firm-wide technical standards, detailing protocols, and documentation best practices (drawings, specifications, schedules).
• Lead BIM strategy and implementation: standards, workflows, templates, model QA, and software adoption (Revit, Navisworks, BIM 360/Collaboration platforms).
• Provide technical leadership and support to project teams on complex technical issues, constructability, material selection, MEP/structural coordination, and code compliance.
• Develop and deliver internal technical training, mentoring, and competency programs for architects, technologists, and junior staff.
• Oversee QA/QC processes for deliverables and ensure consistency across projects; perform technical reviews and sign-off where required.
• Drive product research and innovation (new materials, detailing methods, digital fabrication techniques) and pilot technologies that improve delivery efficiency.
• Maintain up-to-date knowledge of building codes, standards, sustainability requirements and local regulatory processes; ensure projects meet statutory requirements.
• Manage team of internal specifications writers
• Chair the firm’s technical council/committee

Supervisory Responsibilities

Responsibilities directly involving subordinates include: training, planning, assigning and directing work; appraising performance; rewarding and disciplining employees; and aiding in problem resolution. Carries out supervisory responsibilities in accordance with the organization's policies and applicable laws.

Physical Demands

The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

• Majority of time is spent in sitting position.
• Ability to move throughout the office either by walking or through assisted means.
• There are no lifting requirements for this position.

Cooper Carry is an Affirmative Action/EEO Employer who values workplace diversity and consider applications regardless of age, race, gender, religion, color, sex, national origin, genetic information, sexual orientation, veteran status, individuals with disabilities or other status protected by law Cooper Carry provides a drug free workplace.

About the Company:

Cooper Carry is one of America's most dynamic, context-driven design firms focused on the creation of EXCEPTIONAL PLACES - neighborhoods, buildings, spaces and landscapes crafted to enrich the experience of life for the people who occupy them.

We bring an internationally recognized team of design professionals to the wide variety of project types we engage in, all united in the pursuit of excellence through the practice of connective design. Since our founding 1960, we have steadily built a reputation for thoughtful design applied to diverse projects throughout the United States, in the Caribbean and worldwide. Each project is a composition of imaginative connections among buildings and their components, and among buildings, their sites, and the communities of which they form a part.