Architectural Project Manager – Owner’s Representative

Overview

We are partnering with a nationally recognized owner, developer, and operator of premium lifestyle destinations to add an experienced Architectural Project Manager / Owner’s Representative to its internal Property Development organization.

The company maintains a sophisticated in-house team spanning property development, architecture, engineering, and construction and is actively expanding its national portfolio through a steady pipeline of large-scale new developments and renovations.

As that development pipeline grows, the organization is evolving its project-delivery model to utilize more third-party architecture firms alongside its internal teams. This newly created position will play a key role in that strategy.

Rather than producing architectural drawings yourself, you'll sit on the owner's side of the table, managing outside architects and ensuring they have the information, decisions, direction, and accountability necessary to successfully deliver projects.

This is an excellent opportunity for an experienced architect, design manager, or owner's representative who understands architecture deeply but has transitioned toward project leadership, design management, and owner-side development.

The Opportunity

The Architectural Project Manager will serve as the primary owner-side liaison between the organization and its external architecture partners.

You'll manage outside architects throughout the design and project-delivery lifecycle while coordinating with internal development, architecture, engineering, construction, and operational stakeholders.

Your job is ultimately to make sure the design process keeps moving.

That means driving schedules and deliverables, securing internal decisions, communicating owner requirements, resolving roadblocks, maintaining design standards, and holding external partners accountable without damaging the relationships required to deliver successful projects.

Because this represents an evolving project-delivery model for the organization, you'll also have an opportunity to help build the processes and best practices for managing third-party architects at scale.

What You'll Be Doing

Manage Third-Party Architecture Partners

• Serve as the primary owner-side point of contact for external architecture firms
• Manage architects throughout the design and project-delivery lifecycle
• Establish expectations around schedules, milestones, deliverables, quality, and communication
• Ensure outside partners receive timely information and decisions from internal stakeholders
• Hold architecture partners accountable while maintaining productive, collaborative relationships
• Manage multiple projects and/or external design teams simultaneously

Represent the Owner

• Advocate for the owner's business, operational, financial, and design priorities throughout the architectural process
• Translate internal requirements into clear, actionable direction for external design teams
• Ensure design partners understand established standards and project expectations
• Identify issues that could impact scope, schedule, quality, or execution
• Drive issues toward resolution and escalate decisions when necessary

Drive Project & Design Coordination

• Manage architectural schedules, milestones, and deliverables
• Coordinate across internal Architecture, Engineering, Construction, Property Development, and operational teams
• Keep stakeholders aligned as projects move through design and toward construction
• Anticipate information and decision needs before they become schedule constraints
• Facilitate communication between external consultants and internal subject-matter experts

Build a Scalable Delivery Model

• Help establish processes and best practices for managing outside architecture firms
• Create greater consistency across projects and external design partners
• Identify opportunities to improve communication, accountability, workflows, and project delivery
• Apply lessons learned across an active national development portfolio
• Help the organization successfully scale its use of external architecture resources as development activity grows

What We're Looking For

The ideal candidate started with a strong foundation in architecture and eventually moved toward the owner's side of project delivery.

You understand architecture well enough to credibly manage architects, challenge assumptions, recognize potential problems, and understand what information a design team needs to move forward—but your value today comes from driving people, decisions, schedules, consultants, and stakeholders rather than personally producing the drawings.

Strong candidates may currently work for a corporate owner/developer, owner's representative consultancy, hospitality or retail development organization, or another company managing sophisticated multi-site development programs.

Qualifications

Required

• Strong professional foundation in architecture, architectural project delivery, or design management
• Experience managing complex architectural/design projects
• Strong understanding of the architectural design and construction lifecycle
• Experience coordinating architecture, engineering, construction, and business stakeholders
• Demonstrated project-management experience with responsibility for schedules, milestones, and deliverables
• Ability to manage multiple projects or external teams simultaneously
• Strong stakeholder-management and executive communication skills
• Ability to operate autonomously and drive decisions across complex organizations

Highly Preferred

• Architecture degree and/or previous professional experience within an architecture firm
• Direct experience representing an owner while managing third-party architecture firms
• Experience with an owner/developer, corporate real estate organization, or owner's representative/project-management firm
• Experience managing design partners across multiple concurrent projects
• Background with multi-site, repeatable, prototype, or high-volume development programs
• Experience within hospitality, retail, restaurants, mixed-use development, lifestyle, or other sophisticated consumer-facing environments
• Experience helping establish project-management processes, standards, or consultant-management programs

Who Could Be a Great Fit?

Architect → Owner’s Representative

You began your career in architecture and transitioned into an owner's representative or project-management consultancy where you now manage architects and consultants on behalf of clients.

Architect → Corporate Owner

You started within an architecture firm before moving in-house with an owner/developer, retailer, hospitality organization, restaurant group, or similar multi-site organization.

Design Manager / Owner PM

You're currently responsible for managing third-party architecture firms and coordinating internal stakeholders within a sophisticated development organization.

This position is less aligned with a purely production-focused architect who wants to remain primarily responsible for design documentation, or a construction-focused Project Manager without meaningful architectural/design experience.

Compensation & Benefits

• Base Salary: Approximately $150,000–$175,000+, with flexibility for exceptional experience
• Comprehensive medical, dental, and vision benefits
• 401(k) retirement benefits
• Paid time off and company holidays
• Health and wellness benefits and resources
• Employee lifestyle and wellness perks
• Flexible hybrid work environment
• Professional development and long-term advancement opportunities
• Relocation consideration for exceptional candidates outside Minnesota

Why This Opportunity

• Move fully to the owner's side: Represent the organization developing and operating the projects rather than serving as an outside consultant
• No production-heavy architecture: Apply your architectural expertise through leadership and decision-making rather than spending your days producing drawings
• National development pipeline: Manage sophisticated ground-up and renovation projects across a growing national portfolio
• High organizational visibility: Work across Property Development, Architecture, Engineering, Construction, and senior business stakeholders
• Shape a new delivery model: Help establish how the organization manages and holds third-party architecture firms accountable at scale
• Complex projects: Work on large, highly amenitized facilities requiring coordination across numerous building systems, operational functions, and design disciplines
• Multiple potential hires: Join an expanding function rather than filling a one-off replacement need
• Long-term stability: Become part of an established owner/developer with an active development and renovation pipeline
• Strong compensation: $150K–$175K+ base salary
• National search: Relocation is open for candidates with particularly strong owner-side architectural experience

Location & Work Environment

This position is based in the Twin Cities metro within the organization's Property Development group.

The company is conducting a national search and is open to relocation for the right candidate.

The role will work extensively with internal development, architecture, engineering, construction, and operations teams as well as third-party architecture firms supporting projects throughout the United States.

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