Assistant Vice President - Design & Development

The position will provide strategic leadership and direction to the Design & Development teams across all projects to ensure that COWRKS continues to be at the forefront of creating world-class workspaces. The person should be a seasoned thought leader in design and sustainability providing path-breaking ideas to enhance our members’ experience. The AVP Design will oversee the design and development effort for all new COWRKS centres and second-generation buildouts at existing centres.

Core Work Activities

• Lead strategic planning, project management, and financial oversight for new centres and second-generation build-outs, while maintaining the highest standards of excellence in design and development quality
• Develop and maintain uniform best practices ensuring adherence to corporate design philosophy and development specifications across projects in all locations.
• Develop close interaction with internal stakeholders to enable interdepartmental goals, objectives, and timely delivery and liaise with multi-disciplinary teams, including consultants and contractors, for seamless execution of projects
• Lead and support MOS pitches & presentations
• Manage feasibility studies for new projects, research market trends, and business opportunities.
• Participate in the site due diligence process and ensure that development risks are identified and quantified.
• Ensure that the prescribed quality and financial control measures are implemented and maintained throughout the life of the project
• Drive the implementation of Standard Operating Procedures, including defining Turn Around Time for all activities to ensure consistency
• Work on new material finishes, equipment selections, etc. to enhance quality and sustainability aspects, align with new trends, and improve efficiencies in sourcing for new and existing centres
• Review the design and drawings at every stage and ensure compliance of the design to all applicable codes
• Lead and mentor the team, help retain key talent, and support new ways of working
• Lead the evaluation, selection, and appointment of consultants and assess them for service quality levels throughout the project lifecycle
• Prepare Scope of Work and payment schedule for consultants and contractors
• Validate design briefs and detailed drawings from consultants in consultation with project managers
• Ensure timely resolution of queries by service providers regarding project design, execution clarity, and quality adherence
• Ensure consultant and contractors’ work orders, billings, change requests, budget approvals, etc. are on schedule
• Travel for project presentations, coordination meetings, and site visits as needed
• Conduct regular review meetings to ensure projects are on-track, ascertain issues & risks, and initiate corrective & preventive actions
• Mentor the Arts team and Studio ensuring that the artworks are produced in line with the design sensibilities and guidelines.

Behavioural Attributes

Preferred qualifications