Design Specialist

Design Specialist

Job Locations US-NJ-Newark Requisition ID 2026-13609 Category Preconstruction

Overview

Are you looking for a highly rewarding opportunity that provides extensive career growth opportunity? Gilbane is seeking a Design Specialist to support the integration of design and construction teams to deliverable coordinated, constructible, and cost-effective designs on schedule and within budget by facilitating workflows that integrate the multi-disciplinary team.

Who are we?

As a Top-10 ENR Contractor, Gilbane is a family-owned business with 45 offices that has been shaping communities since 1870. Consistently recognized as one of the most reputable construction management firms in the country, Gilbane is committed to delivering projects safely and on-time. You will have the opportunity to build schools, labs, hospitals, corporate offices, sports arenas and more!

We are dedicated to building a diverse, inclusive and authentic workplace, so if you're excited about this role but your past experience doesn't align perfectly with every qualification in the job description, we encourage you to apply anyway. You may be just the right candidate for this or other roles.

Who are you?

You are someone who acts inclusively, showing empathy and treating others with respect and dignity in order to uphold Gilbane's core value of Caring and "People First" workplace culture. You seek to listen in order to understand and can convey information clearly. You're a strong problem solver who can identify, prioritize, and implement alternatives for solutions, and you demonstrate adaptability by collaborating with others and supporting team members to achieve excellence. A self-starter who shows passion, commitment, and ownership all while delivering on business outcomes and driving results. You're someone who identifies opportunities for new and improved ways of doing things that result in value-add solutions.

Your core values match Gilbane's: Integrity, Caring, Teamwork, Toughmindedness, Dedication to Excellence, Discipline, Loyalty, and Entrepreneurship.

What's in it for you?

Gilbane offers employees multi-dimensional training opportunities through a number of resources. While managing your responsibilities to projects, you will be able to enroll in trainings through our award-winning Gilbane University to build leadership and technical skills. In addition, you would work with an experienced team which provides you with the opportunity to learn new industry skills every day. You will protect and promote the interests of both Gilbane and the client in all matters as well as demonstrating the personal characteristics of a developing leader.

Responsibilities

Supports scope and services alignment during the design and construction phases as applicable
• Supports one project, a defined workstream or complex alternative delivery projects based on scope, pace, and risk
• Attends all design coordination meetings, records, prepares and distributes meeting minutes
• Understands owner requirements, deliverable lists, design assumptions, and design-change documentation; supports monitoring of the implementation of these requirements in the project documents
• Supports tracking of delegated design, design-assist, and design-build scope interfaces
• Tracks design issues, decisions, owner comments, and incomplete deliverables and flags misalignment to the Design Project Manager or project leadership.
• Maintains the Risk Register, documenting safety concerns identified and managed during design
• Manages the Milestone Design Deliverable process, inclusive of collating all required documents and submitting to the Owner for review
• Manages Document Control in the design phase inclusive of maintaining a library of all Milestone Design Deliverable submissions and an up-to-date coordination set for all parties to reference during the design phase
• Manages the input and execution of Owner RFIs during the design phase.
• Ensures design team responsiveness to field issues and facilitate risk-mitigating solutions
• Coaches and mentors less experienced team members
• Supports a positive and inclusive work environment

Qualifications

EXPERIENCE/EDUCATION

• Bachelor's Degree in Architecture, Engineering, Construction Management, or related field
• 5+ years of Preconstruction, Operations, Design Management, Architecture/Engineering, or related experience with exposure to alternative delivery models
• Typically assigned to one project or defined design-management workstream
• DBIA, LEED, RA, PE, AIA, NCIDQ, or related credentials may be preferred based on project/client requirements

KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS & ABILITIES

• Willingness to observe and learn the alternative delivery execution and mindset methodologies
• A steward of team collaboration, constantly demonstrating a "Project-first" mentality
• Can execute departmental processes/procedures with limited oversight
• Excellent communication and team-building skills
• Results-oriented and accountable
• Thorough understanding of multiple subject areas or disciplines
• Provides resource management to complex processes
• Regularly operates and communicates with project leadership
• Can prioritize work to meet changing project/deliverable needs

Salary to be determined based on factors such as geographic location, skills, education, and/or experience of the applicant, as well as the internal equity and alignment with the team.

For (Newark, NJ) this ranges from $97,000-$121,000 plus benefits and retirement program.

Gilbane offers an excellent total compensation package which includes competitive health and welfare benefits and a generous profit-sharing/401k plan. We invest in our employees' education and have built Gilbane University into a top training organization in the construction industry. Qualified applicants who are offered a position must pass a pre-employment substance abuse test.

Gilbane is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to age, color, national origin, race, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, protected veteran status, or disability status. Click here to view the physical demands and working conditions required to perform this role. Reasonable accommodation may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential job functions.

Note to Recruiters, Placement Agencies, and Similar Organizations : Gilbane does not accept unsolicited resumes from agencies. Please do not forward unsolicited agency resumes to our jobs alias, website, or to any Gilbane employee. Gilbane will not pay fees to any third party agency or firm and will not be responsible for any agency fees associated with unsolicited resumes. Unsolicited resumes received will be considered property of Gilbane and will be processed accordingly.

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