Design Strategist

3 weeks ago Be among the first 25 applicants Strong relationships inspire great work. We must push boundaries and explore new ideas. Model the outcomes we aspire to create. Only together can we give it our all. At Vocon, we are proud of the diverse backgrounds, personalities, and passions of our team. But for all our differences, we are united by a core passion: creating designs that tell a story. We are an interdisciplinary Team of thinkers, makers, doers, and, most importantly, people. Our interdisciplinary team may have diverse backgrounds, but we speak with one voice. We share a passion for the power of design and a commitment to collaboration at every stage of the creative process. WORKPLACE STRATEGIST This position requires a highly motivated, strategic thinker to join our team as a Workplace Strategist. In this role, you will collaborate with diverse clients across various industries to assess their needs, define goals, and develop strategies that enhance their built environment. You will analyze complex data, distill insights, research, and generate findings to support decision-making. Additionally, you will facilitate comprehensive design strategy processes, engage stakeholders, create actionable concepts, and evaluate options. You will manage and coordinate innovative office planning and design projects, serving as a subject-matter expert in program and planning metrics, driving solutions that improve performance, engagement, and productivity. We seek emerging leaders with an entrepreneurial spirit, passionate about the built environment and its impact on individuals and organizations. Through data analytics and digital tools, you will help strengthen client relationships and advance our practice. Responsibilities Lead research and program design for key workplace strategy and design efforts, performing space and utilization analysis, programming, planning research, and facilitating client workshops. Demonstrate experience with research methodologies; analyze qualitative and quantitative data from multiple sources to determine their impact on business and organizational goals and performance criteria for building the environment and design. Research and synthesize data regarding new office trends applicable to our marketing efforts and communicate those to marketing, business development, and project management teams. Synthesize information and data into key insights and narratives conveyed through presentations and reports. Develop a communication strategy based on awareness of the client's change and the impacted groups. Identify potential resistance points and develop specific plans to mitigate or address the concerns. Lead design strategy projects and be responsible for content creation with guidance from Project Leaders. Mentor internal design teams to improve the process, methodologies, technology, and tools used in the programming process. Participate in firm-wide meetings to discuss design trends influencing workplace planning strategies and initiatives. Be the catalyst for “case studies” (client-specific) and “white papers” (content-specific) for both internal and external clients. Help strengthen and grow existing client relationships through consistent engagement and delivery of high-quality work. Work on Research and Development of Workplace Strategies to become an expert in relevant topics such as Generational differences in the workplace, Mobility, Intelligent Workplace Compression, Sustainability, and other topics related to the people element of workplace design. Capabilities Ability to communicate effectively with clients, consultants, contractors and team members. Possesses excellent interpersonal, verbal, written, and graphic communication skills. Communicate and present ideas and findings clearly and concisely. Possesses executive presence. Ability to solve practical problems and deal with a variety of situations concurrently. Ability to supervise the responsibilities of multiple projects simultaneously. Possess excellent organizational skills. Comfortable working in an ambiguous environment and can work effectively within vague or evolving parameters. Demonstrates knowledge of interior architecture and architectural design process including workplace planning, programming, and concept development phases. Knowledge and ability to create planning scenarios and test fits is a plus. Qualifications 8+ years’ experience in programming, occupancy, and space planning, and the design of the built environment (architecture, interior design). Expertise in workplace occupancy metrics, sharing ratios, and industry occupancy trends. Strong understanding of architectural drawings and space planning concepts. Strong design, programming, and analytical skills. Familiarity with design software (Revit). Proficient in Microsoft Office Suite, InDesign, Power BI. Proficiency in program-specific technology tools will be a plus. This description indicates in general terms, the type and level of work performed as well as the typical responsibilities of employees in this classification. The duties described are not to be interpreted as being all-inclusive to any specific employee. Management reserves the rights to add, modify, change, or rescind the work assignments of different positions and to make reasonable accommodations so that qualified employees can perform the essential functions of the job. Slightly altered or unprofessional email addresses. Vocon’s recruitment team only corresponds with email addresses in the domain ‘@vocon.com. Vague job requirements or job descriptions. All of our open job opportunities and descriptions can be found on Vocon’s careers page. Seniority level Mid-Senior level Employment type Full-time Job function Design Industries Architecture and Planning Referrals increase your chances of interviewing at Vocon by 2x Inferred from the description for this job Medical insurance Vision insurance Paid maternity leave Paid paternity leave 401(k) Disability insurance Get notified about new Designer jobs in Greater Chicago Area . 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