The Howard Hughes name is synonymous with an unrelenting passion for excellence. While his achievements in aviation and on the silver screen are legendary, it was his investments in real estate that form the foundation of our company. With passion, determination, and limitless imagination, he built one of the great American empires of the 20th century.

Today, our company carries forward the collective legacy of four innovative placemakers-James Rouse, George Mitchell, Victoria Ward, and Howard Hughes-who transformed the idea of what a community can be, envisioning a self-sustaining ecosystem that prizes inclusion, conservation, and innovation and fosters a strong social fabric to improve the lives of all residents, consumers, and tenants.

Dedicated to innovative placemaking, Howard Hughes owns, manages, and develops award-winning large-scale master planned communities and mixed-use developments including: the Seaport in New York City; Downtown Columbia in Maryland; The Woodlands, The Woodlands Hills, and Bridgelandin the Greater Houston, Texas area; Summerlin in Las Vegas; Teravalis in the Phoenix West Valley; and Ward Villagein Honolulu, Hawai'i.

At Howard Hughes, our mission is to help people discover new ways of experiencing life. We aspire to be the most creatively driven real estate company and are committed to a culture of that fosters curiosity and empowers every employee to find their story in this great organization.

About the role

As a key member of the Development team at Howard Hughes ("HH"), the Design Director will support strategic initiatives related to executing commercial real estate development opportunities across mixed-use, office, retail, and residential projects within The Woodlands, Bridgeland and The Woodlands Hills.

The Design Director will have supervision over design concepts, and work in concert with outside architecture, engineering firms and consultants, as needed. Responsibilities include assisting Development executives in setting goals for planning, design, and project criteria. The Design Director will review and direct project planning and design in accordance with established HH guidelines. The duties include ensuring careful coordination of architectural and engineering plans by the Architects of Record ("AOR") for all projects. In addition to design direction responsibility for the Houston vertical development portfolio, this candidate will collaborate with Design professionals across HH.

WHAT YOU WILL DO:

• Establishes the design direction with Development Executives for master planning, mixed-use, office, retail, residential and other commercial development opportunities and prioritizes work accordingly.

• Responsible for day-to-day design management of external consultant work:

  • Coordinates meetings

  • Provides scope documents, develops proposals and reviews contracts.

  • Provides design critique and ensures compliance with intent, best practices and HH standards.

  • Ensures coordination of project plan sets by AOR, engineers and consultants.

  • Creates RFPs, recommends selection, and directs consultants alongside project teams.

  • Develops and tracks Design schedules and budgets alongside Development Executives and project teams.

  • Network with consultants and maintain a database of consultants and vendors to support design initiatives.

• Organize, and in some cases, run, internal and external meetings related to design.

• Collaborates across the Houston Development group - keeps Executive Team, Leasing, Development and Construction informed of ongoing design progress.

• Gather design input from internal stakeholders and provide clear direction to the design team.

• Provides technical architectural insights to de-risk and facilitate projects.

• Assists Development and Construction in cost and value analysis efforts (V.E.).

• Partners with Project Managers during design and construction.

• Lead the creation and organization of design collateral for presentations to senior leadership.

• Support the creation of tenant design criteria documentation.

• Continuously seeks to streamline process and identifies new ways of working efficiently.

• Able to fully maximize technology and design tools to come up with and present ideas.

• Actively engage with industry innovation.

ABOUT YOU:

• Professional degree in architecture or design from an accredited university.

• Minimum of 8 years of relevant design experience.

• Advanced knowledge of building systems.

• Maintain strong project management skills, results-driven, adaptable with ability to manage multiple priorities and project simultaneously.

• Experience leading a team of architects and consultants.

• Team player with good interpersonal skills.

• Excellent written, verbal, and visual (ability to draw and sketch) communication skills.

• Possess strong conceptual design, organizational, presentation, and technical expertise.

• Finish and material, furniture specifications/selections, and knowledge of local material resources required.

• Onsite presence required.

This job description is not meant to be an "all-inclusive" list of the duties and responsibilities of this job. Other related duties and responsibilities may be assigned. Howard Hughes reserves the right to change or modify job duties as necessary based on business necessity.

NOTICE TO THIRD PARTY AGENCIES

Please note that Howard Hughes does not accept unsolicited resumes from recruiters or employment agencies. In the absence of a signed Recruitment Fee Agreement, Howard Hughes will not consider or agree to payment of any referral compensation or recruiter fee. In the event a recruiter or agency submits a resume or candidate without a previously signed agreement, Howard Hughes explicitly reserves the right to pursue and hire those candidate(s) without any financial obligation to the recruiter or agency. Any unsolicited resumes, including those submitted to hiring managers, are deemed to be the property of Howard Hughes.