Education Client Leader I

CannonDesign · Pittsburgh, PA

Posted 8/14/2026 · last confirmed live 8/26/2026

If you think your skills, experience and aspirations make you a good match for this position, we encourage you to apply.    ABOUT THE ROLE Your role is focused on partnering with other client leaders or market leaders om the Education market to build and/or maintain strategic long-term relationships with targeted clients. You will contribute to the success of the market / office by participating in marketing and business development, as well as client and team leadership activities. In this role you will advance the quality of our work, integrate our range of design services, manage our processes, and deliver solid financial performance. Importantly, you will be an ambassador of our brand, responsible for demonstrating how our Living-Centered Design approach can help clients and partners achieve their goals.    HERE'S WHAT YOU'LL DO In this role the majority of your time will be spent on client and team leadership activities engaged directly on Education projects. In addition, you will be required to build new business opportunities and create long-term client relationships with the existing clients that support the growth of the firm. Expectations of Success include: Client Leadership: Leading, engaging and partnering with our clients on billable project-specific work, fostering strong long term client relationships, driving successful project outcomes and financial success, while creating opportunities for future engagements. You will be responsible to contribute to the overall success of the client relationship. Top Line Growth: Developing new net signed fee opportunities for our markets, practices, and service lines through the successful implementation of the work with our existing clients. Participating in marketing activities with other leaders in the firm including at a minimum, proposal preparation and interviews with new target clients, to increase our firm’s top line capture. Team Leadership: Leading high performance teams and working collaboratively within our SFMO (Single-Firm, Multi-Office) culture to advance and support high-performing teams focused on delivering high-quality service and innovative design solutions to our clients. AREA OF FOCUS Client Leadership: Responsible for the leadership and growth of client relationships within an office or market. Must be a self-starter and an entrepreneurial person with the ability to lead clients and client teams.  You must be able to collaborate effectively with others across the full range of services provided by our firm. You are expected to provide hands-on leadership in support of our clients and in the development of the work from the initial client visioning meetings through completion of the work. Top Line Development: Provide new net signed fee opportunities by partnering with our existing clients in the implementation of the work. Build top line by securing “direct select”, repeat business and additional services with our clients. You will champion our Omnichannel approach by promoting and cross selling all markets, practices, and integrated services throughout all phases of client engagement. In this role you will have a personal goal of achieving top line success of $1.0M per year in net signed fees.  Team Leadership Skills: Proactively develop and lead collaborative project teams. Expected to build and lead diverse and inclusive teams capable of both winning and executing transformational solutions that differentiate the firm and add value for our clients. Responsible for ensuring success both from a client and a CannonDesign perspective. Strategy and Planning: Develop an understanding of the business, operations and process needs of the client. Working with other leadership to bring together a comprehensive team of experts and thought leaders within CannonDesign focused on executing creative, state-of-the-art solutions. Bottom Line Growth: Working with the Business Practice Leader and Office Market Leader to ensure our firm’s business practices, goals and bottom-line initiatives are successfully implemented. Staff Development: Mentoring and growing emerging professionals. Assisting in establishing an environment that encourages leadership, integrity, humility, respect and responsibility, along with collaboration, experimentation, innovation, creativity and entrepreneurship. Building enthusiasm for Living-Centered Design among teams and showing emerging professionals how it applies to their work. Targets and metrics are subject to change as CannonDesign periodically evaluates our performance metrics.   HERE'S WHAT YOU'LL NEED Minimum of 10 years of experience in the Education Market required, preferably working in the A/E/I industry.   Bachelor degree in a relevant field required. Current Registration/Licensure in Architecture, Interior Design or Engineering preferred. Expertise in given discipline area to manage projects and guide client/project teams. Strong communication and leadership skills. Business acumen and proven ability to execute strategy. Professional acumen and maturity demonstrated by the ability to communicate authentically and respectfully. Some travel required.  For a general overview of our benefits, please visit our careers page at https://www.cannondesign.com/careers/benefits     ABOUT OUR FIRM CannonDesign is a design practice where strategy, experience, architecture, engineering, and social impact converge. We don’t just dream up solutions — we create and bring them to life in ways to solve some of the biggest challenges facing our clients and the society. At the heart of everything we do is Living-Centered Design, a bold commitment to using our talents to not just improve the world but to truly reshape it for the better. It’s more than a philosophy — it’s who we are, and it drives us to make a meaningful, lasting difference every day.   ABOUT WORKING HERE We are relentless in our pursuit of client adoration (not simply satisfaction). Consistent delivery of the best service is what we are about. We are committed to ensuring our practice provides equal opportunities for all employees, as we strive to connect with communities around us and focus on the future of design. We support equity, diversity, and inclusion efforts that benefit all employees through the leadership of our DEI Council, our Employee Resource Groups which are open to everyone, and other community initiatives. We’re about communication and transparency here. If you want to talk to someone about an idea you have, or a challenge that needs addressing, we’re ready for you. Please note that candidates can only apply to our positions on our company Careers site. It's not uncommon for scammers to create positions that look legitimate on other sites; never enter your information or apply for CannonDesign positions on any platform. Should an issue arise that you feel we should be aware of, please contact us. Please provide your resume and portfolio when applying.   As a condition of employment, all employees are expected to complete mandatory training, including compliance training, within required timeframes and adhere to our internal policies and our Code of Conduct.   CannonDesign is an Equal Opportunity Employer. CannonDesign is committed to maintaining a work environment that is free from any and all forms of unlawful discrimination and harassment. It is therefore the firm’s policy to prohibit discrimination and harassment against any applicant, CannonDesign employee, vendor, contractor, or client on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, disability, pregnancy, veteran status, genetic information, citizenship status, or any other basis prohibited by applicable law. It is also CannonDesign’s policy to prohibit any and all forms of retaliation against any individual who has complained of harassing or discriminatory conduct, or participated in a firm or agency investigation into such complaints.

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