Firmwide Director of Diversity

Firmwide Director Of Diversity

Perkins&Will is seeking a visionary and strategic leader to serve as Firmwide Director of Diversity. This role will steward and advance the firm's global commitment to creating a culture of belonging, equity, and accountability across diverse cultural, legal, and regional contexts while strengthening the impact of our work, our people, and our profession. Distinct from traditional DEI leadership roles, this position is intentionally embedded within practice.

The Firmwide Director of Diversity will be an accomplished practitioner in one of the firm's core disciplines—bringing credibility as a designer, strategist, planner, architect, interior designer, landscape architect, researcher, or allied professional who understands firsthand how culture, leadership, equity, and local context influence design excellence, collaboration, innovation, and client outcomes across regions and markets. Reporting directly to the President, this leader will partner closely with executive leadership, studio leadership, talent leaders, and practice teams across the firm to ensure principles of justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion (J.E.D.I.) are deeply integrated into how Perkins&Will recruits and grows talent, develops leaders, designs spaces, serves communities, and shapes the future of the profession.

The Director will do this in ways that are culturally responsive and locally relevant across Perkins&Will's global locations. The successful candidate will bring a combination of strategic vision, operational influence, cultural intelligence, and professional practice expertise—helping the firm move from aspiration to measurable and lasting impact. They will promote a culture of firmwide belonging that values diversity across race, ethnicity, nationality, gender, age, disability, neurodiversity, sexuality, religion, socioeconomic background, and other lived experiences.

This role reflects Perkins&Will's belief that justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion (J.E.D.I.) are inseparable from design excellence, innovation, and leadership. The Firmwide Director of Diversity will not operate adjacent to practice; they will help shape the future of practice. They will lead with a globally informed, culturally intelligent approach, adapting principles and practices to local legal, social, and cultural contexts while maintaining a consistent commitment to equity, belonging, and accountability.

The ideal candidate will bring both professional design credibility and the ability to inspire meaningful cultural change across a globally connected, interdisciplinary firm committed to creating places where humanity thrives.

Key Responsibilities:

• Strategic Leadership & Vision
• Serve as a strategic advisor to executive leadership on firmwide J.E.D.I. priorities, culture, and organizational impact.
• Advance a cohesive J.E.D.I. vision aligned with the firm's values, business strategy, and design ethos.
• Embed equity, inclusion, and accessibility into leadership practices, talent systems, business operations, and studio culture in partnership with other firmwide leaders.
• Identify emerging trends, opportunities, and barriers impacting representation, belonging, and engagement across the firm.
• Project Work
• Maintain an active practitioner perspective that connects J.E.D.I. strategy to interdisciplinary design practice and studio culture.
• Educate and guide teams in bridging the craft of design with the identities, histories, languages, lived experiences, and cultural values of the communities we serve, scaling this philosophy to shape firmwide design thinking.
• Contribute to key projects across the firm that advance J.E.D.I. strategic priorities.
• Partner with practice leaders to strengthen inclusive and equitable design leadership across disciplines.
• Deepen the connection between J.E.D.I., design excellence, community impact, sustainability, and social responsibility.
• Champion inclusive and accessible design practices that reflect the diverse abilities, experiences, and needs of clients, communities, users, and stakeholders across cultural and geographic contexts.
• Talent, Culture & Leadership Development
• Coach and support…