Healthcare Design Leader

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Full-time

Bachelor's Degree

Designer

Hoefer Welker is seeking an accomplished and visionary Healthcare Design Leader to drive design excellence in our Dallas office. This individual will serve as the primary healthcare design authority for the region, leading the creative vision for major pursuits and healthcare projects while ensuring that design intent is successfully carried through all phases of project delivery.

The Healthcare Design Leader will combine exceptional design talent with a deep understanding of healthcare operations, medical planning, and facility performance. This role requires a collaborative leader who can inspire teams, mentor emerging designers, champion innovation, and cultivate a strong design culture that elevates both project outcomes and client relationships.

The ideal candidate will possess extensive experience designing complex healthcare environments, ranging from ambulatory and outpatient facilities to major acute care hospitals and healthcare campuses. They will be passionate about creating high-performing healthcare environments that improve patient outcomes, enhance staff experience, support operational efficiency and evidence-based design, and advance sustainability and resiliency goals.

• Lead the strategic facility planning, design vision, concept development, and creative direction for major healthcare pursuits and projects.
• Lead schematic and design development for aesthetic and functional (room-by-room) design parameters.
• Establish project design narratives and guide teams in translating design concepts into successful built outcomes.
• Maintain design excellence throughout all project phases, ensuring technical execution aligns with the original design intent.
• Collaborate closely with project architects, medical planners, technical leaders, and consultants to integrate design, planning, and technical requirements.
• Provide design oversight and quality control during schematic design, design development, construction documentation, and construction administration phases.
• Serve as the lead design voice during client presentations, design workshops, and pursuit interviews, and major project design presentations.
• Participate in strategic project pursuits and contribute to winning new healthcare commissions.

• Apply comprehensive knowledge of healthcare operations, patient flow, staff workflows, clinical adjacencies, and healthcare facility planning principles.
• Translate operational and functional requirements into innovative architectural solutions.
• Lead the development of healthcare environments that improve:
  • Patient experience
  • Caregiver and staff experience
  • Clinical efficiency
  • Operational effectiveness
  • Sustainability and environmental performance
  • Facility resiliency and adaptability
• Understand and lead utilization, throughput, and bed need analysis.
• Collaborate with medical planners and project teams to develop data-driven design solutions aligned with client goals and healthcare industry best practices.
• Contribute planning and design expertise across healthcare project types, including:
  • Hospitals
  • Medical office buildings
  • Ambulatory care centers
  • Surgery centers
  • Specialty care facilities
  • Academic medical environments
  • Healthcare campuses
• Mentor, coach, and develop emerging designers and healthcare professionals within the national practice through all phases of projects.
• Foster a collaborative, inclusive, and innovative design culture in our Dallas office.
• Lead internal design reviews, charrettes, and educational initiatives.
• Promote design thinking, knowledge sharing, and interdisciplinary collaboration among project teams.
• Support recruitment, retention, and professional development efforts focused on building design excellence.
• Evaluate, implement, and advocate for emerging design technologies that enhance client engagement and project outcomes.
• Explore and recommend tools such as:
  • Virtual Reality (VR)
  • Artificial Intelligence (AI)-enabled design tools
  • Real-time visualization platforms
  • Digital collaboration technologies
  • Advance…