Senior Architect, Educational Practice Leader – K-12 + Higher Education

About the Job

At EXP, we’re driven to provide innovative solutions for the world’s built and natural environments. As a team of architects, engineers, designers, and planners, we create spaces that shape communities and inspire learning. Here, you join a collaborative, entrepreneurial culture within an employee-owned firm that values diversity, innovation, and lasting partnerships.

Are you ready to design your future?

Be our next Senior Architect, Educational Practice Leader – K-12 + Higher Education.

Your Work Environment at EXP

This leadership role is accountable for driving both strategic growth and design excellence within EXP’s educational architecture practice across South and Central Florida, with potential for expanding the practice into other geographic markets as success is demonstrated. The successful candidate will leverage current personal  expertise in K-12 and higher education programming and  design to build client partnerships, lead pursuits, and position EXP as a trusted partner for school districts and universities across the region.

You will serve as both a practice leader and business developer, responsible for winning work and expanding our presence in a competitive market where population growth, aging infrastructure, and educational innovation are fueling demand for new and modernized facilities.

The successful candidate will play a pivotal role in identifying opportunities, cultivating relationships with decision-makers, and delivering exceptional design solutions that reflect EXP’s mission of understanding, innovating, partnering, and delivering.

Key Responsibilities

Strategic Growth & Market Leadership

• Develop and execute a comprehensive three-year strategy to grow EXP’s educational architecture practice, focusing on both K-12 and higher education markets.
• Leverage relationships and market insights to position EXP for success in the region’s largest and most active education capital programs.
• Identify, pursue, and capture new projects through deliberate, relationship-driven engagement with key education clients.
• Collaborate closely with Regional Marketing, Business Development, and Operations to align pursuits with EXP’s long-term growth strategy.

Key Target Clients

To maximize addressable opportunity, this role will focus on high-growth, high-investment education agencies that collectively represent the largest upcoming pipeline of school and campus projects in the region over the next five years. The successful candidate will be expected to proactively engage and expand existing or build new relationships with the following institutions to position EXP as a design leader for educational facilities, with a significant measurable market share in the space:

• Miami-Dade County Public Schools
• School District of Palm Beach County
• Collier County Public Schools
• Pasco County Schools
• Monroe County School District
• Florida International University (FIU)
• University of Central Florida (UCF)
• Florida Atlantic University (FAU)
• University of Florida (UF)
• University of Miami
• Florida College System (FCS) Institutions

Client Engagement & Business Development

• Create, leverage, build and maintain long-term relationships with facilities directors, procurement officials, and executive leadership at target school districts and universities.
• Serve as the primary client manager for key accounts, leading strategic growth efforts in collaboration with EXP’s operations and marketing teams.
• Represent EXP at conferences, client meetings, and education-sector forums across Florida with active involvement and leadership positions to promote our thought leadership and design excellence to our peers.
• Develop capture plans and pursuit strategies tailored to each client’s capital priorities, aligning EXP’s services with their long-term facility goals.
• Collaborate with proposal, engineering, and design teams to produce winning submissions that differentiate EXP through innovation and client value.

Operational & Project Leadership

You will serve as both a practice leader and business developer, responsible for winning work and expanding our presence in a competitive market where population growth, aging infrastructure, and educational innovation are fueling demand for new and modernized facilities.

• Oversee the design and delivery of K-12 and higher education projects, ensuring alignment with client objectives, schedule, and budget.
• Serve as the Project Manager on Strategic project Pursuits as needed.
• Lead Project Work Plan (PWP) development for all education projects in the sector.
• Serve as the lead decision maker on Building and Energy Code related issues in our designs and in service to our clients.
• Partner with multidisciplinary divisions, including project controls and engineering, to deliver integrated solutions across EXP’s service lines.
• Mentor and develop junior architects and emerging leaders within the education practice.
• Establish design standards, QA/QC processes, and operational best practices that support excellence and consistency across projects.

Market Intelligence & Innovation

• Identify and Stay ahead of emerging trends in educational facility design, including flexible learning environments, safety/security integration, sustainability, and hurricane resiliency.
• Anticipate changes in the make-up of design teams needed to successfully deliver to meet clients needs and work with sector management to identify, recruit, hire and retain the best talent to serve our Clients.
• Contribute to EXP’s growth in industry profile through active engagement in thought leadership: speaking engagements, publications, and community partnerships.
• Evaluate alternative delivery strategies (Design-Build, CM-at-Risk, PPP) to position EXP for upcoming state and district procurements.

What Your Experience Looks Like

• Florida Licensed Architect with 15 + years of progressive experience in educational facility design (K-12 and/or higher education).
• Proven record of winning and delivering projects with Florida school districts and universities.
• Established network and reputation within target agencies listed above.
• Strong understanding of Florida’s funding, capital planning, and procurement processes for education projects.
• Demonstrated ability to lead teams, develop capture strategies, and drive growth in a competitive AEC environment.
• Excellent presentation, communication, and stakeholder-management skills.
• Willingness to travel throughout Florida to meet clients and pursue opportunities, win and deliver work for EXP.

Desired Attributes

• Entrepreneurial and self-motivated with the ability to operate independently and build a practice from the ground up.
• Relationship-driven leader who thrives on collaboration and client success.
• Strategic thinker who can balance business growth with design excellence.
• Passionate about creating learning environments that positively impact students, educators, and communities.

Performance Metrics

• Demonstrated revenue and portfolio growth for the educational practice year-over-year
• Establishment of a robust opportunity pipeline ($30M) within 12 months across target agencies.
•  Securing multiple new design contracts in K-12 or higher education markets within 12 months, achieving $5 Million in booked fees.
• Formation of a dedicated design team as the practice scales.

About Us

With a mission to understand, innovate, partner, and deliver, EXP provides engineering, architecture, design, and consulting services to the world’s built and natural environments.

Our heritage dates back to 1906, and today thousands of creative professionals across EXP collaborate to deliver extraordinary experiences year after year.

The passion, enthusiasm, diversity, and industry-leading capabilities of our employees make us who we are. We’re committed to providing a challenging work environment that cultivates career growth, encourages creativity, and rewards excellence.

Find out more about life at EXP by visiting www.exp.com.

About the Team

EXP is proud to be an Equal Opportunity Employer who fully and actively supports equal access for all people regardless of race, color, sex, religion, gender, age, national origin, veteran status, disability, genetic information or testing, family and medical leave, sexual orientation, and gender identity or expression.

Should you need any special accommodations, please contact us at [email protected], and we will arrange for the most suitable accommodations based on your needs.