Director of Development

Director of Development

Full-Time · On-Site · Philadelphia, PA · $175K–$225K OTE · Partner Track

Design Pro Development is scaling its entitlement pipeline to as many as 30 active projects per year across Philadelphia, Montgomery, Bucks, and Camden County, NJ — including our largest project to date, a 300 unit residential community, and roughly 10 semi-custom luxury homes ($2MM–$8MM) per year under our Atelier Design Build division. We're hiring a Director of Development to own that pipeline end to end: every approval, every permit, every township agreement, and every dollar of sitework, on every project.

About Design Pro Development

DPD is a Philadelphia-based real estate development firm with 600 residential units across ground-up construction, adaptive reuse, and condominium conversion in Philadelphia, Montgomery, Bucks, and southern New Jersey. We specialize in complex sites — off-market acquisitions, historic districts, zoning variances, and challenging entitlements — and move fast without cutting corners.

About the Role

Reporting to the CEO and VP of Capital Markets, you'll be a key decision maker leading projects from inception to stabilization. You'll build a standardized entitlement process — acquisition due diligence through zoning, land development approval, and building permit — and run it across up to 30 simultaneous projects spanning multifamily, condominium conversion, and semi-custom luxury design-build, working independently with no construction administrator for the first 12–24 months. You interrogate every civil, geotechnical, and traffic recommendation, maximize each site's potential while driving down cost, and bring a regional network of zoning attorneys, township solicitors, architects, and engineers. You verify; you don't rubber-stamp.

What You'll Own

• Due Diligence Oversight: Key decision maker over due diligence — site conditions, entitlements, zoning, environmental factors, and financial feasibility before acquisition — coordinating with legal, design, and finance and reporting to the CEO.
• Full Entitlement Lifecycle: Carry up to 30 projects/year from due diligence through zoning relief, land development approval, and building permit across four counties — through construction, marketing/leasing, and stabilization — managing consultants and contractors and hitting KPIs.
• Philadelphia Approvals: L&I permitting, ZBA variances, Civic Design Review, RCO meetings, Historical Commission review, PWD stormwater, and Streets Department coordination.
• Suburban Approvals: Township land development (SALDO), conditional use and special exception hearings, zoning variances, planning commission and board of supervisors presentations, PennDOT HOPs, DEP/NPDES permits, and Act 537 sewer modules in Montgomery and Bucks Counties.
• New Jersey Approvals: Planning board and zoning board of adjustment applications under the NJ Municipal Land Use Law in Camden County — site plan and variance approvals, NJDEP permitting, and soil conservation district review.
• Condominium Documents & Association Approvals: Oversee condominium declarations, plats and plans, and public offering statements with counsel; present renovation plans to associations for board approval and negotiate document amendments.
• Development & Utility Agreements: Negotiate improvement agreements, township escrow and financial security terms, fee-in-lieu arrangements, and traffic/infrastructure contributions; secure service, extension, and tap agreements with water, sewer, and power providers (Aqua PA, PA American Water, PECO, PGW).
• Engineering Diligence & Value Engineering: Rigorously review engineer recommendations on grading, stormwater, utilities, and site layout, and use creative value engineering to optimize budgets and maximize financial success.
• Sitework Management & Cost Control: Manage site design/layout to cut sitework cost across clearing, cul-de-sac construction, utility and infrastructure installation, retaining walls, bridges, and stormwater facilities. Build independent budgets; solicit, level, and negotiate GC/sub bids; challenge unit pricing and quantities; and guard against overpricing, scope gaps, and change-order creep.
• AIA Contracts & Document Integrity: Draft, review, negotiate, and administer AIA agreements (A101/A102/A201, B101) — payment applications, lien-waiver tracking, change orders, and schedule enforcement — verifying the correct drawings, specs, and exhibits are attached so no exclusion shifts cost or risk onto the firm.
• Design, Renderings & Sales Support: Manage interior designers and finish/material selections to hit budgets and out-sales; direct rendering companies for entitlement and marketing visuals; and partner with luxury realtors and sales brokers.
• Atelier Design Build Delivery: Shepherd ~10 semi-custom luxury design-build projects/year through permitting and contract administration. Build strong relationships with discerning $2MM–$8MM custom-home clients and deliver white-glove execution with financial discipline and on-time delivery.
• Budget & Schedule Oversight: Develop and maintain project budgets and schedules from due diligence through completion — forecasting, cost-saving strategies, and negotiating competitive vendor rates.
• AI-Powered Pipeline Tracking: Build and maintain AI-driven tracking systems (Claude, Asana automations, and related tools) that monitor every approval milestone and flag slipping timelines.
• Stakeholder & Cross-Departmental Collaboration: Build relationships with regulatory agencies, township engineers, and zoning and planning boards; collaborate with the CEO, finance, and VP of Capital Markets; and support strategic research and presentations.

What We're Looking For — Required

• Bachelor's degree (Master's preferred) and 10 years in real estate development or construction management in southeastern PA and/or southern NJ, with a track record across all phases of development.
• 100 projects permitted (or 500,000 sq ft), including 25 zoning projects and 100 homesites completed — and the ability to walk us through them.
• Minimum 3 years in Montgomery or Bucks County developing homes selling for more than $2MM.
• Direct experience entitling large multifamily (200 units) through PA township land development, and hands-on sitework management on 5 jobs.
• An established regional network of zoning attorneys, township solicitors and engineers, architects, and civil engineers across Philadelphia, Montgomery, Bucks, and Camden Counties.
• Working fluency in the PA Municipalities Planning Code, township SALDO and zoning ordinances, the Philadelphia Zoning Code, L&I permitting, and the NJ Municipal Land Use Law — plus a baseline command of construction and zoning law (mechanics' liens, risk allocation, vested rights, appeals).
• Condominium creation and governance — PA Uniform Condominium Act and NJ Condominium Act, document drafting and amendment, and negotiating with association boards.
• Hands-on experience negotiating development agreements, township escrow and financial security terms, and utility agreements with water, sewer, and power providers.
• Owner-side AIA contract experience — drafting, reviewing, and negotiating documents, with expert command of contractor proposals, bid inclusions/exclusions, and complete exhibit packages.
• Expert ability reading surveys, civil drawings, construction reports, contracts, and design documents, with the technical depth to independently estimate, qualify, and negotiate sitework costs.
• Exceptional project budgeting and value-engineering skill; a creative yet risk-averse problem solver who enacts SOPs and safeguards, with acute attention to detail and a strong sense of urgency.
• Strong leadership and communication skills for building relationships with contractors, design professionals, township engineers, and boards.
• A masterful command of AI tools, Claude in particular, with real examples of AI for site analysis, cost forecasting, bid evaluation, rendering, estimation, and tracking. Show us what you've built.
• Full-time, in-office role; must be able to drive 6–10 hours per week to jobsites.

Preferred

• Civil engineering, land planning, construction management, or legal background (PE, JD, or AICP a plus).
• Experience standing up entitlement processes and reporting systems at a scaling development firm.

Software Proficiency

Proficient in most of the following (quick to pick up the rest): Claude (AI tracking, follow-up, document review); Asana (multi-project pipeline tracking and automations — our standard); Zapier or Make; Bluebeam Revu (plan review, markups, takeoffs); AutoCAD / Civil 3D; Procore, BuilderTrend, or Autodesk Build; Microsoft Project or Primavera P6; advanced Excel (sitework budgets, bid leveling, proforma); eCLIPSE and Atlas (Philadelphia L&I/records); PennDOT ePermitting (EPS); PA DEP GreenPort and NJDEP; ArcGIS or municipal GIS parcel viewers; PlanSwift/STACK; DocuSign; Adobe Acrobat Pro; and Microsoft Office.

What We Offer

• Total compensation of $175,000–$225,000 — a $125,000 base plus quarterly performance and project-based profit-sharing of $50,000–$100,000.
• Competitive benefits: medical, short/long-term disability, life insurance, and a 401(k) plan.
• Ability to invest in company projects.
• A structured pathway to become a Partner after five years.

How to Apply

Email your resume and a Word document with links to photos or project websites to logan@designprodev.com, erica@designprodev.com, and alex@designprodev.com. Include the 10 projects (1–2 sentences each, based on your role) that best exemplify your abilities — the approvals you secured, the timelines you hit, and the sitework dollars you saved — plus at least one AI-powered tracking system or workflow you built and what it caught. Qualified candidates are contacted within three business days.