Director of Engineering

Lead With Purpose: Join HEAPY as Director - Education Engineering Practice!

At HEAPY, our purpose is Building a Sustainable, Well, and Resilient Society—and our Education Practice is at the heart of this purpose. We partner with universities and K-12 schools to design facilities that inspire students, empower educators, and transform communities.

We are seeking an Director - Education Engineering Practice who will:

• Serve as a nationally recognized expert and trusted advisor to clients and colleagues
• Lead strategic growth by developing and executing market strategies across higher education and K-12
• Achieve sales goals through client development, thought leadership, and enduring partnerships
• Mentor and empower project managers and team members to deliver exceptional outcomes
• Represent HEAPY externally through industry engagement, presentations, and publications
• Drive innovation, collaboration, and continuous improvement—while shaping the next generation of learning environments

This is more than a leadership position—it’s an opportunity to align with our Vision, Mission, and Core Values while doing meaningful work that impacts students today and for decades to come.

With HEAPY’s bold Strategic Business Plan—including high growth and new offices nationwide—you’ll be at the forefront of advancing education through impactful, purpose-driven design.

If you are ready to inspire, innovate, and lead with purpose, we’d love to connect.

Summary

A Director of the Education Engineering Practice leads the strategic growth, client engagement, and market leadership of their practice area, serving as a nationally recognized expert and trusted resource to colleagues and clients. Reporting to the Chief Strategy Officer, this role drives sales, develops service offerings, and fosters colleague development while ensuring operational excellence and financial sustainability in partnership with Operations Managers and Design Managers.

Qualifications

• 4-year degree in Engineering, or 15 years of experience in engineering design or process engineering with a strong focus on client engagement and serving as a trusted advisor or owner representative of the specific market
• Professional credentials associated with the practice preferred, such as Professional Engineer (PE), BICSI RCDD, or approved Commissioning Certification
• Master’s degree in Business Administration encouraged

CORE OBJECTIVES

Strategic Leadership

• Maintain alignment with HEAPY’s Vision, Mission, Core Values, and firm-wide initiatives in all responsibilities and decisions.
• Serve as a nationally recognized expert and trusted resource within the practice and industry.
• Drive strategic growth through development and execution of market strategies and service offerings, incorporating all HEAPY services.
• Encourage adoption of best practices and process improvements to enhance efficiency and client outcomes.

Client Engagement & Growth

• Achieve practice sales goals by fostering client relationships, retaining and expanding existing accounts, and developing new clients.
• Ensure best practices in pursuits, including client vetting, capture planning, go/no-go process, RFP/RFQ responses, interviews, and proposal writing.
• Represent HEAPY externally through industry engagement, thought leadership, publications, and presentations.
• Travel to offices to support client engagement, colleague development, and regional sales goals.

Operational Excellence

• Collaborate with Operations Managers and Technical Leaders to plan and allocate resources effectively across projects.
• Ensure exceptional client satisfaction and retention through proactive engagement and superior project delivery.
• Oversee project execution to ensure adherence to quality standards, milestones, and service procedures.
• Optimize financial performance of the practice by setting appropriate fees, monitoring budgets, invoicing, and profit/loss results.

Colleague Leadership

• Lead and develop project managers and practice team members, fostering career growth and professional development.
• Cultivate a culture of collaboration, innovation, and continuous improvement within the practice team.
• Support practice culture by modeling leadership principles and enabling colleague empowerment.
• Lead performance evaluation processes, including recruiting, promotions, merit increases, and workload planning.

PHYSICAL DEMANDS AND WORK ENVIRONMENT

• Ability to remain sedentary at desk for long periods of time while operating a keyboard, mouse, stylus and using a computer screen.
• Ability to communicate in person, electronically and via phone with other individuals.
• Reliable transportation required.
• Ability to work in all elements of indoor and outdoor environments which include the heat, cold, rain, snow, wind, etc.
• Ability to access all areas of the jobsite with activities that include ascending and descending stairs, scaffolding, ladders, navigating elevation changes, etc.
• Capable of working in physical positions that may include maneuvering self into different positions traditionally positions, traditionally is achieved by kneeling, sitting, standing, squatting, bending over, etc.
• Ability to move, transport, or position items weighing up to 25 lbs.
• Ability to apply established protocols and practices in a timely manner. and follow safety guidelines for both company and clients.
• Ability to gather, organize and evaluate information related to strategies, including long-range and short-range plans, objectives, staffing, innovations, and compensation.
• Successful track record in directing and providing leadership for design teams from business development through successful completion of design concepts to thrill our clients.
• Successful track record in building, nurturing and fostering new client relationships.

NOTE

This job description is not designed to state or imply that the listed responsibilities are the only duties to be performed by the colleague in this position. Duties, responsibilities, and activities may change or be assigned by a person authorized to assign such duties at any time with or without notice. All responsibilities and requirements listed are considered essential and are subject to possible modification to reasonably accommodate qualified individuals who may request such modification due to disabilities. This document does not create an employee contract, implied or otherwise, other than an “at will” relationship.

EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER

HEAPY is proud to have an engaged and inclusive culture. One that promotes and ensures equal employment opportunities in all employment decisions without regard to sex, race, color, religion, national origin, age, marital status, political affiliation, sexual orientation, gender identity, genetic information, disability, military status, veteran status, and any other protected characteristic as outlined by federal, state and/or local laws.