Healthcare Design Leader

Hoefer Welker is seeking an accomplished and visionary Healthcare Design Leader to drive design excellence across our Jacksonville and Orlando offices. 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.

Essential Functions:

Design Leadership & Project Delivery

• 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.
• Proven designer that can demonstrate incorporation of Florida specific and other environmental codes and considerations.

Healthcare Planning & Facility Design

• 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

Mentorship & Design Culture

• 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 across Jacksonville and Orlando offices.
• 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.

Innovation & Design Technology

• 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
  • Advanced rendering and presentation platforms
  • Tools that improve efficiency between design and BIM software
• Help establish workflows that leverage technology to improve design communication, decision-making, and project efficiency.
• Stay current with healthcare design trends, industry research, and evolving technologies.

Practice Development & Thought Leadership

• Represent the firm within the healthcare and design community:
  • Build and strengthen relationships with healthcare clients, industry organizations, and strategic partners.
  • Contribute to conferences, thought leadership initiatives, publications, and speaking engagements.
• Support the growth of the healthcare practice through design leadership and market engagement.

Other duties:

Please note this job description is not designed to cover or contain a comprehensive or exclusive listing of activities, duties or responsibilities that are required of the employee for this job. Duties, responsibilities and activities may change at any time with or without notice.

Education and Experience:

Bachelor’s degree (BS) in Architecture from an accredited institution required. Must be a licensed architect (or ability to obtain reciprocity in Florida). Minimum 15 years of healthcare design experience.

Required Skills/Abilities:

Requirements for this position include detail driven habits, ability to maintain focus in a fast paced environment.  Must have excellent organizational and multi-tasking skills, ability to work effectively in a team atmosphere and be deadline oriented.

• Demonstrated experience leading design for healthcare projects ranging from small-scale renovations to large, complex healthcare facilities.
• Significant healthcare project portfolio showcasing exceptional design leadership and built work.
• Strong understanding of: healthcare operations, medical planning, clinical workflows, healthcare facility regulations and standards, evidence-based healthcare design principles
• Proven ability to guide design excellence from concept through project completion.
• Experience leading multidisciplinary teams in a collaborative and integrated project environment.
• Exceptional communication, presentation, and client engagement skills.
• Ability to mentor staff and foster a positive, design-focused culture.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience utilizing Virtual Reality (VR), Artificial Intelligence (AI), and advanced visualization tools in design development and client engagement.
• Healthcare planning experience on major acute care, academic medical, and ambulatory healthcare projects.
• LEED Accredited Professional, WELL AP, or other sustainability credentials.
• Active participation in healthcare industry organizations and conferences.
• Demonstrated thought leadership within healthcare design, planning, or innovation.

Certifications/Licenses/Registrations:

Possession of a valid motor vehicle operator’s license and willingness to use insured personal vehicle in the courses of employment. 

Key Competencies

• Visionary Design Leadership
• Healthcare Planning Expertise
• Strategic Thinking
• Healthcare Capacity Management (Utilization, Throughput, Bed Need Analysis)
• Creative Problem Solving
• Team Leadership & Mentorship
• Client Relationship Management
• Presentation & Storytelling
• Design Technology Innovation
• Collaboration & Integration
• Sustainability & Resiliency Planning
• Quality & Design Excellence

To perform this job successfully, an individual must be detail oriented and able to perform each essential function satisfactorily.  The requirements listed above are representative of the knowledge, skill, and/or ability required.  Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

Equal Opportunity Employer/Veterans/Disabled