Open Date:  May 7, 2015
Close Date:  May 21, 2015 at 5:00pm extended to 8/31/2015 at 5:00pm

Clark Nexsen is an Equal Opportunity Employer – M/F/Veteran/Disability/Sexual Orientation/Gender Identity.  AAP. Drug -free workplace. E-verify. Applicant must be legally authorized to work for Clark Nexsen without employer sponsorship. We do not typically sponsor H-1B or any other work visa petitions.

Must apply online through corporate website at www.clarknexsen.com

Firm Description

Clark Nexsen is an international full service architectural and engineering design firm that is deeply committed to providing design excellence to U.S. and global clients. Clark Nexsen was ranked 11 on the 2013 Architect 50, a list of top firms in the U.S., and in the Top 20 Architecture/Engineering firms in Building Design + Construction’s 2014 Giants 300 Report. The firm is headquartered in Virginia Beach, Virginia, with 475 employees in 10 additional office locations in Virginia, North Carolina, Georgia, Texas, and Washington, D.C. Our employees enjoy competitive compensation and benefits, an upbeat and professional work environment, and numerous opportunities for career development, and have been recognized locally as one the “Best Places to Work”. We promote strong ties with the communities in which we live and work - our employees are involved in countless community service projects.

Job Description 
 
Clark Nexsen seeks to hire a Department Head - Plumbing/Fire Protection to work in our Macon, GA office who will be responsible for overall technical quality within their department and support the development of design discipline staffing to meet the needs of the firm in terms of quality, experience, and professional qualifications.
 
General responsibilities include but are not limited to the following:
 

• Performing or overseeing all aspects of plumbing and fire protection design services including conceptual studies, programming, schematic documents, design development documents, and construction documents.
• Performing or overseeing plumbing and fire protection services associated with the bidding process, including preparing addenda and amendments and opening and tabulating bids as directed.
• Performing or overseeing plumbing and fire protection services associated with the construction phase, including field visits, answering RFIs, reviewing shop drawings, and preparing record drawings.
• Facilitate communication of the impact of design/scope decisions on the department level of effort, project schedule, construction cost and quality of the final product.
• Assure that the department standards are being utilized efficiently. Facilitate the improvement of the standards and include training in the departmental guidance. Help introduce new employees to the standards.
• Review performance, status, budgets, and organization of the project documents.
• Monitor construction activities and provide lessons learned.
• Monitor professional development of staff members to assure that individuals are being technically challenged in a productive manner and maintain their technical abilities.
• Encourage the use of software tools to enhance the efficiency of team members. Evaluate alternative tools as they become available. Provide opportunities for training as required. Ensure that staff has the right computing equipment for their position and coordinate needs with the IT department.
• Encourage mentoring within the department and serve as an example for future leaders. Identify roles for members of the department to aid in their professional growth.
• Encourage “lessons learned” and internal communication to help prevent recurring issues. Discuss reviews with designers and reviewers to identify quality trends.
• Working with, responding to, and taking direction from Department Directors, Operations Directors, Technical Director and Senior Management
• Assist in marketing and business development activities
• Assist in preparing proposals and participating in contract negotiations
• Assign department staff to project teams
• Participate in staff annual reviews
• Ability to travel is required 

 
Project responsibilities include but are not limited to the following:
 

• Preparing scope and fee proposals for the plumbing and fire protection portion of multi-discipline projects or single-discipline projects.
• Conduct project code analysis
• Selection and layout of the plumbing and fire protection systems, including consideration of alternative systems
• Reviewing calculations and all work products produced by fire protection EITs, graduates, or designers
• Conduct reviews of the project plumbing and fire protection technical decisions
• Monitor department workload to maintain staff utilization rates
• Review discipline fee and budget proposals on individual projects
• Monitor discipline budget and schedule performance on individual projects
• Assist MP’s and PM’s in assigning suitable and appropriately skilled staff to project teams
• Participate in design reviews of project plumbing and fire protection systems
• Participate in technical reviews of project plumbing and fire protection systems
• Participate in QA/QC and gray team project reviews and briefings

 
Education
 

• Bachelor of Science in Mechanical or Fire Protection Engineering from an ABET-accredited university
• Post-graduate degree in architecture, engineering, engineering technology or engineering management will be given additional consideration

Licenses, Certifications, and Accrediations

• Preferably a fully licensed Professional Engineer in at least one US state, preferably in the local jurisdiction
• NCARB or NCEES certification to facilitate licensure through reciprocity is preferred
• Master Plumbing licensure preferred
• NICET Level III sprinkler designer preferred
• ASPE, CIPE preferred
• SFPE membership preferred
• Medical gas designer certification preferred
• Understanding of sustainable design principles and design practices with LEED AP accreditation is preferred
• Additional certifications such as CDT, CCS, or CCCA are encouraged to reflect personal growth in the profession and an ever increasing knowledge base to enhance the design and documentation process
• Active participation in NSPE, ASCE or other related professional organizations is desirable

 
Software Skills
 
A Plumbing/Fire Protection Department Head should be able to effectively utilize current company software programs for word processing, e-mail, accounting, and information management.
 
Working familiarity with design and production software to a point of being able to understand the capabilities and limitations of the programs and interact with the support staff in their use of the software is highly desirable.
 
Career Experience
 

• A Plumbing/Fire Protection Department Head should typically have 15 years or more of significant design and practice experience in a leadership role with an architectural firm or a multi-discipline Architectural & Engineering firm.This person should also have a substantial knowledge of applicable fire protection and building/life safety codes and standards.
• This individual must possess a minimum of 8 to 10 years’ experience in plumbing and medical gas system design for healthcare, commercial, industrial, pharmaceutical, and college/university dormitory projects.
• Experience as a Plumbing and Fire Protection Engineer or Lead Designer in federal, state, municipal, healthcare, commercial, higher education, industrial or similar projects plus experience in Design/Build and CM at Risk project delivery methods is required.
• Extensive experience in Fire Protection design, conventional plumbing, medical gases, and process piping design is required.
• Extensive knowledge of the International Plumbing Code, NFPA standards, ASPE Data Books, hydraulic modeling, POL systems and process piping systems is required.
• Extensive knowledge of all types of water-based suppression, clean agents, life safety/building codes, fire alarm, mass notification, flammable and combustible liquids, and combustible dust is required.

 
Other Criteria
 

• Ability to prepare effective and concise documents
• Possess technical precision and creative design skills
• Ability to make presentations to a variety of groups
• Have an enthusiastic, client-oriented, can-do attitude with a desire to provide outstanding professional services
• Be dedicated to his or her professional development as well as the success of colleagues and the firm as a whole
• Demonstrated recognized leadership within the firm and/or outside the firm
• Possess team leadership capabilities and abilities
• Demonstrated understanding of firm-wide design goals and abilities to execute them on projects that they have participated