Director of Development

About Design Pro Development LLC: 

Design Pro Development LLC is an established residential development company that specializes in bespoke single-family estates, thoughtfully designed condominiums, and innovative multifamily buildings across the Greater Philadelphia Region. Design Pro Development LLC owns a $120MM portfolio with an additional $40MM of new development projects in the pipeline for 2025.  We currently have a pipeline of coveted development sites under contract in highly sought after locations in Montgomery County and Bucks County. We pride ourselves on our commitment to excellence in every aspect of our developments. Our expertise lies in acquiring, designing, constructing, selling, renting, and developing multifamily residential real estate and opulent single-family homes. 

Mission Statement: 

 At Design Pro, we aim to build timeless residences that forge a tasteful, strategic, and sophisticated architectural flare. Our designs exemplify respect, intention, and introduce a new era of sophistication in the surrounding local communities that we cherish and support. 

The Role: 

We are seeking a seasoned leadership role as the Director of Development. This strategic role will lead the management, design, permitting, and client experience of a $40 million construction portfolio. The pipeline of 15-20 projects spans across Montgomery County, Bucks County, and Philadelphia. This strategic role is pivotal in driving project success from inception through to completion, ensuring that each phase of development meets our high standards of excellence.  5 Years of Prior Suburban development or construction management experience is a requirement.   We currently have more than 10 development sites in highly sought after locations. Our CEO and VP are currently managing these projects and wish to fully transition these duties to the Director of Development by May 2025.  We seek a candidate with a high proficiency with technology and AI, construction document review, and AIA Contract review. The Director of Development must be able to work independently and will not have a construction administrator for the first 12-24 months in the role. 

Responsibilities: 

Under the supervision of the CEO and the VP of Capital Markets, the Director of Development will be responsible for: 

• Due Diligence Oversight: The Director of Development will be a key decision maker responsible for overseeing the due diligence process, ensuring thorough evaluation of site conditions, entitlements, zoning, environmental factors, and financial feasibility before acquisition or project initiation. This role requires coordinating with legal, design, and finance teams to mitigate risks, confirm compliance, and support informed decision-making directly to the CEO.  
• Design: Manage third party interior designers and manage the selection of project finishes and materials to align with project budgets and maximize design intent to achieve targeted project out sales. 
• Value Engineering: Use creative and innovative value engineering to optimize project budgets and maximize financial success of projects 
• Sitework: Expertly manage site design and layout to reduce sitework related costs. This scope ranges from site clearing, building cul-de-sacs, utility and infrastructure installation, and overseeing small retaining walls, bridges, and stormwater management facilities. You will manage sitework contractors to ensure budget, timeline and contract adherence. Ensure all municipal and regulatory compliance is achieved.  
• Compliance and Permitting: Spearhead all permitting and entitlement of projects by managing a team of consultants and contractors. Ensure all construction activities comply with local regulations and permit requirements, anticipating and addressing potential delays or issues to achieve KPIs for each project. 
• Contractor Engagement: Build and maintain strong relationships with community stakeholders, regulatory agencies, and other external partners to facilitate project approvals and success.  
• Contractor Management: Solicit, analyze, negotiate, and oversee bids from general contractors and subcontractors, ensuring contracts are favorable and aligned with project goals. Review and negotiate Contractor and subcontractor contracts to match the KPIs for your role.  
• Contract Negotiation: Draft, review, negotiate AIA construction contracts with contractors and project consultants 
• Project Management: Lead projects from inception to stabilization, managing all phases including due diligence, programming, zoning, entitlements, design, contract negotiations, construction, marketing/leasing, and stabilization.  
• Budget and Schedule Oversight: Develop and maintain comprehensive project budgets and schedules. Ensure all key milestones and deliverables are met, aligning with the company’s financial and strategic goals. Optimize project budgets and costs from due diligence through project completion. Negotiate competitive rates across all third-party vendors including architects, engineers, expediters, contractors to ensure KPIs are achieved for each project. 
• Customer Engagement and Relationship Management: Build and maintain strong relationships with our discerning customers of $2MM-$8MM custom homes. You will be helping them translate their elaborate visions to reality. You will aid in helping educate clients through the upgrade and selection process. You will work closely with our clients and our team of architects, designers, and general contractors to manage expectations, facilitate custom upgrades, and ensure white-glove project execution while maintaining financial discipline and timelines.  
• Financial Management: Conduct project budgeting and forecasting, implementing cost-saving strategies and monitoring project financials against projections.  
• Cross-Departmental Collaboration: Collaborate closely with the CEO, finance department, and VP of Capital Markets to ensure seamless project execution and compliance, optimizing outcomes for all stakeholders. 
• Additional Duties: Assist in ad-hoc projects, conduct in-depth research assignments, and contribute to the creation of presentations essential for strategic decision-making. 

Qualifications: 

• Bachelor's degree and minimum of 10 years of experience in real estate development or construction management, with a proven track record of managing projects through all phases of development. 
• Minimum of 3 years of experience in Montgomery or Bucks County developing homes that were selling more than $2MM per home.  
• Minimum of 500,000 sq ft or 50 projects of prior development or construction management experience. 
• Demonstrated expertise in zoning, entitlements, design and construction with a minimum of 25 zoning projects completed and a minimum of 100 homesites completed. 
• Experience managing sitework of 5 jobs 
• Strong leadership and team management skills, capable of motivating and guiding teams towards achieving project goals. 
• Experience negotiating township escrow agreements 
• Expert knowledge of contractor proposals and bid inclusion/exclusions 
• Exceptional skill in project budgeting and value engineering. 
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills, adept at building relationships with contractors, design professionals, township engineers, township zoning and planning boards etc. 
• Acute attention to detail with a strong sense of urgency in goal achievement. 
• Masterful level of technological proficiency and in-depth knowledge of AI tools and ability to leverage AI-driven tools for site analysis, cost forecasting, and optimizing contractor bid evaluations to enhance project efficiency, rendering, and estimation abilities.  
• Expert level proficiency with construction software's such as Procore, BuilderTrend, Asana, BlueBeam, etc. 
• Ability to serve as HOA board member when needed  
• Full time role in office  
• Must be able to drive 6-10 hours per week to jobsites 
• Creative and risk adverse problem solver able to resolve complex issues and ability to enact proper SOPs and safeguards to proactively prevent issues from arising. 
• Expert ability reading surveys, civil drawings, construction reports, contracts, design documents etc. 

We Offer: 

• Total Compensation of $175,000 - $225,000 annually. This will be comprised of a competitive base salary of $125,000 with quarterly performance and project-based profit-sharing bonuses ranging from an additional $50,000-$100,000. 
• Competitive benefits package, including medical benefits, long-term/short-term disability, life insurance, and a 401k plan.  
• Ability to invest in company projects.  
• Opportunity to work with a leading company on impactful projects in the Philadelphia area. 
• Structured Pathway to become a partner after 5 years of commitment to the team.  

At Design Pro Development LLC, you will be part of a team dedicated to excellence in real estate development. If you are seeking a challenging and rewarding career, apply today to contribute to our vision of transforming Greater Philadelphia's real estate landscape. Please email a copy of your resume and a word document with links to photos or project websites to logan@designprodev.com and alex@designprodev.com.  Please incorporate the 10 projects and a 1-2 sentence description for each based on your role, duties, and achievements in managing the permitting or construction for projects that you believe best exemplifies your abilities and experience. Qualified Candidates will be contacted to schedule an interview within 3 business days of receipt of a complete application.  

We look forward to you joining our team, leading our innovative projects, and sharing in our successes at Design Pro Development.