As he seeks a Senior Architect to join Haskell’s Design and Consulting Services team in St. Louis, Missouri, Gary Wunderlich is looking for someone with the spirit of an entrepreneur who values the resources, security and opportunities available from a fast-growing multinational company.
Wunderlich is the Lead Architect in the St. Louis office, which counts among its customers a host of industrial clients and an expanding Federal portfolio.
“I tell people I interview that we want people who have an entrepreneurial spirit and will treat each project like it's their own business,” he said. “They'll be doing upfront, face-to-face meetings with the owner getting to understand the program and then taking the project from concept all the way through the development of construction documents and through construction.
“I need someone who is confident, has the knowledge base and can handle pretty much every aspect of a smaller to midsize project. They have to be knowledgeable about the craft and be able to speak intelligently to it.”
Not only will the ideal candidate have the ability to communicate effectively with clients, but they also will be able to listen and channel the project owner’s wants and needs into a best-in-class design. The position calls for a registered professional, but that could be flexible for the right mid-career candidate who would sit for the exams within a year.
Knowledge of 3-D modeling and an understanding of Revit are vital and link directly to the position ‘s entrepreneurial aspect. Wunderlich said designs carried through the 3-D modeling process give clients the ability to visualize their project and further establish Haskell as a highly competent partner.
“A lot of times when we present designs in that way, I don't have to say much,” Wunderlich said. “I just start guiding them through the model. I always tell people that a picture's worth 1,000 words, and with an efficient, rendered, developed model, I don't have to talk at all.”
The types of projects range from metal building in Djibouti, Africa, to the massive, multiyear overhaul of the century-old Coors brewery in Golden, Colorado. An increasing amount of federal work presents a variety of facility types.
“A lot of our products are brownfield projects, so it's working within an older existing facility,” he said. “But we're getting a lot of new greenfield projects, and to me, even though it's industrial work, it's a lot of fun. I always try to add design features to the exterior that I hope they’ll enjoy and go forward with in the project. As architects, we’re trained that what we put up will last and have social and psychological impacts in the built environment for 50-plus years.”
The half-dozen members of the St. Louis architecture team are a tight-knit group with a family atmosphere, he said. In the larger picture, Haskell operates with the direction of six strategic pillars, the first of which is to “Provide Team Members the BEST Job of Their Lives.” It offers a robust benefits package that includes a 401k match and an Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP), which creates stock ownership for every full-time team member.
As a leading architectural, engineering and construction firm, it also offers career opportunities that cover the spectrum. Wunderlich is an example: He came to the company as a Project Manager.
“I've had people transition to be a BIM specialist,” he said. “I had one person from the time he was in school interning with me – I mentored him all the way through – and now he's one of our best project managers in addition to being an awesome architect. There are great career opportunities within the organization, so there's no pigeonholing. If you want to move your career somewhere within the organization that's easily done.”
Read the complete job description and apply.
