Digital Practice Specialist II, Computational Design

Overview:

Responsibilities:

Project

• Serves as a primary technical support resource for multiple project teams or an entire studio, providing advanced troubleshooting, guidance, and workflow optimization
• Leads model setup, structure, maintenance, and quality reviews for teams, resolving complex issues related to performance, data integrity, interoperability, and coordination workflows
• Supports and monitors compliance with project BIM Execution Plans, digital standards, content requirements, and project information workflows
• Facilitates coordination workflows such as clash detection, federated model assembly, data exchanges, and cross-disciplinary collaboration
• Assists teams in implementing automation tools, scripts, templates, and digital solutions
• Diagnoses and resolves interoperability challenges between design technologies, computational design, visualization, analysis, and project management platforms
• Supports advanced tasks such as model audits, data validation, geometry cleanup, scripting adjustments, and template troubleshooting
• Partners with Digital Practice Leaders to implement firmwide standards and solutions at the project level
• Identifies recurring challenges, tool issues, or workflow gaps to Digital Practice Leadership and provides insights to refine or develop innovative solutions
• Engages in project and studio meetings as the digital support representative, assessing project needs and proactively identifying opportunities to enhance workflows
• Develops and documents project-specific workflows and solutions, contribute to practice guides, and tutorials, and share lessons learned to improve firmwide standards
• Assists with onboarding new team members to digital workflows and tools, and provides informal training on digital tools and best practices as needed
• Applies automation-oriented problem-solving approaches to reduce manual effort and improve workflow efficiency before relying on repetitive or brute-force methods
• Collaborates with team members to explore and implement advanced digital workflows that improve control of 3D geometry, design modeling practices, and support digital fabrication, simulation, and analysis
• Assists in the development, testing, and refining new toolsets and modeling techniques that improve interoperability between software platforms and support environmental simulation and performance analysis
• Supports the use of computational design, scripting tools, and parametric modeling techniques as part of project delivery under the guidance of senior digital practice staff
• Provides feedback and ideas to Digital Practice leadership on opportunities to enhance modeling techniques, workflow efficiency, and integration across digital tools

Culture

• Supports the firm's values of quality, innovation, learning, and growth through proactive, service-oriented technical support
• Acts as a mentor to team members by providing guidance, feedback, QA/QC, and direction on modeling and delivery methodologies
• Help maintain a culture of technical excellence and digital curiosity within the studio or project team
• Promote sustainable, responsible digital practices that reduce rework, improve performance, and support design intent

Financial

• Understand the impact of technical efficiency on project budgets and schedules.
• Work efficiently and prioritize tasks to meet expected utilization targets
• Assist in identifying opportunities for efficiencies through improved digital workflows or process adjustments

Qualifications:

Education and Experience

• Accredited professional degree in Architecture, Engineering, Construction, or related field; advanced degree preferred
• Typically 3-5+ years of experience in the AEC industry, with direct exposure to digital workflows

Licenses and Certifications

• Licensure or certification in chosen field preferred

Technical Skills& Competencies

• Proven expertise in design technology, computational design, data analytics, and other emerging digital technologies relevant to architecture and design
• Familiarity with data management, visualization, and collaboration platforms (e.g., Power BI, Speckle, Forge, Unreal Engine)
• Proficiency in MS Office Suite preferred
• Strong understanding of building systems, technical documentation, and construction processes
• Experience collaborating with multi-disciplinary teams and manages change in a complex, global organization.
• Strong communication and interpersonal skills with the ability to remain professional when navigating challenges
• Excellent communication, presentation, and interpersonal skills with the ability to engage both technical and non-technical audiences
• Demonstrates a strong commitment to excellence, consistently delivering accurate, high-quality results
• Ability to coordinate and manage multiple projects while supporting a distributed team
• Ability to diagnose technical issues and apply solutions quickly in a fast-paced project environment.
• Highly organized, detail-oriented, and capable of supporting multiple projects simultaneously
• A learning mindset with curiosity and a desire to grow into deeper technical roles
• Travel may be required

If you currently work for HKS, please submit your application via the Internal Careers Portal.

HKS is an EEO/AA Employer: M/F/Disabled/Veteran