Technical Design Manager – Catering/Industrial Facility in San Francisco, California at PMA Consultants

PMA Consultants is seeking an experienced Design/Technical Manager to lead design management and technical integration for a complex, systems-intensive catering and industrial facility at San Francisco International Airport (SFO). This position will manage the design and technical work from conceptual development through design validation, detailed design, and construction authorization.

The Design/Technical Manager will establish the technical framework for the project and coordinate architects, engineers, consultants, equipment vendors, and other technical disciplines to ensure that building systems, specialized equipment, operational requirements, and stakeholder needs are fully integrated throughout design and project delivery.

Note: This opportunity is available at multiple levels. Final placement will be determined based on the selected candidate’s experience, skills, and alignment with business needs. We are committed to providing fair and equitable consideration for all applicants.

• Manage the review and validation of conceptual plans, drawings, program requirements, space adjacencies, equipment requirements, utility demands, and operational assumptions.
• Establish and maintain the Basis of Design and a structured requirements-management process to track technical requirements, decisions, and design development.
• Develop and maintain a decision schedule aligned with design milestones to support timely resolution of outstanding technical and operational requirements.
• Develop technical requirements and performance criteria for the Progressive Design-Build procurement and support the technical evaluation of proposers.
• Manage design development, constructability reviews, design-to-budget efforts, and documented multidisciplinary design reviews.
• Direct and coordinate the integration of specialized facility systems, including automated storage and retrieval systems, robotic assembly, material handling, catering equipment, and refrigeration.
• Coordinate requirements for food-safety zoning, clean and soiled separation, and gowned/ungowned personnel and material flows.
• Coordinate structural and facility requirements associated with tilt-up concrete construction, deep foundations, high-bay structures, and specialized loads.
• Coordinate integration of utilities, electrical service systems, standby power, chilled water, washdown systems, fire protection, information technology, security, and building management systems.
• Coordinate technical requirements related to LEED certification, refrigerant selection, electrification, and facility resilience.
• Verify that equipment loads, utility requirements, maintenance access, and provisions for future expansion are incorporated into the design.
• Identify technical risks, design gaps, and integration issues and coordinate their resolution with project stakeholders and the Design-Builder.
• Support the project team through design validation and construction authorization.
• Other duties as assigned.

• 10+ years of design management, construction project management, or technical project management experience on industrial, food-production, logistics, cold-storage, manufacturing, or similarly systems-intensive facilities.
• Bachelor’s degree in Construction Management, Engineering, Architecture, or a related field is preferred. Relevant experience may be considered in lieu of education.
• Registered Architect (RA) or Professional Engineer (PE) required.
• LEED AP certification is preferred.
• Demonstrated experience managing design development and technical coordination for Progressive Design-Build, Design-Build, or similarly collaborative delivery.
• Strong understanding of specialized MEP systems, process utilities, material handling, automation, and equipment integration.
• Experience coordinating multidisciplinary design teams and integrating architectural, structural, MEP, process, equipment, and operational requirements.
• Experience with design validation, constructability reviews, design-to-budget, and technical design coordination.
• Airport, aviation, secure-facility, industrial, manufacturing, logistics, food-production, or similarly complex facility experience is preferred.
• Ability to translate operational requirements into technical criteria and effectively coordinate designers, engineers, contractors, equipment vendors, and project stakeholders.