University of Virginia Looking for Project Manager, Natural Infrastructure Lab Full Time

The School of Architecture at the University of Virginia is seeking qualified individuals for Project Manager to join the Natural Infrastructure Lab (NIL). The position entails working with Associate Professor Brian Davis, PLA, FAAR, researching new forms of natural infrastructure for coastal bays and estuaries. The NIL conducts design research using landscape architectural methods to advance the design, planning, and management of innovative and culturally significant nature-based infrastructures. Current work in the lab includes coastal projects from the Great Lakes, the East Coast, and the Gulf Coast.
This position will focus on the newest project at the NIL– the Natural Infrastructure Innovation Project (NIIP)– in collaboration with the University of Auburn and UPenn, and funded by the US Army Corps of Engineers, Engineering With Nature program. The aim of the NIIP is to study the existing natural forms and human practices of coastal protection and to develop new forms for coastal design that can increase human and ecosystem health over time.

The work for this position will involve extensive fieldwork in locations on the nation’s East and Gulf Coasts, large scale physical modeling at the lab, and numerical modeling, reviews of existing literature and projects, and the mapping, drawing, and writing typically required in large-scale landscape architecture. Not all skills are required at the start, but applicants must be motivated, curious, organized, and work well with others. The job will involve travel for field work and collaborative workshops, as well as physical work in the lab and desktop analysis. The Project Manager will assist Brian Davis in budget management, collaborator and stakeholder interaction, and lab management, in addition to the research functions noted below.

The Natural Infrastructure Lab is directed by Brian Davis at the Department of Landscape Architecture at UVA. The Department has a long tradition of design excellence with an emphasis on theory and cultural landscapes, work on post-industrial lands, and with vulnerable communities. This ethos is present in the work of the NIL on natural infrastructural for coastlands. The Project Manager would join a thriving research community at the Department including PhD candidates and faculty carrying out work across a wide range of topics. The NIL shares lab space with architectural researchers and associates would have the opportunity to learn from the work of people across the School of Architecture.

Key Functions include:

• Prepare drawings and maps analyzing and synthesizing insights into existing coastal landscapes
• Review scientific literature, published projects from engineering and landscape design
• Participate in field-based research to describe landscape form and processes
• Participate in design workshops with stakeholders and multi-university project teams
• Advance infrastructure design concepts
• Help build, run, and maintain large, physical models
• Learn and apply numerical coastal models, especially wave and hydrodynamic models
• Produce renderings of natural infrastructure concepts in specific locations
• Assist in the preparation of articles for peer-review and reports for agencies and other constituents
• Drone surveying (training and licensure will be supported)

Minimum Qualifications

• A Bachelor’s degree in landscape architecture or related discipline, and at least 4 years of relevant experience. Significant work experience may be considered in lieu of a degree.
• Prior project management experience, or experience working as an integral member of large project teams
• Experience with design, grounded in the integration of aesthetic, cultural, and ecological dimensions of landscape
• Demonstrated ability to learn basic physical and numerical modeling methods and be comfortable with quantitative analysis of landscape form and process
• Strong organizational skills and ability to effectively communicate with others
• Familiarity with software used in landscape architectural representation, including Adobe CS, Rhino 3D, and ArcGIS.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with nature-based infrastructure design and/or design for dynamic landscapes shaped by the interaction of water, sediment, and vegetation
• Experience with Rhinoceros modeling software and GIS mapping software
• Experience with research-by-design methods
• Excellent written communication skills
• Experience managing budgets

This is a restricted position and continuation is dependent on funding and satisfactory performance.

Anticipated hiring range: $80,000 – $86,000

The selected applicant will be required to complete a background check prior to their first day of employment per university policy.

TO APPLY:
Please visit UVA job board: https://uva.wd1.myworkdayjobs.com/UVAJobs and search for “R0054130”

Complete an application online and attach:

• Cover letter to include your interest in the position and your knowledge, skills, abilities, and experiences
• Resume or CV
• A portfolio demonstrating an ability to imagine and depict coastal design and natural features in a coastal conditions, as well as small-scale technical details (10mb maximum

***Please note that you MUST upload ALL documents into the CV/Resume box. Applications that do not contain all of the required documents will not receive full consideration. ***

PROCESS FOR INTERNAL UVA APPLICANTS: Please apply through your Workday Home page, search “Find Jobs”, and search for “R0054130”.  

For questions about the application process, please contact Rhiannon O’Coin, Senior Academic Recruiter, [email protected]

For more information about UVA and the Charlottesville community please see  www.virginia.edu/life/charlottesville  and https://embarkcva.com/

The University of Virginia, including the UVA Health System which represents the UVA Medical Center, Schools of Medicine and Nursing, UVA Physician’s Group and the Claude Moore Health Sciences Library, are fundamentally committed to the diversity of our faculty and staff.  We believe diversity is excellence expressing itself through every person’s perspectives and lived experiences.  We are equal opportunity and affirmative action employers. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to age, color, disability, gender identity or expression, marital status, national or ethnic origin, political affiliation, race, religion, sex (including pregnancy), sexual orientation, veteran status, and family medical or genetic information.