Reporting to the Design Director, the Architectural Planning Manager is responsible for leading a team of Architectural Planners, guiding their work to ensure designs align with organizational goals, client needs, and regulatory standards. This role combines people leadership with technical expertise, fostering professional growth within the team while maintaining high-quality planning outputs. The manager provides strategic direction, prioritizes projects, and represents departmental policies in cross-functional discussions. By balancing oversight with mentorship, the Architectural Planning Manager ensures consistent, efficient, and innovative planning practices that support both sales objectives and long-term organizational success. The Architectural Planning Team will create engaging and imaginative environments through product selection, customization, juxtaposition, and surface design on projects across the North American region, ensuring the experience of Kompan’s 3 tenets of play: Wow, Stay, Develop.
This position will collaborate closely with other departments in back-office roles such as Pre Sales, Project Sales Coordination, Project Coordination, and Install, as well as on site colleagues working in the field as Project Managers and Sales Representatives.
Who We Are
For more than 50 years, KOMPAN has researched, designed, and built innovative and imaginative commercial playground equipment and outdoor fitness sites that captivate all ages and abilities.
In collaboration with our global headquarters in Denmark, KOMPAN designs, manufactures, and installs more than 1,000 sites a month across 90 different countries. Our North American headquarters, located in Austin, Texas, supports field sales around the U.S. and Canada.
At KOMPAN, we take pride in our commitment to the global environment. We exceed sustainability efforts and make it possible to lower carbon emissions by utilizing recycled ocean waste, consumer-recycled plastics, and textile wastes to create playgrounds that are born green or made green.
Leaders at KOMPAN are open, informal, and non-hierarchical. They are eager to delegate, involve, inspire, and energize their teams and celebrate results. KOMPAN leaders take pride in developing their people and building competencies and capabilities together.
What You’ll Do
- Leadership & Team Development
- Manage, mentor, and inspire a team of Architectural Planners through regular feedback, coaching, and career development.
- Build a supportive and high-performing team culture, encouraging creativity, collaboration, and professional growth.
- Set clear goals, expectations, and priorities, ensuring alignment with company objectives.
- Technical Oversight & Guidance
- Provide expert review of layouts, construction drawings, and permitting documentation to ensure accuracy and compliance with ASTM, CPSC, ADA, and CSA standards.
- Act as a point of escalation for complex design and code compliance challenges, providing solutions and guidance.
- Establish and uphold best practices, design standards, and quality assurance processes across the planning team.
- Cross-Functional Collaboration
- Serve as a primary liaison between the planning team and the other design teams, such as Architectural Design and 3D Art.
- Collaborate with Sales Representatives and the Department Coordinator to ensure projects meet client needs, budgets, and schedules.
- Represent departmental policies, making strategic decisions about how and when to apply them in collaboration with the Design Director and Sales.
- Operational Excellence
- Monitor project pipeline and allocate resources effectively to balance workload across the team.
- Identify opportunities to improve processes, tools, and efficiencies within the planning workflow.
- Contribute to strategic planning within the Design Department by providing insights from the team’s experience and client feedback.
What You’ll Need
- Strong technical knowledge of ASTM, CPSC, ADA, and CSA standards
- Proven ability to review and QA/QC complex drawing sets
- Strategic thinker with strong organizational and prioritization skills
- Comfortable serving as a point of escalation and decision-maker
- Ability to balance process consistency with practical flexibility
- Experience managing workloads, pipelines, and resources across a team
Perks and Benefits
- Comprehensive medical, vision, and dental plans
- Employer-paid life and disability insurance
- 401(k) retirement plan with company match
- Competitive PTO and robust holiday schedule
Not Sure if You Qualify?
That’s ok! If you’re interested in the role and believe you could be a good fit, we encourage you to apply!
KOMPAN is an Equal Employment Opportunity and Affirmative Action Employer. We do not discriminate based upon race, religion, color, national origin, gender, age, veteran status, or any other basis covered by appropriate law. We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all our employees. All employment is based on qualifications, merit, and business needs.
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