Firmwide Director of Diversity

Perkins&Will is seeking a visionary and strategic leader to serve as Firmwide Director of Diversity. This role will steward and advance the firm’s global commitment to creating a culture of belonging, equity, and accountability across diverse cultural, legal, and regional contexts while strengthening the impact of our work, our people, and our profession.

Distinct from traditional DEI leadership roles, this position is intentionally embedded within practice. The Firmwide Director of Diversity will be an accomplished practitioner in one of the firm’s core disciplines—bringing credibility as a designer, strategist, planner, architect, interior designer, landscape architect, researcher, or allied professional who understands firsthand how culture, leadership, equity, and local context influence design excellence, collaboration, innovation, and client outcomes across regions and markets.

Reporting directly to the President, this leader will partner closely with executive leadership, studio leadership, talent leaders, and practice teams across the firm to ensure principles of justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion (J.E.D.I.) are deeply integrated into how Perkins&Will recruits and grows talent, develops leaders, designs spaces, serves communities, and shapes the future of the profession. The Director will do this in ways that are culturally responsive and locally relevant across Perkins&Will’s global locations.

The successful candidate will bring a combination of strategic vision, operational influence, cultural intelligence, and professional practice expertise—helping the firm move from aspiration to measurable and lasting impact. They will promote a culture of firmwide belonging that values diversity across race, ethnicity, nationality, gender, age, disability, neurodiversity, sexuality, religion, socioeconomic background, and other lived experiences.

This role reflects Perkins&Will’s belief that justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion (J.E.D.I.) are inseparable from design excellence, innovation, and leadership. The Firmwide Director of Diversity will not operate adjacent to practice; they will help shape the future of practice. They will lead with a globally informed, culturally intelligent approach, adapting principles and practices to local legal, social, and cultural contexts while maintaining a consistent commitment to equity, belonging, and accountability.

The ideal candidate will bring both professional design credibility and the ability to inspire meaningful cultural change across a globally connected, interdisciplinary firm committed to creating places where humanity thrives.

Key Responsibilities:

Strategic Leadership & Vision

• Serve as a strategic advisor to executive leadership on firmwide J.E.D.I. priorities, culture, and organizational impact.
• Advance a cohesive J.E.D.I. vision aligned with the firm’s values, business strategy, and design ethos.
• Embed equity, inclusion, and accessibility into leadership practices, talent systems, business operations, and studio culture in partnership with other firmwide leaders.  Identify emerging trends, opportunities, and barriers impacting representation, belonging, and engagement across the firm.

Project Work

• Maintain an active practitioner perspective that connects J.E.D.I. strategy to interdisciplinary design practice and studio culture.
• Educate and guide teams in bridging the craft of design with the identities, histories, languages, lived experiences, and cultural values of the communities we serve, scaling this philosophy to shape firmwide design thinking.
• Contribute to key projects across the firm that advance J.E.D.I. strategic priorities.
• Partner with practice leaders to strengthen inclusive and equitable design leadership across disciplines.
• Deepen the connection between J.E.D.I., design excellence, community impact, sustainability, and social responsibility.
• Champion inclusive and accessible design practices that reflect the diverse abilities, experiences, and needs of clients, communities, users, users, and stakeholders across cultural and geographic contexts.

Talent, Culture & Leadership Development

• Coach and support leaders in building inclusive leadership capability and accountability.
• Foster a culture where diverse perspectives drive innovation, creativity, and design excellence.
• Promote environments where employees feel valued, supported, and empowered to contribute and grow.

Measurement, Accountability & Organizational Impact

• Establish metrics and accountability frameworks to measure organizational progress and impact.
• Analyze qualitative and quantitative insights to identify trends, risks, and opportunities.
• Drive continuous improvement through transparency, learning, and measurable outcomes.

Collaboration & Communication

• Build strong partnerships across studios, disciplines, regions, and corporate teams, with cultural fluency and respect for local norms and practices.
• Lead firmwide conversations and learning initiatives that strengthen engagement and shared understanding.
• Serve as a connector across leadership, employee resource groups, and practice communities.
• Communicate with clarity, credibility, empathy, and influence.

External Engagement & Industry Leadership

• Represent Perkins&Will as an advocate and thought leader in J.E.D.I. and inclusive design practice.
• Build partnerships with organizations advancing inclusion across race, ethnicity, gender, age, disability, neurodiversity, and other historically excluded identities and experiences, including community organizations, universities, and professional associations.
• Support initiatives that expand access, mentorship, and pathways into the profession.
• Strengthen the firm’s reputation as a leader in equitable, sustainable, and human-centered design.

• Strategically grow external partnerships beyond existing networks to advance broader representation across the design profession, cultivating long‑term relationships with underrepresented and historically excluded communities through shared learning, mentorship, and pathway‑building initiatives.

Qualifications | Required Experience & Capabilities

• Demonstrated success as a practitioner within one or more core design disciplines relevant to Perkins&Will’s practice.
• Experience leading J.E.D.I., culture, or organizational change initiatives within a complex professional services or multidisciplinary environment.
• Proven ability to influence leadership and drive enterprise-wide change through collaboration and trust.
• Strong understanding of organizational culture, leadership development, and inclusive workplace practices.
• Excellent communication, facilitation, strategic planning, and relationship-building skills.
• Ability to navigate complexity and sensitive issues with integrity, empathy, and sound judgment.
• Demonstrated commitment to advancing equity and inclusion within the design profession and built environment.
• Proven ability to lead change management efforts with empathy and influence, meeting leaders where they are and encouraging a growth mindset.

Education & Credentials

• Professional degree in architecture, interior design, planning, landscape architecture, organizational leadership, human resources, or a related field required.
• Licensure or professional credentials within a relevant discipline strongly preferred.
• Advanced degree and/or certifications in organizational development, equity and inclusion, leadership, or change management preferred.
• Ongoing engagement in professional learning, industry leadership, and emerging J.E.D.I. practices expected.

Compensation:

We foster a culture that is diverse and inclusive and strive for pay practices that are fair, competitive and reflect our commitment to pay equity. Our compensation decisions include but are not limited to a candidate’s qualifications including skill sets, education, experience and training, licensure and certifications credentials if applicable, and business-related factors. This practice extends to all employees, including performance considerations for merit increases, job promotions, and transfer opportunities. We additionally review our pay practices, conduct pay equity audits, and ensure our managers are trained in our pay practices on an annual basis. At the time of posting this job advertisement, the annual pay salary range for this position is between $160,000 to $225,000, commensurate with qualifications and dependent on geographic location. 

This role can be located in any of our major US office locations.