Refrigeration Discipline Lead

The Refrigeration Discipline Lead serves as the technical, project delivery, and people leader for the Refrigeration team. This role focuses on executing and delivering HFA's vision, purpose and code in addition to Project Delivery Excellence (PDE) through discipline-level leadership, team coordination, technical quality, and project execution.

As a leader in an ESOP-driven organization, the Discipline Lead promotes an Employee Owner (EO) mindset at the team level and helps team members connect daily decisions to client outcomes, project performance, collaboration, and long-term firm value. This role provides a practical upward feedback loop to VP and senior leadership while championing OneHFA collaboration across project teams and disciplines.

Ideal candidate will be a licensed Refrigeration Engineer with a minimum of 15 yrs of experience possessing extensive knowledge of commercial and industrial refrigeration systems, controls, energy analysis, and applicable codes. Commercial/Industrial systems include DX refrigeration systems utilizing traditional refrigerants, transcritical CO2 systems, 2-stage systems, and cascade systems. Knowledge of recirculated ammonia refrigeration systems is preferred. The candidate should be capable of mentoring designers and engineers, supporting client relationships, coordinating with interdisciplinary teams, and maintaining technical quality on projects of varying scale and complexity.

About HFA - Employee Owned. People Powered.

HFA is a 100% employee-owned multidisciplinary architectural, engineering, and interior architecture firm who thrives in a people-first environment. Employee ownership isn't just a structure - it's a mindset that fuels everything we do. This mindset empowers us to think beyond our roles, pushing us to find innovative solutions that strengthen our client relationships and deepen our connections with our people internally. We believe that our people are our greatest asset which aligns with our culture code: We aspire to be a people-first culture of empowerment where talent thrives.

The ownership mindset also means that every team member is personally invested in the success of our projects and clients. This approach ensures that every decision aligns with our purpose: Leading our clients to fulfill their vision while building lasting partnerships.

With our focus on our people, we offer competitive salaries and a comprehensive benefits package including medical, dental, vision, disability, and life insurance, a 401(k) with company match, an employee stock ownership plan (ESOP), and a flexible work schedule. We provide our team members with professional development opportunities and learning stipends to pursue professional growth, and we take any chance we can get to recognize and reward our people for their amazing work.

Key Responsibilities

Strategy & Vision Execution

• Executes and adopts firm Vision, strategies, and objectives within the discipline.
• Translates discipline priorities into clear team expectations, technical standards, and project-level actions that support PDE.
• Monitors and reports discipline needs, delivery challenges, staffing considerations, and improvement opportunities to VP and senior leadership.
• Maintains clear vertical and horizontal communication with project teams, Team Leads, Senior Team Leads, peer discipline leaders, and VP leadership.

Culture, Collaboration & OneHFA Leadership

• Champions culture among the team and models shared values through daily leadership and project execution.
• Champions and leads multi-discipline collaboration at the team level to support a OneHFA approach.
• Works closely with architects, engineers, project managers, and other disciplines to coordinate fire protection scope, resolve conflicts, and improve delivery outcomes.
• Provides a practical feedback loop to senior leadership regarding team needs, coordination barriers, and opportunities to strengthen collaboration.
• Promotes development paths for Team Leads, designers, and engineers.
• ESOP & Ownership Culture Leadership
• Promotes an Employee Owner (EO) mindset at the discipline level.
• Models ownership behaviors through accountability, proactive communication, sound judgment, and thoughtful stewardship of project resources.
• Helps team members understand how technical decisions, quality, coordination, and client service contribute to shared success.

Client Support & Market Contribution

• Supports client satisfaction by ensuring technically sound delivery and monitoring the team's client interactions and relationships.
• Manages key project-level client relationships directly when appropriate and supports VP leadership on broader client relationships and satisfaction actions.
• Supports senior leadership at a high level on client growth and Go-To-Market strategy through expertise, insights, and pursuit support.
• Partners with Brand + Marketing on client pursuits by providing project content, technical narratives, photos, lessons learned, and discipline-specific examples that strengthen market presence.
• Identifies opportunities to expand value through code strategy, risk reduction, constructability, coordination, and repeatable delivery solutions.
• Project Delivery Excellence (PDE)
• Ensures PDE within the team by creating team structure and aligning operations to support consistent delivery.
• Establishes expectations for technical quality, coordination, documentation, review practices, and responsive delivery.
• Reviews or oversees design deliverables, calculations, specifications, and coordination items to confirm quality and completeness.
• Recognizes risks for the teams/projects and discusses mitigation strategies with VP leadership, project managers, and interdisciplinary partners.
• Ensures team adoption and effective use of tools, templates, software, and standards that improve quality, efficiency, and predictability.

Discipline Operations & Financial Contribution

• Is responsible for the financial performance of the team by monitoring project budgets, staffing needs, utilization, schedule impacts, and delivery efficiency.
• Partners with VP leadership, Senior Team Leads, Team Leads, and project managers to align resources with project demand and discipline priorities.
• Provides input on forecasting, workload planning, hiring needs, team capacity, and team structure.
• Reviews contracts and executes contracts when authorized, while contributing scope, fee, schedule, assumptions, exclusions, and technical risk information to proposal and contract efforts.

People Leadership, Performance & Engagement

• Leads with accountability and care for people, performance, growth, and team engagement.
• Reviews check-ins for direct reports, monitors and reports engagement trends for the team, supports corrective action plans, and reports deficiencies to leadership.
• Conducts Best Self Reviews (BSRs) for direct reports, sets clear objectives, ensures quality and alignment of BSRs under their leadership, and reports flagged items such as performance concerns or promotion readiness to leadership.
• Sets expectations for team performance and works with Team Leads on action or development plans as needed.
• Assesses team needs, identifies gaps, collaborates with leadership on recruiting, and guides Team Leads in talent selection.
• Identifies gaps, creates succession planning for the team, mentors Team Leads, builds skills in designers and engineers, and develops future leaders.

Management Requirements: 10+ staff or lead a Critical Business Function as defined by CEO/COO
Education Requirements: Undergraduate Degree Preferred
Licensure Requirements: Licensure Required