CO Adaptive
Employer:Practice Manager
CO Adaptive Architecture and Building - Brooklyn Navy Yard (On-site)
Start Date: January 2025
The Practice:
CO Adaptive is a design-build practice specializing in high performance renovations of existing buildings. Our organization is made up of two divisions: CO Adaptive Architecture focuses on the design and documentation of our projects, and is celebrating its 13 year anniversary. Its sister company CO Adaptive Building, operates as a construction manager and woods trade partner for many of our projects, and is now approaching its fourth year in business.
Within an industry preoccupied with the finished image of architecture, we seek to turn focus to the means of making and maintaining buildings. Our work aims to reduce operational energy while also minimizing embodied energy. We tackle this challenge by working with existing buildings, retrofitting them for resilience and durability using healthy, equitably sourced, local and renewable materials. We believe that design and building should be a collaborative practice that works to solve today’s biggest challenges.
Throughout the practice, our culture is guided by five core values:
We each take agency
We value our time and strive for higher efficiency
We believe collaboration always takes us further
We question the status quo
We find beauty in the process
CO Adaptive is a woman-owned business enterprise and is currently seeking B Corp certification.
The Role:
The Practice Manager position at CO Adaptive spans both the Architecture and Construction operations. We are looking for an individual with 5-8 years experience as an administrative assistant or office manager, ideally within the building industry. This role is central to supporting the work of our current team, and carries the opportunity to take on greater responsibility as the practice grows. We are looking for an individual who believes
in the mission of the organization, and is enthusiastic about streamlining our operations, nurturing our culture, and representing the practice.
The ideal candidate is highly organized, detail oriented, ambitious, and energetic in taking ownership of work they are responsible for. They have excellent written and verbal communication skills and are able to effectively juggle multiple tasks at the same time. They are curious, outgoing, and eager to work with a staff of 16 (and growing) fun, creative, and caring humans.
The Practice Manager role includes daily responsibilities that keep CO Adaptive running smoothly, as well as the implementation of longer term goals that further our mission, improve our processes, and expand our role within the larger community. Some specific examples of such responsibilities include, but are not limited to:
Front desk operations:
Welcome staff, guests and clients that arrive at the office
Organize and offer food / beverage to guests
Send entry instruction emails and BNY guest passes to visitors
Assist in orchestrating meetings such as in-house lunch and learns to coordinate food delivery and any guest requirements/ questions
Calendar and coordinate office wide events that foster team spirit
Office space maintenance, purchases, and sales
Liaison between office and BNY security
Help administer internal office security systems
Tutorial posts to our office wiki on how team members can self-perform certain tasks they may be better suited to maintain
Human Resources:
Administrative work to onboard new employees within our existing PEO platform
Document employment changes
Assist with employee search and job postings
PTO and benefits assistant - data entry, approvals submissions, and being PEO issue delegate
Managing team performance review platform coordination and updates
Careful and considered fielding of team requests, feedback and questions
Maintaining and updating CO Adaptive Practice Manual and assisting principals with company wide certifications
Finance:
Act as liaison between CPA, bookkeeper, and other external financial consultants and principals to assist and implement internal systems, tracking, and expense management - working within our current automated workflow but advising on improvements as applicable over time
Organization and preparation of expense reports for projects
Assistance preparing contracts for clients and subcontractors
Preparation of invoices or assisting consultants with invoicing
Ordering and tracking of office supplies and equipment
Assistance with any address change forms or tax agency correspondences
Inventory Management:
Label all field equipment and office assets for location tracking, maintenance/ condition identification, and financial valuation
Facilitate shipping and receiving of packages
Assist in updating company wide CRM and project specific directories
Maintain and manage expiration tracking of all permits, licenses, insurances, and applications for renewal
Maintaining and being the guardian of server folder organization
Managing and maintaining the material samples library
The Practice Manager position is varied and as CO Adaptive grows, it may break out into several roles, based on the strengths and passions of the individual, including Operations Director and Human Resources Director.
Benefits and Compensation:
CO Adaptive offers a competitive compensation and benefits package that includes contributions of $600/ month towards the employee selected plan from top tier carriers and an employer matching 401K plan. In the first year of employment, CO Adaptive includes 15 days of PTO; with an increase of +2 days of PTO each year thereafter.
~18 holidays per year are paid, including Earth Day and Juneteenth. We provide quarterly evaluations and opportunities for salary increases at each review.
CO Adaptive’s compensation packages reflect our commitment to offering fair wages that are benchmarked against market standards and cost of living benchmarks, as well as firmwide pay equity initiatives. The salary range for this position at the time of posting is $70,000 – $85,000 per year. Final compensation will be commensurate with experience.
CO Adaptive is an equal opportunities employer and endeavors to support minorities within the profession. We strive to maintain a flat organization where all voices are heard from design problems through office organization. At all levels, we facilitate a wide lens of exposure to building practice, while encouraging individuals to pursue their own interests within the studio and in the profession at large.
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