Design Manager

Position: Design Manager Fire Sprinkler Company: Columbia Fire, LLC Location: Seattle, WA in-office, with up to two days per week remote Reports To: Contract Division Manager Employment Type: Full-time, salaried, exempt Bargaining Unit Status: Non-union Incentive Eligibility: Annual bonus tied to goals and MBOs see Compensation Travel: Occasional jobsite visits across Western Washington; occasional travel to affiliated offices About Columbia Fire Columbia Fire has been protecting lives and property in the Seattle market since 2005.

We design, install, inspect, and service fire sprinkler systems, fire alarm systems, suppression systems, and portable fire extinguishers across Western Washington.

Columbia Fire is a wholly owned subsidiary of Columbia Safety Services, LLC, which also operates Valley Fire Control, LLC in Oregon and Eastern Washington and FFF Protection in Idaho.

We are building a formidable fire protection platform rooted in trust, execution, and long-term relationships.

Our core values guide how we operate: Customer First, Grit, Effective Communication, Own the Outcome, Take Pride in the Work, and Do the Right Thing.

Why This Role Exists Design sets the ceiling on how much work we can build and how profitably we build it.

A clean, constructable design saves labor in the field, gets through the AHJ the first time, and keeps a project on schedule.

A weak one costs us in change orders, rework, and credibility.

We are also hiring designers at every level, including people with no design experience at all.

That only works if someone is genuinely responsible for developing them.

This role owns both: the standard our designs are held to, and the people who produce them.

The Opportunity You will lead Columbia Fires sprinkler design team setting standards, reviewing and stamping work, managing workload and deadlines, and building the training path that turns entry-level hires into certified designers.

You will still design.

This is a working manager role, not a pure oversight seat.

You will take on complex projects yourself, and your team should be able to watch you do the work.

If you are a licensed Professional Engineer, this role has a dimension most contractors cannot offer.

A P.E.

on staff can supervise and sign off on engineering hours for designers pursuing licensure.

That means you would not just be training designers you would be opening a path to P.E.

for people who currently have no way to get there.

Very few fire protection contractors our size can say that, and we would build the program around you.

Design Operations Review and refine our existing design standards with field superintendents and internal stakeholders within your first 30 days, then keep them currentBuild and maintain a design review checklist that tells designers exactly what they are being reviewed against no guessingReview sprinkler drawings against that checklist, company standards, and project specifications, evaluating code accuracy, hydraulic soundness, e...