Communications Manager
About the job
- Four to seven years of experience in communications, public relations, marketing, or client relations, ideally within architecture, design, real estate, hospitality, or another project-based professional services environment.
- Strong writing and editing skills, with the ability to adopt and protect an established brand voice.
- Experience art directing and coordinating photographers, videographers, or other creative vendors and shoots.
- Ability to manage multiple deadline-driven workstreams across public relations, proposals, and client touchpoints simultaneously.
- A discreet, detail-oriented approach to confidential client and project information.
- A bachelor's degree in communications, marketing, journalism, or a related field, or equivalent professional experience.
- Ability to remain stationary and work at a computer workstation for extended periods throughout the workday.
- Ability to frequently operate a computer and other standard office equipment.
- Ability to communicate effectively with team members, candidates, clients, vendors, and external partners in person, by phone, and electronically.
- Ability to move throughout the office to attend meetings, collaborate with team members, and support day-to-day operations.
- Ability to occasionally transport or move office supplies, equipment, packages, or materials weighing up to 25 pounds.
- Ability to visually review documents, spreadsheets, reports, and digital information for accuracy and completeness.
- Serve as the day-to-day point of contact with the external public relations agency partner, coordinating pitches, press releases, and media alerts for project launches, awards, and firm milestones.
- Draft and edit press materials, project narratives, and executive talking points in the firm's established voice.
- Maintain the firm's social media brand voice and posting standards, including Instagram, with consistent tone, project and photographer credits, and formatting conventions across channels.
- Manage the awards submissions calendar and assist with entry writing, image selection, and deadlines.
- Track and support thought-leadership opportunities, including speaking engagements, conference presentations, and leadership visibility moments for principals.
- Handle confidentiality and embargo protocols for unannounced projects before they are cleared for press.
- Schedule and coordinate professional photography for completed projects, groundbreakings, and key construction milestones, working with photographers on shot lists, access, and timing.
- Maintain and organize the firm's photo and video library, including licensing terms and photographer and stylist credit records.
- Coordinate production of construction banners and other on-site visual collateral.
- Support video and content shoots for social, web, and proposal use.
- Support client engagement touchpoints, including gifts, event attendance, groundbreaking ceremonies, and other client relationship activities.
- Draft client-facing communications and administer project completion questionnaires.
- Maintain the client contact database and flag opportunities for renewed outreach or repeat business.
- Coordinate logistics for client entertainment and appreciation events.
- Own or co-own recurring request for proposal/request for qualifications sections, including Firm Profile, Project Team, Relevant Experience, and Client List and References, keeping boilerplate content current between pursuits.
- Support proposal production through formatting, quality assurance, image sourcing, and coordination of input from project teams and principals against deadlines.
- Maintain and refresh the firm's portfolio and case-study library used across pursuits.
- Assist with populating pursuit records in the firm's customer relationship management and business development tracking systems.
- Maintain and update business development pipeline and tracking materials, including weekly pipeline reporting and the master tracker, with light recurring data entry.
- Support the Go/No-Go evaluation process by compiling client and opportunity research ahead of decision meetings.
- Coordinate logistics for networking events, client research briefs, and business development meeting scheduling.
- Assist with logistics and communications for the firm's Design for All pro bono program.
- Working knowledge of project accounting, architectural practices, and contracts.
- Familiarity with customer relationship management or business development tracking tools.
About the company
Michael Hsu Office of Architecture designs architecture and interiors in Austin with a focus on locally-engaged, neighborhood-oriented spaces. They work on a range of projects including mixed-use developments, commercial interiors, and residences, using a simple, edited design palette and unadorned natural materials chosen for their honesty and suitability. Their process emphasizes active collaboration among designers, clients, consultants, and craftsmen, and they tailor solutions to site and budget, often pursuing adaptive reuse and sustainable approaches to create spaces that are functional, engaging, and cost-effective. The firm differentiates itself through its strong local focus, emphasis on collaborative, site-responsive design, and commitment to sustainable, resourceful solutions. Its goal is to produce livable, community-centered environments that enhance Austin’s urban fabric.
Company Size
51-200
Company Stage
N/A
Total Funding
N/A
Headquarters
Austin, Texas
Founded
2005
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Simplify's Take
What believers are saying
- Sítio El Tropicano adds 315 rooms, 16,000 square feet events, and River Walk visibility.
- Design For All’s 2026 cycle closed in May, signaling repeatable nonprofit relationship generation.
- Recent wins span Clarksville Residence, Untitled Art Houston, and Westside Village adjacent work.
What critics are saying
- El Tropicano’s Fall 2026 reopening depends on Trestle Studio, Town Lake Company, and MHOA.
- Houston and Dallas growth still hinges on hospitality-heavy clients, especially restaurants and mixed-use developers.
- A Texas project slowdown would hit MHOA’s core fee base and stall expansion.
What makes Michael Hsu Office of Architecture unique
- Texas Society of Architects named MHOA 2026 Firm of the Year on July 16, 2026.
- MHOA blends hospitality, adaptive reuse, and interiors across Austin, Houston, and San Antonio.
- Design For All embeds community work into brand building, not just billable client delivery.
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Benefits
Hybrid Work Options
Company News
Michael Hsu Office of Architecture launches Design for All Partnership. Empowering Nonprofits through Design Michael Hsu Office of Architecture (MHOA), a Texas-based architecture and interior design firm, has announced its fifth annual Design for All Partnership. The firm is seeking a new nonprofit partner with a demonstrated need for design services in the Austin, Houston, and Dallas-Fort Worth areas. About the Partnership The Design for All initiative provides design solutions that are realistic and affordable, directly supporting an organization's mission. MHOA will work with the selected nonprofit partner to develop a project plan and deliverables tailored to their needs, providing $20,000 in pro bono design and consultation services. "Design For All has become one of the most meaningful ways we connect our work to the communities we care about," says Michael Hsu, founder and principal of MHOA. "Each partnership has shown us how thoughtful design can strengthen the impact of organizations already doing extraordinary work." Eligibility and Application To be eligible, organizations must be registered as 501(c)(3) and located within a 50-mile radius of Austin, Houston, and Dallas-Fort Worth. Master-planning projects should be 50 acres or smaller, and architecture and interior design projects should be 20,000 square feet or less. The application deadline is May 15 at 5 p.m. CT. Key Details - $20,000 in pro bono design services - Eligible areas: Austin, Houston, Dallas-Fort Worth - Deadline: May 15, 5 p.m. CT - Previous partners: Austin Angels, Central Texas Table of Grace, Abigail E. Keller Foundation, The Women's Home and Children's Assessment Center Image Courtesy: Virtual Builders Exchange
San Antonio's historic El Tropicano reopening in Fall '26. Trestle Studio is transforming one of San Antonio's more cherished River Walk landmarks. The iconic midcentury El Tropicano will reopen as Sítio El Tropicano in Fall 2026. Set along one of the city's storied corridors, the 1960s-era property is undergoing a transcendent rejuvenation that honors its heritage while ushering in a new era of cultural exchange. Trestle Studio has partnered with Texas-based Michael Hsu Office of Architecture to lead the design. This marks the duo's first collaboration in San Antonio, following their previous success with The Line Hotel in Austin. Michael Hsu is also known for celebrated regional hospitality projects including Hotel Ella and the South Congress Hotel. Elegant, upscale, and a touch whimsical, Sítio El Tropicano will weave design with nature, creating a lush botanic wonderland that reconnects locals and travelers with this significant stretch of the River Walk. "El Tropicano was the first hotel to grace the River Walk, and it quickly became one of the city's most magnetic social landmarks - a place of distinction where cultural tastemakers from around the world gathered and left their mark," said Jake Lamstein, Founder of Trestle Studio. "We chose Sítio because it offers distinction to the El Tropicano legacy, speaking to the idea of 'place,' not just geographically, but emotionally and culturally. Our ambition has been to honor what this hotel has meant to San Antonio while imagining what it can become for future generations. We are humbled to help usher in a new era for this storied destination, stewarding its legacy as it reclaims its place as an icon of the city." For more than six decades, the hotel has been an integral part of San Antonio's cultural evolution. The property opened in 1962 during a period of rapid growth; envisioned by developer R.E. Dumas Miller, it embodied the glamour and optimism of midcentury travel, welcoming motorists with "swank" amenities like a tropical pool deck, Flamingo Garden, and on-site retail mall. Its public spaces featured craftsmanship rare for the era, with mosaic tilework, designer textiles, and richly layered materials that underscored the hotel's modern sophistication. Over the decades, El Tropicano hosted restaurants, salons, creative businesses, and a convention center and private club - quickly becoming one of the city's most dynamic social hubs and reflecting the spirit of a city on the rise. Sítio El Tropicano will reintroduce the legacy property as an urban oasis. Inspired by the philosophies of avant-garde Brazilian landscape modernist Roberto Burle Marx, the hotel will integrate nature into every facet of its design. Boundaries will blur between hotel, home, shop, and spa to create a dynamic ecosystem of experience that feels both deeply San Antonian and refreshingly unexpected. The 315-room property will feature San Antonio's largest pool deck; three signature culinary and cocktail venues, created in collaboration with an acclaimed local restaurant group to be announced later this year; 16,000 square feet of meetings and events space; and a 5,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art spa and wellness retreat, all set along more than 400 feet of River Walk frontage. Art throughout the hotel will highlight Southwestern and Latin artists, drawing on influences such as Joan Miró, the Bauhaus, and Giorgio Morandi to create a vibrant, contemplative dialogue throughout the space. Designed for the community's leading voices and cultural torchbearers, a private membership program will welcome those who nurture San Antonio's creative spirit, cementing Sítio El Tropicano as a hub for purposeful connection. "El Tropicano has long been part of San Antonio's cultural rhythm, its mid-century character holding an optimism from another era," said Michael Hsu. "With Sítio, we're building a dialogue with that history: preserving what's meaningful while introducing richer textures, deeper landscape connections, and a lobby experience that will welcome guests as a true gathering place along the River Walk." The Sítio El Tropicano development team includes Trestle Studio; commercial real estate developer and investors Town Lake Company; Austin based Michael Hsu Office of Architecture; and San Antonio-based architects Studio8.
In a new partnership, Untitled Art will collaborate with the Austin-based firm Michael Hsu Office of Architecture to design a floor plan that elevates the experience for exhibitors and visitors alike.
The Michael Hsu Office of Architecture worked with Korman to design the new store.
Michael Hsu Office of Architecture worked with Intracorp on their 44 East Avenue project in the Rainey Street District to design the amenities and common areas.