Project Architect (Licensed)

About the role

450 Architects is a San Francisco-based architecture design studio guided by an ethos of sustainability and community engagement, designing civic, educational, and residential buildings.

Responsibilities

• Lead projects across all phases—schematic design, design development, construction documents, and construction administration.
• Produce and oversee complete drawing sets in Revit; detail assemblies, materials, and systems.
• Cook up the architectural and engineering team and resolve conflicts in the documents.
• Accurately interpret and design to the California Building Code—occupancy classifications, fire and life-safety, egress, and accessibility.
• Secure entitlements and carry documents through plan check and permitting with local jurisdictions and AHJs, whose requirements vary city to city across the Bay Area.
• Run client and stakeholder meetings, and communicate clearly with the project team, agencies, and the community.
• Manage construction administration—RFIs, submittals, site visits, and field reports—while protecting design intent.
• Manage the project schedule and budget, and flag issues early.

Requirements

• Licensed Architect (California license strongly preferred; we’ll consider candidates licensed elsewhere who can obtain CA licensure).
• 7+ years of professional experience, including completed projects taken from design through construction administration.
• Strong Revit skills (5+ years preferred) and current documentation experience.
• Thorough knowledge of the California Building Code and of the local municipal regulations and approval processes that differ by jurisdiction.
• Strong technical detailing and the ability to produce a complete, coordinated drawing set.
• A clear communicator who can lead meetings and represent the firm to clients and agencies.
• Based in the San Francisco Bay Area, able to work in person at our San Francisco studio and attend local job sites.

Preferred

• LEED accreditation, Passive House / PHPP, or other high-performance and sustainable design experience.
• Experience with civic, educational, or residential projects.
• DSA review and close-out experience (relevant to our public and educational work).
• 10+ years of experience.
• Marin County familiarity or proximity (the firm has ongoing Marin work).
• AutoCAD.

Pay

$115,000–$135,000 per year, depending on experience.

Schedule

Flexible daily scheduling—latitude on start and end times—with in-office presence for team coordination and site visits, and occasional extended hours near project deadlines.

Benefits

• Three weeks paid vacation, plus standard paid holidays.
• Medical insurance.
• 401(k) with a safe-harbor employer contribution.
• $2,000 annual learning and professional development stipend.

How to Apply

Candidates invited to interview may be asked to walk through completed drawing sets or built work, and to describe a project where they resolved a difficult code, agency, client, or construction issue.