Architectural Designer

Northern California Chapter; San Francisco (CA); Hybrid; USD 60,000 - 85,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Comprehensive medical, vision, and dental plans

Employer-paid life and disability insurance

401(k) retirement plan with company match

Competitive PTO and robust holiday schedule

Job summary

KOMPAN US is looking for an Architectural Designer to create engaging playground and fitness environments in San Francisco, California. This role requires collaboration with internal teams and external partners, emphasizing user experience and design intent.

The ideal candidate will have a strong background in architectural design, including expertise in Autocad, Rhino, and Revit, along with at least 5 years of relevant experience. KOMPAN offers a comprehensive benefits package, including medical plans and a 401(k) retirement plan.

Qualifications

• Minimum 5 years of experience in relevant design fields.
• Broad experience applying code and technical constraints.
• Ability to manage multiple projects simultaneously.

Responsibilities

• Create shop drawings and site plans compliant with necessary codes.
• Communicate and collaborate with Sales and Product Design teams.
• Independently manage multiple projects while meeting client specifications.

Skills

Expertise in Autocad

Experience using 3dsmax

Strong communication and organizational skills

Ability to work independently and in a team

Education

Bachelor's degree in landscape architecture or related field

Tools

Autocad

Rhino

Revit

Job description

KOMPAN US is seeking an Architectural Designer to shape engaging fitness and playground environments for communities across North America. This role focuses on developing thoughtful, customized designs that translate client goals into inspiring solutions, working closely with internal teams and external partners throughout the design process.

Designers in this role create imaginative play and fitness experiences through product selection, customization, spatial composition, landscape integration, and surfacing strategies. Each project is approached with a strong emphasis on user experience and design intent, supporting KOMPAN’s three tenets of play: Wow, Stay, and Develop.

This position collaborates closely with Pre-Sales Coordination, Project Coordination, Install, and Sales teams, serving as a design partner throughout the lifecycle of a project. The Architectural Designer plays a key role in supporting client conversations, refining concepts, and ensuring design solutions align with both vision and feasibility.

As a global leader with a focus on people, passion, progress, and performance, KOMPAN’s mission is to create healthier and happier communities by delivering best-in-class play and fitness solutions. We’re KOMPAN. Let’s play.

Who We Are

For more than 50 years, KOMPAN has researched, designed, and built innovative and imaginative commercial playground equipment and outdoor fitness sites that captivate all ages and abilities. In collaboration with our global headquarters in Denmark, KOMPAN designs, manufactures, and installs more than 1,000 sites a month across 90 different countries. Our North American headquarters, located in Austin, Texas, supports field sales around the U.S. and Canada.

At KOMPAN, we take pride in our commitment to the global environment. We exceed sustainability efforts and make it possible to lower carbon emissions by utilizing recycled ocean waste, consumer-recycled plastics, and textile wastes to create playgrounds that are born green or made green.

Leaders at KOMPAN are open, informal, and non-hierarchical. They are eager to delegate, involve, inspire, and energize their teams and celebrate results. KOMPAN leaders take pride in developing their people and building competencies and capabilities together.

What You’ll Do

• Create shop drawings/site plans detailing layout, demolition, permitting, and installation requirements that are compliant to ASTM, CPSC, ADA, or CSA.
• Use equipment selection, customization, juxtaposition, landscape architecture, and surfacing design to tell stories and build engaging experiences.
• Communicate and collaborate with Sales Representatives, Quoting, and Installation departments as well as Product Designers at home office to design projects to client specifications on time and on budget from schematic design to construction administration.
• Work within a regional group of designers to coordinate and delegate tasks and project responsibilities.
• Assess and edit preliminary project layouts for code compliance.
• Create visually compelling presentations that tell a story about proposed design solutions.
• Regularly present design solutions to various stakeholder groups, clients, and end users.
• Independently manage multiple projects simultaneously, specializing in the unique requirements of your local market.

What You’ll Need

• Expertise in Autocad, Rhino and Revit.
• Experience using 3dsmax or similar modeling software as well as Enscape or similar rendering plug‑ins.
• A bachelor’s degree or greater in an applicable field including landscape architecture, interior design, architectural design, etc.
• Minimum 5 years of experience in landscape architecture, landscape design, architectural design, playground design, amusement park design, waterpark design, etc. is preferred.
• Broad experience applying code and technical constraints to design solutions.
• Familiarity with reading construction sets and designing in topographically challenging environments.
• Ability to work effectively, both independently and in a team environment.
• Strong communication and organizational skills with the ability to manage multiple projects at once.
• An online portfolio that demonstrates strong design and visualization skills.
• Be able to develop and communicate a project design narrative through compelling presentations.
• Experience working with clients and presenting to a wide array of stakeholder groups.
• Ability to synthesize critique in challenging contexts to steer a project team and stakeholders towards constructive and beneficial solutions.
• Passion for creating amazing play & fitness environments.

Perks and Benefits

• Comprehensive medical, vision, and dental plans.
• Employer-paid life and disability insurance.
• 401(k) retirement plan with company match.
• Competitive PTO and robust holiday schedule.

Travel Requirements

Travel up to 10% of the time.

Equal Employment Opportunity Statement

KOMPAN is an Equal Employment Opportunity and Affi­mediate Action Employer. We do not discriminate based upon race, religion, color, national origin, gender, age, veteran status, or any other basis covered by appropriate law. We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all our employees. All employment is based on qualifications, merit, and business needs.