Architectural Designer | 5+ Years’ Experience

Archinect; Cambridge (MA); On-site; USD 90,000 - 130,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Employee ownership

Mentoring

Continuing education

Job summary

PCA is seeking an Architectural Designer with 5+ years of experience to join our collaborative architecture, interiors and planning practice in Cambridge, MA.

You'll contribute from early ideas and design exploration through documentation and implementation, working alongside designers, project managers and principals on a wide range of projects.

Licensure is not required, and we’ll help you grow toward licensure while advancing your design career at PCA.

Qualifications

• 5+ years of professional architectural experience.
• Strong design thinking with a growing technical foundation.
• Proficient in Revit and SketchUp; able to communicate ideas visually.
• Versatile across different project types, scales and phases.
• Licensure not required; support for licensure progression.

Responsibilities

• Collaborate with designers, PMs and principals on a wide range of projects.
• Contribute from early ideas and design exploration through documentation and implementation.
• Balance big-picture design thinking with attention to detail.
• Bring energy, curiosity and commitment to sustainable design.

Skills

Architectural design

Team collaboration

Documentation

Design thinking

Tools

Revit

SketchUp

Job description

The Role

PCA is looking for an Architectural Designer with 5+ years of experience to join our collaborative architecture, interiors and planning practice.

At this point in your career, you’ve built a strong foundation and are ready for more: more responsibility, more opportunity to contribute to design, and more chances to shape how a project comes together. At PCA, you’ll work alongside designers, project managers and principals on a wide range of projects, contributing from early ideas and design exploration through documentation and implementation.

We’re looking for someone who brings creativity and curiosity to the work, understands how buildings come together, communicates well, and wants to keep growing as a designer and architect.

What We’re Looking For

You’ll be a good fit if you:

• Have 5+ years of professional architectural experience
• Bring strong design thinking along with a growing technical foundation
• Are proficient in Revit and SketchUp and comfortable communicating ideas visually
• Are versatile and enjoy working across different project types, scales and phases
• Can move between big-picture design thinking and the details required to make it real
• Care about sustainable design and are interested in finding smarter, more responsible ways to create places
• Enjoy collaborating, contributing ideas and being part of a team
• Bring positive energy to the work and are someone others enjoy working with
• Are curious, motivated and passionate about something. We want people to bring their interests, ideas and passions to PCA
• Care about the experience of the people who will ultimately live in, work in and use the places we design

Experience across multiple phases of design and documentation is important. Licensure is not required, and if becoming licensed is one of your goals, we want to help you get there.

What Makes PCA Different

Grow here.

Mentoring is part of how PCA works. Everyone in the firm has a mentor, from our newest designers to our principals, with regular conversations focused on where you want to grow and how we can help you get there. Weekly design shares, continuing education and support for licensure create even more opportunities to learn.

Bring what you care about.

PCA is full of people who are passionate about design, sustainability, technology, community, placemaking and plenty of things beyond architecture. We want you to bring your own interests and energy to the firm. Those passions make our work, and our culture, better.

Have a voice.

We’re an employee‑owned firm where people at every level are encouraged to contribute ideas, take initiative and help shape where PCA goes next. You’ll work closely with experienced designers and firm leaders, not several layers away from them. Employee ownership also means having a financial stake in the firm. As you vest in the ESOP, you become a beneficiary of the ESOP Trust, with your share distributed to you when you leave PCA.

Keep it interesting.

Our projects span residential, mixed‑use, retail, hospitality, adaptive reuse, academic environments and public realm. That variety creates opportunities to stretch, learn and approach new problems in new ways. The work changes, but the goal is consistent: create places with identity, character and purpose that make a real difference in how people experience them.

About PCA

We create, through architecture, interior design and planning, the kinds of environments where people can live their best lives.

Founded in 1982, PCA is a Greater Boston design firm of 55+ people with a reputation for thoughtful, creative work and long‑standing client relationships. We combine design thinking, technical expertise and an understanding of how places actually work to create environments that are both poetic and practical.

Today, PCA is employee‑owned, giving each of us a shared stake in the firm we are building together. Our size allows us to bring meaningful resources and a deep range of experience to our work while staying connected to our projects, our clients and one another.

People are at the heart of our practice: the people we design for and the people we design with. We believe different backgrounds, perspectives and experiences make our work and our firm stronger, and we’re looking for people who want to contribute to both.