Computational Designer

build; New York (NY); On-site; USD 90,000 - 130,000; Full time

Job summary

Build seeks a computational designer with a strong background in computational design, Python, and GIS. The role focuses on creating AI-driven systems for various design projects, influencing infrastructure and urban development. The ideal candidate has experience at top architecture firms or in building their own practice with computational workflows at its core.

If you have a clear vision of AI-native design and can operate in ambiguous environments, apply with your portfolio and highlight your best work.

Qualifications

• Strong computational design background with practical experience in building tools.
• Background at a top-tier architecture or engineering firm with a computational practice.
• Ability to work across design, data, and software simultaneously.

Responsibilities

• Build the computational design stack for delivery across various projects.
• Translate spatial problems into reproducible workflows.
• Work with experts to build AI-driven design systems.
• Define AI-native approaches to design to fundamentally change processes.
• Direct involvement in client work across 15+ countries.

Skills

Computational design background

Python

GIS

Parametric workflows

Geometric workflows

Job description

The role

At Build, the company is the product. Every output, every workflow, every client deliverable is an expression of what we believe AI and expert services can become when you remove the boundary between them. This role sits at the centre of that, applied to design.

We are looking for a computational designer who has likely trained at one of the world's leading architecture or engineering firms, or built their own practice with computational geometry at its core. Someone who looks at the built environment and sees systems, not drawings. Someone who wants to build the AI factory for design: a stack of workflows, tools and models that makes the full range of design work faster, smarter and compounding across every asset class.

The scope runs from critical infrastructure and data centres to industrial, office, urban and beyond. The ambition is to define what AI-native design means - not as a productivity improvement on existing practice, but as a genuinely new model for how design work gets done.

What you will do

• Build the computational design stack that powers Build's delivery across infrastructure, industrial, office and urban projects - from site selection and early massing through to technical due diligence and design automation.
• Translate spatial and site-specific problems into fast, reproducible workflows that compound over time and work across asset classes.
• Work directly with domain experts and engineers to identify the hardest design questions and build AI-driven systems that answer them.
• Define Build's AI-native approach to design - not just tooling on top of existing practice, but new systems that fundamentally change what is possible.
• Build the AI factory for design: a production system where outputs improve, workflows scale, and the full range of the built environment can be addressed faster than any traditional practice.
• Contribute directly to live client work across 15+ countries. There is no layer between you and the thing being built.

What we are looking for

• Strong computational design background: Python, GIS, parametric and geometric workflows. You have built tools, not just used them.
• Likely background at a top-tier architecture or engineering firm with a serious computational practice, or you founded your own with this at its centre.
• You understand how the built environment works across scales - from a single building to a master plan to a piece of critical infrastructure. You know the difference between a design decision and a delivery decision.
• Comfortable working across design, data and software in the same week without waiting for a handoff.
• A genuine point of view on what AI-native design means. Not a feature set. A position.
• High executive function. You can operate at pace in ambiguous conditions and hold a high bar without being told to.

Relevant backgrounds include computational design, architectural technology, geospatial engineering, parametric design, spatial computing.

The scope of this role is precise and the bar is extraordinarily high. If that is you, please apply or reach out to james at build.inc with a portfolio and/or your best work.