Design Architect in Greenville

Energy Jobline ZR; Greenville (SC); Hybrid; USD 90,000 - 150,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Flex-time

Matching IRA contribution

HSA contribution

Professional development

Job summary

Johnston Design Group in Greenville, SC seeks a licensed architect with 8+ years of experience to lead design across multiple projects. The role blends studio leadership with hands-on project work, including coordination with project architects, managers, and consultants.

The candidate will champion restorative design strategies, mentor team members, and present to clients and city boards, with hybrid/remote work options.

Qualifications

• Licensed architect in the U.S. with ability to obtain SC registration (NCARB a plus).
• 8+ years of professional architecture experience with demonstrated design leadership.
• Experience in urban mixed-use and multifamily projects.
• Commitment to sustainable/restorative design within budgets and schedules.
• Strong collaboration, critique, and leadership without owning every decision.

Responsibilities

• Lead and contribute to design on multiple concurrent projects with project teams.
• Develop site-responsive concepts through schematic design and design development.
• Lead design on urban mixed-use and multifamily work, including massing and ground-floor activation.
• Present design work to clients and review boards and coordinate with interior design and consultants.
• Serve as full project architect on select projects from sketch to construction.

Skills

Licensed architect

8+ years experience

Urban mixed-use design

Sustainable/restorative design

Collaboration & mentoring

Communication

Revit

SketchUp

AI visualization tools

Education

Master of Architecture

NCARB Certificate a plus

Tools

Revit

SketchUp

AI rendering tools

Job description

Job DescriptionJob Description

Johnston Design Group · Greenville, SC · In studio, hybrid, or fully remote · Full time · Licensed architect, 8+ years

Johnston Design Group is a boutique architecture firm in Greenville, South Carolina — large enough to take on major projects, small enough that every person here shapes the work. We create built environments that enhance the well-being of the people who use them, achieve economy through conservation, and honor the natural resources of every site. That's what we mean by restorative design: wellness, economy, and ecology, held in balance.

We design in different shades of green. We have no house style and no agenda to push on clients. Instead, we lay out the costs and benefits of each strategy and help clients choose the shade that's right for them - a realistic, economically viable approach to environmental stewardship that works within the bounds of practical project delivery. Our portfolio spans dwelling, workplace, community, market, cultural, and historic work, from custom mountain and lake homes to urban mixed-use and multifamily projects that are reshaping downtown Greenville.

We're now looking for a design-focused, licensed architect to help lead the design phase across our studio.

The role

This is a design leadership role built for collaboration. As Design Architect, you'll partner with our project architects and project managers during the design phases of multiple projects at once - shaping concepts, sharpening schematic and design development work, and making sure each project carries a clear, place-based idea all the way into documents. Alongside that studio-wide design role, you'll carry a small load of your own projects as full project architect, from first sketch through construction.

You’ll be the person who raises the design bar across the studio without taking the pencil out of anyone's hand. That takes as much listening, mentoring, and diplomacy as it does design talent.

What you'll do

• - Lead and contribute to design on several concurrent projects, working side by side with the project architect and project manager on each
• - Develop site-responsive concepts and carry them through schematic design and design development, with an eye on how they'll be built and what they'll cost
• - Lead design on urban mixed-use and multifamily work - massing, unit planning, ground-floor activation, and how a building meets the street and the neighborhood
• - Bring restorative design strategies to every project - daylight, passive performance, material health, water, and habitat - and frame them for clients in terms of cost, benefit, and long-term value
• - Run design reviews and charrettes that build consensus rather than override it
• - Present design work to clients, owners, developers, and city design review boards
• - Coordinate with our interior design studio and with consultants so architecture and interiors develop as one idea
• - Serve as full project architect on a small number of your own projects, including documents and construction-phase services
• - Help shape JDG's design standards and our growing use of AI-assisted design and visualization tools

What you bring

Required

• - Licensed architect in any U.S. jurisdiction, with the ability to obtain South Carolina registration (NCARB Certificate a plus)
• - 8+ years of professional experience in architecture, with a portfolio that shows real design leadership
• - Demonstrated design experience in urban mixed-use and multifamily projects
• - A genuine commitment to sustainable and restorative design, paired with a practical, business-minded approach to implementing it on real budgets and schedules
• - Strong collaboration skills: you give and receive critique well, build trust quickly, and can lead design without needing to own every decision
• - Clear, confident communication - in sketches, in models, in writing, and in the room with clients
• - Working fluency in current design and documentation tools (we use Revit and SketchUp, plus a growing set of AI rendering and visualization tools)
• - Reliable availability Monday through Friday, 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Eastern Time
• - Master of Architecture or related graduate degree
• - Custom residential design experience
• - LEED AP, Passive House, WELL, Living Building Challenge, or similar credentials
• - Experience presenting to municipal design review boards or planning commissions
• - Curiosity about AI-assisted design workflows

  If you meet most of these but not every one, we'd still like to hear from you.

  How and where you'll work

  This position can be in studio at our Greenville office, hybrid, or fully remote. If you're a digital nomad, that can work here too - what matters is the quality of your work and your presence during core hours, 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Eastern, for collaboration with the studio. Remote team members should have reliable high-speed internet and expect occasional travel to Greenville and project sites as projects require.

  Compensation and benefits

  Salary range based on experience and portfolio.

  Benefits include flex-time, a matching IRA contribution, HSA contribution, [health coverage], and support for professional development, licensure, and continuing education.

  Johnston Design Group is an Equal Opportunity Employer. Our employment practices apply without regard to , , , creed, , , , , , , veteran status, marital status, or parental status, including , childbirth, or related medical conditions.