Design Coordinator

Acton-Adu; Campbell (CA); Hybrid; USD 70,000 - 95,000; Full time

Job summary

Acton ADU is seeking a Design Coordinator in California to be the face of the design team for homeowners, guiding finish selections and translating floor plans into build-ready designs. You will manage design coordination and communications across Sales, Design, Estimating, and Production, ensuring a smooth handoff to construction.

The role requires exceptional emotional intelligence, proactive communication, and a passion for AI-driven process improvements in a fast-growing design-build firm.

Qualifications

• Ten-out-of-ten emotional intelligence: a genuine ability to read customers, build trust quickly, and turn a frustrated homeowner into a confident one.
• Exceptional reliability: prompt, consistent, and someone who always follows through on what you say you will do.
• A talent for under-promising and over-delivering, and the self-awareness to know your own bandwidth
• The ability to manage large volumes of detail and multiple concurrent projects without letting anything slip

Responsibilities

• Serve as the first point of contact from the design team after a customer signs, leading handoff meetings and explaining the design process, schedule, and next steps
• Guide homeowners through interior and exterior finish selections for build-ready projects, and custom design interior packages for fully custom builds
• Maintain proactive, at-minimum-weekly communication with every active customer, more often during high-touch windows like early onboarding and survey scheduling, so no one is ever left wondering where their project stands. No surprises
• Set clear decision deadlines, send timely reminders, and be transparent about what is at risk if a decision is delayed
• Build and maintain a customer-facing visual design presentation and an internal Design Coordination Summary (FFE) spreadsheet capturing every selection and technical detail for Production
• Build itemized material order carts (Build.com/Ferguson, Wayfair, etc.) using correct model numbers and finishes, and hand off cleanly to Project Management
• Run a weekly check-in with Project Management and a mid-week alignment meeting with the broader PM team to keep the design-to-production handoff smooth
• Coordinate directly with survey consultants, electrical consultants, plumbing consultants, cabinet vendors, and other suppliers on timelines, quotes, and specs
• Own and continually improve the tools that make this role scale: reusable templates, email workflows, the Acton Selections Finish Catalog, and more
• Bring fresh ideas for how AI and new technology can make the design-to-build process faster, smarter, and better for our customers

Skills

Emotional intelligence

Reliability

Under-promising/over-delivering

Detail management

Interior design

Tools

Revit

BlueBeam

BuilderTrend

Job description

Design Coordinator

Acton ADU | The Design Team | California | Hybrid/Remote (with ongoing collaboration)

Build. Deliver. Create.

About Acton ADU

Acton ADU is a design-build company that has spent more than 35 years helping California homeowners get more from the properties they love. We build ADUs that homeowners are proud to call home, and proud to have built. We are growing across California with purpose, and we are looking for someone who wants to grow with us.

We operate on one promise: no surprises. Thoughtful procedures and pride in quality make that promise real, on every project, for every homeowner.

The Role

We are looking for an exceptional Design Coordinator: someone who becomes the face of the design team for our customers and makes the entire experience feel effortless, even when the underlying work is anything but simple.

This role wears three hats. You are the customer-facing design liaison who guides homeowners through every finish and fixture decision. You are the lead interior designer who translates a locked floor plan into a beautiful, buildable design package. And you are the design-side project coordinator who keeps Sales, Design, Estimating, and Production aligned and moving.

Above all, this role demands exceptional emotional intelligence. You will be the primary point of contact for customers once their floor plan is finalized, and you will shepherd them through every decision, every deadline, and every occasional bump in the road until their project is ready for construction. When a customer is confused or frustrated, you know how to listen, clarify, and guide them to a place of confidence and excitement. This is not a secondary skill here. It is the most important one.

What You'll Do

• Serve as the first point of contact from the design team after a customer signs, leading handoff meetings and explaining the design process, schedule, and next steps
• Guide homeowners through interior and exterior finish selections for build-ready projects, and custom design interior packages for fully custom builds
• Maintain proactive, at-minimum-weekly communication with every active customer, more often during high-touch windows like early onboarding and survey scheduling, so no one is ever left wondering where their project stands. No surprises
• Set clear decision deadlines, send timely reminders, and be transparent about what is at risk if a decision is delayed
• Build and maintain a customer-facing visual design presentation and an internal Design Coordination Summary (FFE) spreadsheet capturing every selection and technical detail for Production
• Build itemized material order carts (Build.com/Ferguson, Wayfair, etc.) using correct model numbers and finishes, and hand off cleanly to Project Management
• Run a weekly check-in with Project Management and a mid-week alignment meeting with the broader PM team to keep the design-to-production handoff smooth
• Coordinate directly with survey consultants, electrical consultants, plumbing consultants, cabinet vendors, and other suppliers on timelines, quotes, and specs
• Own and continually improve the tools that make this role scale: reusable templates, email workflows, the Acton Selections Finish Catalog, and more
• Bring fresh ideas for how AI and new technology can make the design-to-build process faster, smarter, and better for our customers

How We Work

Our culture is built on eight core behaviors. Nobody is perfect at all of them. But if you recognize yourself in most of these, we should talk.

• Make a positive impact. Every project puts a family in a home. The work matters, and we treat it that way.
• Empower each other. We are a distributed team. Listen first, come prepared, and share what you know.
• Encourage innovation. Change is healthy. If you are 80% sure, go for it.
• Measure what's important. We track our work in software, not in our heads.
• Make measurable progress. Set deadlines. Close loops. End every conversation with who does what by when.
• Be candid. Give honest, respectful feedback, and lead with your intentions.
• Be a customer advocate. We see every project through the homeowner's eyes.
• Help people thrive. We succeed together. Reach out, offer help, and build each other up.

What You Bring

People Skills That Make the Difference: The Most Important Qualification for This Role

• Ten-out-of-ten emotional intelligence: a genuine ability to read customers, build trust quickly, and turn a frustrated homeowner into a confident one
• Exceptional reliability: prompt, consistent, and someone who always follows through on what you say you will do
• A talent for under-promising and over-delivering, and the self-awareness to know your own bandwidth
• The ability to manage large volumes of detail and multiple concurrent projects without letting anything slip

Design & Technical Expertise

• Strong interior design skills, with a sharp eye for materials, finishes, and cost-conscious selection
• Proficiency in Revit
• Regular, confident use of BlueBeam and other graphics-based programs
• Comfortable and adaptable with new software. Familiarity with BuilderTrend is a nice-to-have

Project Management and How You Work

• Highly organized, with the ability to track granular selections and technical details across many active projects at once
• A collaborative, team-first mindset paired with a scrappy, growth-oriented drive to expand the role and make things better
• Someone who brings solutions, not problems, to every conversation
• Genuinely excited about AI and technology, and eager to bring new tools into the role as they become available
• Positive energy that lifts the people around you: someone who turns toward solutions, not setbacks, in every scenario

Who You Are

• Someone who wants to grow into more responsibility as the company scales, and who is excited to help build a design team from the ground up
• A proactive communicator who never waits to be asked for a status update
• Excited to help build a company that is expanding across California with purpose

Why Acton ADU

This is a rare opportunity to join a company at an inflection point, with real room to grow as we expand across California. We build ADUs that homeowners are proud to call home, and we build careers the same way: with intention, candor, and quality. If you love guiding people through big decisions, take real pride in getting the details right, and bring energy to every room you are in, we want to hear from you.