Lead Project Architect for Factory-Built Homes

Clever Builds; San Diego (CA); On-site; USD 90,000 - 130,000; Full time

Job summary

Clever is a California HCD-licensed factory-built housing manufacturer. We design and build park model RVs, ADUs, and modular homes, with production in Ensenada, Baja California, just south of San Diego. Our units ship to sites across the U.S., which means every project lands in a different jurisdiction, under a different code cycle, in front of a different plan checker.

You own the permit. Concept design through submittal and approval, for a portfolio of projects running at the same time.

Qualifications

• Professional degree in architecture or equivalent experience, plus 5+ years producing permit sets.
• Strong Revit — modeling, sheet setup, families, annotation, and keeping a model clean.
• Working knowledge of residential MEP — enough to lay it out, coordinate it, and catch conflicts before a plan checker does.
• A track record running many concurrent projects on long timelines without dropping any of them.
• Direct client communication — you can explain a code constraint to a homeowner without jargon and without condescension.
• Willingness to learn factory-built housing regulation fast and fluently.
• Small-team, get-it-done attitude. No layers or handoffs to a department that doesn't exist.
• Willingness to travel to the factory in Ensenada and occasionally to project sites.

Responsibilities

• Take projects from concept through permit submittal and approval, including plan check comments and resubmittals.
• Produce drawings yourself in Revit — floor plans, elevations, sections, details, schedules — and direct the drafting team on the rest.
• Coordinate with the factory team in Ensenada to turn design intent into working drawings, and absorb their constructability feedback back into the model.
• Act as the primary design contact for customers: kickoff, options, revisions, and honest expectation-setting on timeline.
• Route each project down the right approval path — HCD insignia (factory-built housing / commercial modular), ANSI A119.5 park model, or local building department for foundations, utilities, and site work.
• Coordinate residential MEP: DWV and supply layout, panel schedules and circuiting, load calcs, HVAC sizing and duct routing.
• Manage Title 24 energy compliance and coordinate structural, civil, and energy consultants.
• Keep up to 30 active projects moving on permit timelines that can stretch 6–18 months, and keep every customer informed along the way.
• Build and maintain our Revit families, templates, and standard detail library so each repeat of a product gets faster than the last.

Skills

Revit proficiency

Permit set production

Client communication

Concurrently manage projects

Factory coordination

Travel readiness

Small-team mindset

Education

Architecture degree or equivalent experience

Tools

Revit

AutoCAD

Bluebeam

Enscape

Twinmotion

Job description

Clever is a California HCD-licensed factory-built housing manufacturer. We design and build park model RVs, ADUs, and modular homes, with production in Ensenada, Baja California, just south of San Diego. Our units ship to sites across the U.S., which means every project lands in a different jurisdiction, under a different code cycle, in front of a different plan checker.

You own the permit. Concept design through submittal and approval, for a portfolio of projects running at the same time.