Residential Design & Preconstruction Specialist

Lightspeed; Chicago (IL); Hybrid; USD 40,000 - 68,000; Part time

Job summary

Lightspeed Build Technologies is seeking a Residential Design & Preconstruction Specialist to own home designs from initial sketches through production-ready files. You will drive Revit modeling for robotic fabrication, ensuring buildability and cost accuracy, with a path from 10–20 hours per week toward full-time as volumes increase.

The role emphasizes accurate design development, precise cost estimates, and clear communication with customers to secure buy-in and optimize robotic construction

Qualifications

• Experience modeling residential buildings in Revit to construction-doc level.
• Strong knowledge of US wood-frame construction and familiarity with IRC/NEC.
• Construction estimating experience with real project costs (materials, labor, region).
• Comfort in presenting designs to clients and handling feedback.
• Disciplined modeling habits and reliable delivery against milestones.

Responsibilities

• Take designs from rough customer layouts through review cycles to approved final plans; produce renderings at each stage to secure buy-in.
• Build and maintain a templated library of plan sets for starting projects.
• Produce complete, construction-ready Revit models — architectural, wood framing, and MEP per NEC; organized for IFC export and data extraction.
• Prepare files (BTLx, IFC) for engineering and production teams; ensure designs are buildable by our robotic system.
• Review prospects' plans and provide refinements and cost estimates using our robotic-construction cost model.

Skills

Revit modeling

Construction estimating

Client-facing

US wood-frame construction

IFC export

Tools

hsbCAD

StrucSoft MWF

SEMA

RSMeans

IFC validation

Job description

About LightSpeed

LightSpeed Build Technologies is revolutionizing the construction industry through AI-powered robotics. Our flagship systems—BRUTE for automated wall panel manufacturing and DEX for on-site collaborative construction—are addressing the global housing crisis by delivering unprecedented speed, precision, and affordability in homebuilding.

About LightSpeed

LightSpeed Build Technologies is revolutionizing the construction industry through AI-powered robotics. Our flagship systems—BRUTE for automated wall panel manufacturing and DEX for on-site collaborative construction—are addressing the global housing crisis by delivering unprecedented speed, precision, and affordability in homebuilding.

Residential Design & Preconstruction Specialist

Lightspeed Build Technologies

• Part-time / fractional (10–20 hrs per week)


• Path to full-time

About The Role

We design and prefabricate custom residential homes using robotic construction. Our Revit models drive robotic fabrication downstream, so design quality and buildability directly determine cost and speed. We're hiring one person to own home designs from first sketch to production-ready files — and to own the numbers that go with them. Starting at 10–20 hours per week, growing with project volume; we expect this to become a full-time role for the right person.

What you'll do

Design development

• Take designs from rough customer layouts through review cycles to approved final plans, producing renderings at each stage to secure buy-in.


• Build and maintain a templated library of 5–10 plan sets customers can use to start projects.


• Produce complete, construction-ready Revit models — architectural, wood structural framing per IRC prescriptive requirements, and MEP rough-in per NEC — kept clean and consistently structured (naming, families, levels) for IFC export and downstream data extraction.

Production handoff

• Prepare files (BTLx, IFC) for our engineering and production teams; ensure every design is buildable by our robotic construction system.

Preconstruction & estimating

• Review prospects' existing plans (single-family and multi-family) and recommend refinements for robotic construction.


• Produce pricing breakdowns — wall construction, MEP rough-in, and other build costs — and preliminary bids, using industry cost data (e.g., RSMeans) adjusted for project geography.


• Apply our robotic-construction cost model (we provide it) to translate traditional material-and-labor costs into our build cost, including remaining on-site labor; build BOMs and support cost models alongside our COO.

Design reviews with customers

• Join plan reviews with prospects and customers alongside our team as the design and pricing expert — walk through what it would cost to build their plan our way vs. traditionally, and why. This is a technical role, not a sales role.

What you'll need

• Demonstrated experience modeling residential buildings in Revit to construction-document level, including structural framing and MEP — not just architectural shells.


• Strong practical knowledge of US wood-frame construction and working familiarity with IRC and NEC; a general grasp of what building engineering does and doesn't allow.


• Construction estimating experience with real project costs — materials, labor, and regional variation.


• Comfort in customer-facing settings: presenting designs, explaining tradeoffs, handling feedback.


• Disciplined modeling habits and reliable delivery against firm milestones.

Nice to have

• Rendering/visualization tools


• prefab or panelized construction workflows


• BTLx or framing tools (hsbCAD, StrucSoft MWF, SEMA)


• RSMeans or similar cost databases


• IFC export validation


• multi-family experience


• ability to work to a documented modeling standard/template we provide

Employment Relationship

This position is at-will, meaning either you or the Company may terminate employment at any time, with or without cause or notice.

Equal Opportunity

LightSpeed Build Technologies is an equal opportunity employer committed to building a diverse and inclusive workplace. We welcome candidates from all backgrounds and experiences.