Hiring kit

Architect job description template

An Architect job description you can paste into LinkedIn, Indeed or your careers page today, plus official US pay data, ten interview questions and a practical skills test. Everything is free to read and copy on this page.

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By Martina ObregónHead of Success

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Architect job description

Replace the highlighted fields in brackets with your details, then paste it into your job board or careers page. The copy button gives you plain text with bullets that survive any editor.

Architect

Location: [City, State] ([on site, hybrid or remote])
Employment type: [Full time]

About [Firm name]

[Two or three sentences about your firm: the kind of projects you design, where your team is based and how you work.]

About the role

The Architect leads design and documentation on our [project types], from the first client meeting through construction. You will develop design options, turn them into coordinated construction documents with our engineers and consultants, and represent the firm with clients, contractors and building officials. [This role requires an architecture license in [State], or a clear plan to obtain one.]

What you will do

Meet with clients to define program, budget and schedule, and translate them into design options.
Develop schematic design and design development packages, with plans, sections, elevations and 3D views for client review.
Prepare construction documents and specifications, and coordinate them with structural, MEP and civil consultants.
Research the zoning, building code and accessibility requirements for each project and document how the design complies.
Give early cost and schedule input with the project team, and flag scope that puts the budget at risk.
Direct the designers and drafters who prepare drawings, and review their work before it is issued.
Prepare permit submittals and respond to plan review comments.
Answer RFIs, review submittals and shop drawings, and visit the site to confirm the work follows the documents.
Present design work to clients, community boards and review agencies.
Contribute to proposals and presentations for new work.

What you bring

[Professional degree in architecture from an accredited program, or the education your state board accepts.]
[Architecture license in [State], or licensed in another state with a plan to get licensed here.]
[5] or more years in an architecture firm, including construction documents and construction administration.
Working knowledge of the International Building Code, the ADA Standards for Accessible Design and local zoning, and how they shape a design.
Strong Revit skills and the ability to review a drawing set for coordination and completeness.
Clear communication with clients, consultants and contractors, in writing and in person.
Ability to manage your own deadlines across [two or three] projects at once.

Nice to have

Experience on [multifamily, healthcare, education or your sector] projects.
LEED AP or a similar sustainability credential.
Visualization with Enscape, Lumion or Twinmotion.
Specification writing experience.

Software

Revit, AutoCAD, SketchUp or Rhino, Enscape, Bluebeam Revu, Microsoft 365

Pay and benefits

[Pay range, for example $XX,000 to $XX,000 per year.] [Benefits: health insurance, retirement plan, paid time off, continuing education.]

How to apply

Send your resume and a portfolio with two or three built or fully documented projects, noting your role on each, to [email or application link].

[Firm name] is an equal opportunity employer.

US pay data

What an Architect earns in the US

Annual wages for Architects, Except Landscape and Naval, United States, May 2025. Source: BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics.

Official BLS category: Architects, Except Landscape and Naval.

Annual wages by percentile for Architects, Except Landscape and Naval, May 2025
Percentile	Annual wage
10th percentile	$62,300
25th percentile	$77,960
Median	$99,280
75th percentile	$126,550
90th percentile	$161,420
Average (mean)	$106,260

BLS counts 106,770 jobs in this category nationwide, and half of them pay between $77,960 and $126,550. Use the percentiles to set the range you post, nearer the 25th for a junior hire and nearer the 75th for someone who will lead, keeping in mind the note above on how closely this category matches the role. For medians by state, see the architect salary guide, and to see what a hire costs once benefits, recruiting and an empty desk are added, run the hiring cost calculator.

Interview

Architect interview questions

Ten questions in three groups. Under each one, what a strong answer covers, so anyone on your team can run the interview and compare candidates on the same terms.

Technical

Pick a project from your portfolio and walk me from the first client meeting to the permit set.
What a strong answer covers: Explains the decisions and tradeoffs in each phase, names who they coordinated with and what changed along the way, and is clear about their own role versus the team's.
How do you check that a design complies with code before construction documents start?
What a strong answer covers: Describes an early code analysis (occupancy, construction type, egress, accessibility) kept as a living document and revisited every time the design changes.
A client asks for a change late in design development that breaks the budget. What do you do?
What a strong answer covers: Quantifies the impact with the team, offers options with their cost and schedule consequences, and gets the client's decision in writing before changing the documents.
What do you look for when you review a drawing set before it is issued?
What a strong answer covers: Checks coordination between disciplines, the sheet index and references, dimensions and notes, and details against the specifications, working from a checklist rather than memory.

Workflow and coordination

How do you coordinate with structural and MEP consultants during documentation?
What a strong answer covers: Holds regular coordination meetings, exchanges models or backgrounds on a set schedule, reviews clashes, and keeps a log of open items with an owner and a date for each.
Tell me about an RFI or submittal that exposed a problem in your documents.
What a strong answer covers: Owns the error, explains how it was solved on site at the lowest cost, and names what they changed in their process afterward.
How do you delegate drawing work to designers and drafters?
What a strong answer covers: Gives clear markups and priorities, checks the work at set points instead of only at the end, and explains the reasons behind each change so people learn.

Working with the team

Describe a disagreement with a client or contractor and how it was resolved.
What a strong answer covers: Stays factual, listens first, relies on the contract and the documents, and protects the relationship without giving away the firm's position.
How do you present a design to a client who struggles to read drawings?
What a strong answer covers: Uses plain language and simple 3D views, and ties every design choice back to the client's goals and budget.
What do you need from us in your first three months to do your best work?
What a strong answer covers: Asks for standards, templates and a clear point person, and shows they expect to learn how the firm works before trying to change it.

Skills test

Architect skills test

Concept design exercise. A practical exercise to send after the first interview. Time limit: 4 hours.

The task

Give the candidate a short program and a site plan for a small building, such as a two story office or a mixed use building with a few units. Ask for a concept: a plan diagram for each floor, one massing view and a single page explaining how the design meets the program and the main code constraints. Hand drawn or digital are both fine. Follow it with a short presentation in the interview.

What to send the candidate

A one page program with the spaces and approximate areas you want.
A site plan with setbacks, orientation and access.
The zoning and code basics you want them to consider.

What to evaluate

The program is met, and the areas roughly add up.
A clear idea that shapes both the plan and the massing.
Code awareness: exits, accessibility and construction type considered, even if not calculated.
A one page explanation that a client could follow.
Assumptions stated wherever the brief was open.

Tell the candidate how you will score it and hold to the time limit. The goal is to see how they work, not to get free production.

Another option

Hiring remote?

Remote option

Get a quote for a full time remote Architect

Tell us the role and the software, and we send you a rate for your firm.

Get a quote

WorldTeams presents vetted remote Architects who work in your time zone and join your team full time. You interview them and approve the person before they start. See how it works on Remote architecture teams, or compare the full yearly cost of each option in the hiring cost calculator.

Keep reading

Need an Architect sooner than a job post can deliver?

WorldTeams presents vetted remote Architects who work in your time zone. You interview them, you choose, and they join your team full time.

Remote architecture teams Start hiring

Questions, answered

Does an architect need a license to work at my firm?

All US states and the District of Columbia require architects to be licensed, and each state board sets its own rules for practicing architecture. Graduates without a license can still do much of the design and documentation work under a licensed architect, which is how they earn the experience that licensure asks for. If the person will lead projects or seal drawings in your state, write that license into the requirements.

Ask AI

What does it take to become a licensed architect?

NCARB describes three parts. Education, usually a degree in architecture. Experience through the Architectural Experience Program, which asks for 3,740 hours across six experience areas. And the Architect Registration Examination: passing all six divisions of ARE 5.0, which every US jurisdiction requires. Each state adds its own rules on top, and most states also ask for continuing education to keep the license active.

Ask AI

How much does an architect earn in the US?

Architects (except landscape and naval architects) earned a national median wage of $99,280 a year in May 2025, according to BLS. The middle half of the field earned between $77,960 and $126,550, and the top tenth earned more than $161,420. Pay moves a lot by state and by experience, so compare with the state medians in our architect salary guide before you post a range.

Ask AI

What is the difference between an architect and an architectural designer?

The license. An architectural designer often has the same degree and does similar design work, but is not licensed, so a licensed architect directs and reviews the work. A designer may be on the way to licensure, earning experience hours and passing exam divisions. If you need someone to lead projects and deal with building officials on their own, hire an architect; for design production under supervision, see our architectural designer job description.

Ask AI

How many years of experience should I ask for?

Tie it to the level you need. AIA's definitions of architectural positions describe Architect Level I as three to five years of experience and licensed, Level II as six or more years, Level III as eight or more, and Senior Architect as more than ten. Use those bands for the years in your posting, and let the portfolio, not the number, decide between two close candidates.

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Sources: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025; BLS OEWS, Architects, Except Landscape and Naval; BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook: Architects; AIA, Definition of architectural positions; NCARB, Get licensed; NCARB, AXP experience requirements; NCARB, Pass the ARE; ICC, International Codes; US Department of Justice, ADA Standards for Accessible Design.

Last updated September 23, 2026.