Higher Education Design Architect
Make an Impact
At Progressive Companies, we believe education has the ability to change the world and we are committed to influencing that change. As a Design Architect within our Higher Education team, you will be at the forefront of leading these changes and leveraging your expertise to design meaningful environments. You will contribute to exciting projects around the country, working collaboratively across disciplines. This role will allow you to grow our education practice and your own career, particularly by utilizing your higher education connections in the Carolinas.
Deliver Results
- Engage with the design process from the conceptual phase through construction administration, ensuring the design intent is consistently and properly executed.
- Guide the communication and coordination with all disciplines, consultants, vendors, and contractors to ensure adherence to project goals and design intent
- Clearly understand the client’s needs, goals, and aspirations, including better positioning clients in a competitive marketplace, understanding the key drivers that will lead to design adaption.
- Coordinate with practice leadership to promote Progressive Companies as a thought leader in the Higher Education industry.
- Partner with key leaders to form relationships of trust with clients and education industry leadership. This requires the ability to communicate, graphically and verbally, design ideas to clients during presentations or design charrettes.
Required Qualifications
- Bachelor’s Degree in Architecture or equivalent in education and experience required for professional licensure.
- Licensed architect.
- 8 to 15 years of architectural design experience, including:
- Extensive experience within the North Carolina higher education market.
- Advanced background in producing design deliverables, demonstrated through a strong portfolio of finished work.
- A passion for building client relationships and developing business.
- Proficiency in SketchUp and the Adobe Creative Suite.
- Proficiency in Microsoft Office, including Word, Excel, and Outlook.
Preferred Qualifications
- Master’s Degree in Architecture.
- NCARB registration and/or AIA membership.
- LEED AP BD+C and/or WELL AP certification.
- Background supporting business development a plus.
- Proficiency in Revit.
People Matter
Each individual’s background, knowledge, ability, and experience contributes to strengthening our organization and projects. Our dedication to diversity includes company provided training and education, equitable recruitment, a grassroots employee DEI committee, and robust community partnerships.
Progressive Companies is comprised of people with a variety of abilities, races, colors, religions, genders, sexual orientations, national origins, ages, veteran statuses, and more. As an equal opportunity employer, we believe diversity, equity, and inclusion are essential elements of innovative design. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable qualified individuals with disabilities to perform essential job functions.
Transforming Spaces. Empowering People.
The talented professionals of Progressive Companies are designers of a bold new future, creating high-performance structures and pathways, delivering on today’s needs and preparing for what’s to come. We live by the idea that design isn’t simply about beauty, it’s about improving strategic outcomes—what we call Performance Based Design. Our work spans across the nation, allowing team members to work on a variety of exciting projects and maximize impact as trusted partners to our clients and communities.
Sustainable and Inclusive
We are dedicated to human-centered, sustainable, and inclusive design practices. We believe diversity, equity, and inclusion are essential to building trust, respect, and truly innovative design making spaces welcoming and accessible to all. Our sustainability approach embraces the AIA 2030 Commitment, together with a range of high performance, restorative, and regenerative strategies with a focus on climate responsive results to maximize positive impact in our industry.
Employee Owned
We act like owners—because we are. From modest beginnings of four original engineering partners in 1962, to almost 300 architects, engineers, designers, and consultants across multiple regional offices today, the energy, resourcefulness, and entrepreneurial mindset you expect from a CEO come standard with every team member.
Culture of Excellence
The firm is continually ranked as one of the Best and Brightest Companies to Work For in the Nation®, with comprehensive benefits including an award-winning wellness program, hybrid work schedule, summer hours, profit-sharing, and employee stock ownership plan (ESOP). We take our work seriously, but have fun along the way, which fuels the creative spirit and supports a focus on work and life integration.
Progressive Companies is committed to development and growth of team members through continuing education, mentorship, growth opportunities, and more. We are dedicated to giving back to our communities, with paid service-learning hours available to every employee and corporate sponsorship for a wide range of community organizations and activities.
Other details
- Job Family Architecture
- Job Function Architect
- Pay Type Salary
- Charlotte, NC, USA