Senior project architect

At Mott MacDonald, we trust our brilliant people to do brilliant things in engineering, management, and development services, supporting multisector project work in over 150 countries. As one of the largest employee-owned companies in the world, we pride ourselves on our ability to deliver exceptional outcomes through our network of 20,000+ talented consultants. With sustainability and innovation at the heart of all our sectors in North America, including, Buildings, Energy, Transportation, and Water.

We believe in empowering our people to excel, learn, and grow, offering diverse opportunities to contribute to career-defining work. Join us and be part of a collaborative environment where your ambitions are united with ours, and you can truly shape your story.

If you share that vision, even if you don’t meet every requirement listed, we’d still love to hear from you. We value potential and diverse perspectives as much as experience. Let’s explore how we can support your growth and help you take the next step in your career, while contributing to an exciting new chapter for Mott MacDonald in North America.

At Mott MacDonald, we're driven by a clear purpose: improving society through excellence in engineering, management, and development services. Our Southwest Buildings design team is seeking an experienced Senior Project Architect in our Los Angeles office to lead delivery of architectural designs from concept through construction. This is an exciting opportunity to work on multidisciplinary projects while shaping innovative, sustainable, and technically excellent solutions for our clients.

Your Responsibilities

As a Senior Project Architect, you will:

• Lead architectural design and technical delivery on complex mid-size and large-scale projects.
• Establish project design direction, technical standards, and quality expectations.
• Develop architectural concepts and design strategies in collaboration with engineering design disciplines and integrate innovative technical solutions to produce the basis of design (BOD).
• Develop and oversee the production and quality review process for design submissions, construction documents, BIM models, drawings, and specifications.
• Manage project scope, schedule, budget, and coordination across multiple disciplines.
• Provide technical leadership during construction, including responses to RFIs and construction administration support.
• Identify and mitigate design, technical, and coordination risks throughout the project lifecycle.
• Ensure compliance with applicable building codes, zoning requirements, and industry standards.
• Conduct quality assurance reviews to support constructability and design excellence.
• Coordinate closely with engineering disciplines, cost estimating and scheduling teams, specialty consultants, contractors, and project stakeholders to integrate project scopes of work in alignment with client criteria goals and objectives.
• Lead client presentations and serve as a trusted advisor throughout project delivery.
• Support business development activities, proposals, and pursuit interviews.
• Mentor and guide junior architects and project team members.
• Conduct site visits and field reviews to verify alignment with design intent.
• Respond to stakeholder RFI and submittals.

Candidate Specification

We are looking for professionals who can demonstrate:

• Bachelor's degree in Architecture from an accredited institution.
• Registered Architect (RA) license in California.
• 10+ years of architectural design and project delivery experience.
• Proven experience leading multiple projects of varying size and complexity.
• Strong understanding of building systems, building codes, construction methods, and technical detailing.
• Experience developing complete contract documents, including drawings, specifications, and bid packages.
• Knowledge of one or more building markets and facility types, including ports, aviation, transit stations, maintenance facilities, major events venues, data centers, and water/wastewater infrastructure, is preferred.
• Excellent communication, organization, and stakeholder management skills.
• Ability to lead multidisciplinary project teams and manage competing priorities.
• Open to limited travel to project sites and client locations as required.
• Valid California driver's license.

Software & Technical Skills

Proficiency in:

• Revit
• AutoCAD
• Bluebeam
• Adobe Acrobat Pro
• Microsoft Office Suite (Word, Excel, and PowerPoint)
• BIM coordination and documentation workflows
• Procore

What You'll Bring

Ability to independently lead multi-discipline design teams to deliver client projects on-time, within budget, and at high-quality industry standards.

Proficient communications and presentation skills.

Solid technical expertise and comprehensive attention to detail.

A highly collaborative and client-focused project team approach.

The ability to solve complex design and construction challenges.

Passion for delivering sustainable and innovative solutions.

Leadership skills with the ability to mentor and develop others.

Benefits & Reward

At Mott MacDonald, our employees have a stake and a voice in our business, providing them with a direct connection to our success through our personal and group performance bonuses. We provide a comprehensive benefit package that includes 401k, medical, dental and vision insurance, short-term/long-term disability, paid holidays, PTO, parental leave, and company paid life insurance.

Individual pay is determined based on several factors such as work location, education, experience, and unique skills.

The expected salary for this position is $162000 - $198000.

Collaboration at Our Core

At Mott MacDonald, we believe great ideas happen when we’re together. Our hybrid approach centers on an in-office culture, with most of your time spent collaborating face-to-face and a minimum of three days per week in the office. We balance flexibility with connection, so you and your manager can choose how to meet client, team, and personal commitments.

Equal opportunity is the law. We seek to promote fair employment procedures and practices to ensure equal opportunities for all. We encourage individual expression in our workplace and are committed to creating an inclusive environment where everyone feels they have the opportunity to contribute.

All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, protected veteran status, creed, marital status, sexual orientation, gender identity, citizenship status or disability status.