What are the responsibilities and job description for the Architectural Designer III position at Professional Alternatives?
Architectural Designer III (Must have retail center design experience)
Houston, Texas; Fully in-office
***Impressive benefits package and perks
***Clear pathway for growth within the company
Our client, a well-established retail real estate developer with an in-house architecture team, is looking for a seasoned Architectural Designer III to step into a hands-on leadership role, managing individual retail projects from the ground up. This person will serve as the go-to technical owner for assigned work, running point with consultants and tenants, keeping quality standards tight, and helping less experienced designers grow along the way.
Duties:
- Take projects from early concept work all the way through permit approval.
- Build out elevations, site plans, and both lease and property exhibits largely on your own.
- Turn tenant specs and prototype requirements into clean, permit-ready drawing packages.
- Weigh in with design ideas that are buildable, not just good-looking on paper.
- Act as the main architectural point of contact for tenants and outside consultants.
- Catch potential conflicts early and bring solutions to the table before they turn into problems.
- Own the process of responding to permit comments and pushing them to close.
- Check drawings for both internal consistency and compliance with local code requirements.
- Hold the line on QA/QC procedures and architectural standards across your project load.
- Keep documentation aligned across phases, disciplines, and deliverables.
- Review drawings produced by Designer I and II staff, offering detailed feedback.
- Help train and coach junior designers on coordination, quality, and general growth.
- Support new-hire onboarding and pitch in on technical training.
- Pass along lessons learned from past projects to help the team avoid repeat mistakes and move faster.
Qualifications:
- A bachelor's degree in Architecture or Architectural Technology (licensure is a bonus, not a requirement).
- At least 8 years in architectural production, with real ownership of retail projects.
- Comfort managing coordination with tenants and consultants on projects with multiple moving phases.
- Deep CAD skills and a track record of producing drawing sets that are actually permit-ready.
- Familiarity with ALTA surveys, legal descriptions, entitlement paperwork, and lease exhibits.
- Some background enforcing drawing standards — formal QA/QC experience is a plus.
- A genuine interest in mentoring less experienced designers.