Senior Architectural Designer

SENIOR DESIGNER

Company: MCG Architecture
Location: Irvine, California
Employment Type: Full-Time
Experience Level: Approximately 8-15+ Years
Recommended Base Salary: $105,000-$140,000
Estimated Total Compensation Package: $131,700-$171,600
Recruiting Representation: Luxus Group Recruiting | AEC Talent Partners

POSITION OVERVIEW

MCG Architecture is seeking an experienced Senior Designer to join its Irvine, California office.

The Senior Designer will lead the creative development of retail, mixed-use, hospitality, office, storage, restaurant, and other commercial projects. This position will help shape projects from initial programming and site planning through concept design, entitlements, design development, and transition into technical documentation.

This role combines design creativity with commercial judgment. Successful designs must create an engaging customer experience while supporting tenant visibility, pedestrian circulation, brand identity, construction budgets, permitting requirements, and aggressive client schedules.

ABOUT MCG ARCHITECTURE

Founded in 1927, MCG Architecture is a nationally established commercial architecture firm with offices throughout the United States and architectural licensing coverage in 49 states.

The firm specializes in:

• Retail and shopping-center architecture
• Mixed-use developments
• National retail and restaurant programs
• Hospitality and entertainment environments
• Office and commercial projects
• Self-storage developments
• Land planning and entitlements
• Building renovations and adaptive reuse
• Tenant improvements
• Ground-up commercial development

MCG's Irvine office supports projects throughout California and the Western United States from initial site planning and entitlements through construction administration.

PROJECT WORK

The Senior Designer may work on projects such as:

• Ground-up shopping centers and grocery-anchored retail developments
• Retail shell buildings and freestanding commercial pads
• Mixed-use destinations combining retail, restaurants, office, hospitality, entertainment, and residential uses
• Shopping-center renovations and façade repositioning
• Restaurant and retail tenant improvements
• National retail prototype and rollout programs
• Hospitality and branded commercial environments
• Office and workplace projects
• Self-storage developments
• Adaptive-reuse and building-renovation projects
• Outdoor gathering spaces and pedestrian-oriented commercial centers

WHO THIS POSITION IS BEST FOR

This opportunity is best suited for a concept-driven commercial designer who can translate a developer's vision, tenant program, or repositioning opportunity into an attractive and buildable architectural solution.

The ideal candidate enjoys leading design discussions, presenting ideas to clients, mentoring other designers, and collaborating with technical production teams to protect the design intent throughout the project.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

• Lead programming, precedent research, test fits, site-planning studies, building massing, façade concepts, and material selections.
• Translate client objectives, brand standards, leasing goals, and operational requirements into compelling architectural concepts.
• Develop design narratives, planning exhibits, entitlement graphics, renderings, and client presentations.
• Lead or participate in client design meetings, entitlement presentations, and internal design reviews.
• Coordinate with Project Directors, Project Managers, Job Captains, consultants, developers, tenants, and production teams.
• Maintain the original design intent as projects transition into construction documentation and permitting.
• Evaluate design concepts against zoning, accessibility, life-safety, constructability, cost, schedule, and jurisdictional requirements.
• Provide design direction and constructive feedback to junior designers and production staff.
• Establish appropriate graphic, modeling, visualization, and presentation standards.
• Support responses to plan-check comments, RFIs, substitutions, and field conditions that require design judgment.
• Participate in project pursuits, client presentations, and business-development activities.
• Help MCG continue developing creative, practical, and commercially successful design solutions.

QUALIFICATIONS

• Bachelor's or Master's degree in Architecture or a closely related field.
• Approximately 8-15+ years of architectural design experience.
• Commercial, retail, mixed-use, hospitality, restaurant, or branded-environment experience is strongly preferred.
• Portfolio demonstrating concept development, site planning, façade design, material selection, visualization, and completed projects.
• Advanced proficiency in Revit and Adobe Creative Suite.
• Experience with SketchUp, Enscape, Lumion, Rhino, or comparable visualization software is preferred.
• Understanding of California planning, entitlement, accessibility, energy-code, and building-code requirements.
• Ability to communicate design concepts clearly to clients, consultants, jurisdictions, and internal teams.
• Strong presentation, collaboration, organization, and time-management skills.
• Architectural licensure is valued but not required for candidates with exceptional design leadership and technical knowledge.

COMPENSATION AND BENEFITS

• Base salary of $105,000-$140,000, depending on experience, portfolio, licensure, and technical capability.
• Two performance bonuses each year.
• Employer-paid employee health benefits.
• 401(k) retirement plan with employer match.
• Paid time off and company holidays.
• Professional-development and career-advancement opportunities.
• Estimated total annual compensation package of approximately $131,700-$171,600.

The estimated package value includes base salary, a combined target bonus modeled at 10% of salary, an estimated 4% employer 401(k) match, and approximately $12,000 in employer-paid employee health coverage. Actual value will depend on final plan terms, elected coverage, and individual and company performance.

RECRUITING REPRESENTATION

MCG Architecture has retained Luxus Group Recruiting | AEC Talent Partners to assist with this search.

Luxus Group will coordinate confidential candidate introductions, initial discussions, interviews, and offer-stage communication with MCG Architecture.

SEARCH KEYWORDS

Senior Architectural Designer, Senior Designer, Design Lead, Commercial Design, Retail Architecture, Mixed-Use, Shopping Centers, Ground-Up Retail, Façade Renovation, Retail Repositioning, Site Planning, Entitlements, Design Development, Tenant Improvement, Hospitality Design, Restaurant Design, National Accounts, Retail Rollouts, Revit, SketchUp, Enscape, Lumion, Rhino, Adobe Creative Suite, California Building Code, Title 24, ADA, Client Presentations