Intermediate Architectural Associate

Job Description

Job Description

Our Work

We are an architecture and real estate development social enterprise creating spaces that embody justice, healing, and self-determination. By designing with communities most impacted by incarceration and disinvestment, we build infrastructure that supports community ownership, redistributes power, and lays the foundation for a world rooted in care, not punishment.

To achieve this mission our team is composed of architects, designers, real estate developers and community members working together to create solutionary spaces and places that bring dignity, well-being and care to the communities we serve.

Title: Intermediate Architectural Associate

Location : Oakland, CA — Hybrid (3 days/week in office)

Salary Range : $85,000–$110,000

Reports To: Studio Director

You love our mission, bring excellent design skills across a variety of project scales, and are excited to apply those skills to community engagement, finance, and real estate development projects throughout California and across the country. You'll play a key role in advancing DJDS's design projects by contributing both technical rigor and creative vision. Your work will ensure that community input is honored in every phase and that design intent is carried through to completion.

Who You Are

• Currently based in the California Bay Area and eligible to work in the U.S.
• Hold a Bachelor's or Master's degree in Architecture
• 5–7 years of professional experience across all phases of architectural design
• Skilled in producing full drawing sets, construction detailing, and coordinating with consultants and engineers
• Strong knowledge of construction materials, standards, and details
• Experience with pre-design, building programming, code research, and navigating entitlement and permitting processes
• Proficient in Revit, SketchUp, Rhino, AutoCAD, Adobe Creative Suite, Microsoft Office, and Google Apps
• Strong model-making skills (physical and digital)
• Excellent verbal and written communication, strong organizational skills, and a collaborative interpersonal style; comfortable representing DJDS in public forums and community settings
• High emotional intelligence, cultural competency, and a solutions-oriented mindset when navigating challenges
• Ability to take both initiative and direction; accountable and open to feedback
• Deep commitment to justice and equity, with an understanding of systemic racism and its impacts; embrace community-led, cross-disciplinary design processes
• Professional, adaptable, teachable, and aligned with DJDS's mission and values

Experience That's Helpful but Not Required

• Familiarity with the programming phase of architectural design
• Fabrication or 3D printing experience
• Trauma-informed design knowledge
• Public speaking and facilitation skills
• Community engagement experience
• Spanish fluency
• Graphic design, sketching, or illustration skills

What You'll Lead

• Prepare design diagrams, design studies, and conceptual design presentation materials; present design materials to clients when appropriate.
• Advance design concepts through technical phases, ensuring documentation reflects intent and execution.
• Contribute technical drawings and design support across projects including new construction, adaptive reuse, renovation, housing, commercial, education, and mixed-use developments.
• Support all phases of drawing production with experience in detailing, integration, and contract documents.
• Conduct building code and zoning research, including working knowledge of California codes, zoning, and permitting processes.
• Assist with construction administration tasks, including RFIs, consultant/contractor coordination, and close-out documentation.
• Support community engagement efforts and translate engagement findings into building programs, design ideas, and narratives.
• Provide mentorship and support to interns or junior staff as needed.

Where You'll Collaborate

• Work closely with the Design Director and design team on concept design, development, and presentations using both analog (sketching, model-making) and digital tools.
• Partner with the Community Engagement Manager to translate engagement findings into design strategies and narratives.
• Collaborate on FF&E selection, lighting, finishes, and millwork documentation.
• Engage with consultants, contractors, and community stakeholders to integrate technical and community perspectives.
• Collaborate with Communications and Real Estate teams as part of DJDS's integrated project approach.

Benefits

This full-time, salaried position includes:

• Annual salary range of $85,000–$110,000, depending on experience
• This is a full-time, salaried position with a hybrid work structure. While in-person collaboration is essential to our process, we also support flexibility and work-life balance.
• DJDS covers 100% of medical, dental, and vision insurance for employees and their children under age 26, with optional coverage for domestic partners, long-term disability, and life insurance
• Paid time off includes vacation (tiered by tenure), sick leave, bereavement, jury duty, and 16 total holidays (12 standard plus 4 flexible/personal days)
• Up to 12 weeks of fully paid parental leave supported by state and DJDS supplemental pay
• Sabbatical eligibility after 7 years of service, including 12 weeks paid leave and reduced-load continuation

How to Apply

We ask all applicants to submit a resume, cover letter, and portfolio as part of their application.

Your resume and portfolio should be combined into a single PDF file and uploaded together in the resume upload field. If your portfolio is hosted online, you may upload your resume alone and provide a link to your portfolio in the designated field of the application.

A note on your portfolio:

We review portfolios closely, and we are looking for more than finished images. As you put yours together, we would love to see:

• How you got there: Early sketches, diagrams, study models, iterations, and redlines, not just the final product.
• Your technical craft: Drawings and details that show how you take work through to execution.
• Your role: If a project was a team effort, feel free to note what you worked on.
• Creative Work, even if it's beyond the job: Competitions, art, research, build projects, community work, anything creative you pour yourself into, even if it has nothing to do with your day job. This often tells us the most about how you think and create.

We are just as interested in the thinking and the craft behind a project as in the finished result.

Ready to Apply?

If this role resonates with you, we encourage you to apply—even if your experience doesn't match every requirement. We value curiosity, lived experience, and a deep commitment to community.

We're building a team that reflects the diversity of the communities we serve, and we're excited to learn more about what you bring to the work.