Senior Architect

We are looking for a Senior Architect to lead and grow our architectural practice. This role is a seat at the intersection of design strategy and built execution. You’ll move fluidly from early-stage visioning and stakeholder workshops to detailed coordination on construction documents, collaborating with architects of record, contractors, and client teams to get complex projects built.

You will report directly to the Chief Creative Officer and collaborate daily with our multidisciplinary team of strategists, designers, architects, and technologists. You will be the primary architecture lead across several major healthcare projects and a key voice in shaping how we grow our practice.

While Cactus is a fully remote company, we are looking for someone in EST or CST primarily.

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• Lead architecture efforts across complex healthcare projects from early concept through construction, including schematic design, design development, and coordination during construction administration.
• Serve as Cactus’s primary architectural liaison with architects of record, general contractors, and client facilities teams. Providing design intent markups, reviewing drawing sets, and ensuring our design vision carries through to built execution.
• Facilitate stakeholder engagement sessions and design workshops with healthcare clients, clinical staff, and project leadership.
• Develop spatial strategies, test fits, program diagrams, design concepts, and visualizations that respond to both clinical operations and patient experience goals.
• Mentor and oversee junior architect and design contributors on the team. Guide junior individual contributors on project execution and prioritization. 
• Partner with strategy leads on proposals, scopes, pitches, and expanding client relationships.
• Maintain architectural standards across projects, including code compliance, accessibility, and healthcare-specific regulatory requirements.
• Both lead and execute the work. Be prepared to flex between leadership and roll up your sleeves to complete deliverables. 

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• You act with foresight. You plan ahead and mitigate risks in advance.
• You identify what’s important to fight distraction. You keep the end goal in mind and prioritize accordingly.
• You walk in the client’s shoes. Sometimes the client is an employee or potential employee!

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• Must be licensed architect in at least one U.S. state, 5+ years of professional experience, with demonstrated leadership/ownership on complex projects.
• Deep experience in healthcare design, hospitals, cancer centers, ambulatory care, institutional science or technology labs, and/or academic medical facilities (carried through construction).
• Comfort operating across multiple project phases simultaneously, from visioning to construction administration.
• Strong instincts for design strategy and spatial storytelling, not just technical execution.
• Experience working in a collaborative, multi-disciplinary environment alongside strategists, technologists, and brand designers
• Excellent communication skills with the ability to translate architectural thinking for non-architect audiences, like clinicians, executives, and institutional stakeholders.
• Proficiency in Autocad, SketchUp, and Rhino or equivalent 3D modeling tools; familiarity with Figma or other collaborative design platforms is a plus.
• Comfort with Artificial Intelligence tools. Whether for design exploration, documentation, research, or workflow, and a curiosity about how they can meaningfully improve the work.
• Genuine interest in the strategic side of the work. How spaces shape culture, operations, and patient outcomes.

Nice to Haves

• Proficiency in Revit or other BIM platforms.
• Experience coordinating with architects of record as a design architect or specialty consultants.
• Background in experience design, healthcare technology integration, or research-driven design.
• Exposure to academic medical centers or healthcare systems with complex institutional structures.
• Prior involvement in design-build or integrated project delivery approaches.

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• We offer a competitive compensation package based on experience and qualifications. The salary range for this position is $100,000 to $130,000 annually, with additional benefits, bonuses, and incentives. The final salary offer will be determined based on the candidate’s experiences, skills, and fit for the role.

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