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Washington, District of Columbia, United States
Onsite
STV’s Washington, DC Architecture practice is seeking an Architectural Designer II with 5–8 years of professional experience to support a growing portfolio of transportation, civic, federal, institutional, and other complex building projects for our Buildings Group.
The ideal candidate has a strong foundation in architectural documentation and understands how design intent is translated into coordinated, accurate, and constructible drawings. Beyond proficiency in drafting and modeling, this position requires an understanding of how architectural drawing sets are organized, how building systems come together, and how construction documents communicate the information contractors need to build.
Working closely with project architects, designers, and engineering disciplines, the Architectural Designer II will contribute to projects from design development through construction documentation, with opportunities to participate in earlier design phases and construction administration. The role offers increasing ownership of architectural work packages within STV’s collaborative, multidisciplinary project environment.
Key Responsibilities
· Architectural Documentation: Develop architectural construction documents, including floor plans, reflected ceiling plans, elevations, sections, enlarged plans, wall sections, details, door and finish schedules, and other project-specific drawings.
· Drawing Set Development: Understand and contribute to the organization, coordination, and completeness of architectural drawing sets, maintaining consistency among plans, sections, details, schedules, and specifications.
· Constructability and Detailing: Develop architectural details that address material interfaces, building assemblies, waterproofing, thermal continuity, fire-rated construction, installation requirements, and practical construction considerations.
· Building Systems Integration: Coordinate architectural elements with structural, mechanical, electrical, plumbing, fire protection, and other building systems, recognizing spatial conflicts, clearance requirements, and constructability concerns.
· BIM Production and Coordination: Develop and maintain Revit models, views, sheets, schedules, families, and annotations in accordance with project BIM standards and documentation requirements.
· Quality and Coordination: Participate in interdisciplinary model and drawing reviews, identify discrepancies, and help resolve coordination issues before document issuance.
· Code and Accessibility: Support the application of building codes, accessibility standards, life-safety requirements, and applicable design criteria in architectural documentation.
· Technical Problem-Solving: Work with project architects and technical leads to evaluate design alternatives, resolve detailing challenges, and develop practical solutions consistent with design intent.
· Construction Administration Support: Assist with responses to RFIs, review of submittals and shop drawings, and documentation of construction-phase clarifications under the guidance of project architects.
· Team Collaboration: Communicate progress, coordination needs, and unresolved issues clearly while taking ownership of assigned drawing packages and deliverables.
Qualifications
Required
· Professional degree in Architecture from an accredited program.
· 5–8 years of professional architectural experience, with substantial involvement in design development and construction documentation.
· Demonstrated experience assembling and coordinating architectural drawing sets, with an understanding of drawing hierarchy, cross-referencing, annotation, scheduling, and the relationship between drawings and specifications.
· Solid knowledge of architectural detailing, building materials, construction assemblies, and fundamental constructability principles.
· Working understanding of structural, mechanical, electrical, plumbing, and fire protection systems and their interfaces with architectural design.
· Familiarity with applicable building codes, accessibility requirements, life-safety principles, and conventional construction practices.
· Strong working proficiency in Autodesk Revit, including the ability to:
o Independently develop and maintain architectural models for design development and construction documentation.
o Create, organize, and manage views, sheets, view templates, filters, schedules, legends, and annotation standards.
o Model architectural elements accurately, including walls, floors, roofs, ceilings, stairs, doors, windows, and basic curtain wall systems.
o Create and modify project-specific loadable families and edit family types and parameters for common documentation needs.
o Work effectively with linked architectural and engineering models, shared coordinates, levels, grids, and coordination views.
o Use schedules, tags, parameters, and model-based documentation tools to improve drawing consistency and reduce duplication.
o Identify and resolve common modeling and documentation issues involving visibility settings, worksets, model links, and view coordination.
o Produce coordinated drawing sheets suitable for internal quality reviews and formal project submissions.
· Ability to interpret architectural and engineering drawings and identify inconsistencies across disciplines.
· Strong attention to detail, organization, and communication skills.
· Ability to manage assigned work independently, recognize unresolved issues, and seek direction when necessary.
Preferred
· Experience with transportation, civic, federal, institutional, or other technically complex building projects.
· Exposure to construction administration, including RFIs, submittals, shop drawings, and field observations.
· Familiarity with multidisciplinary BIM coordination workflows and model review tools such as Navisworks or Autodesk Construction Cloud.
· Experience developing customized Revit families, schedules, and project templates.
· Proficiency in Adobe Creative Suite; experience with Rhino, Enscape, or similar design and visualization tools is beneficial.
· Progress toward architectural licensure.
Ideal Candidate
We are looking for an architectural designer who understands that a construction document set is not simply a collection of drawings—it is a coordinated set of instructions that communicates design intent to the people responsible for building the project.
The ideal candidate knows how to develop a drawing set systematically, understands what information belongs in each type of drawing, and recognizes when a detail is incomplete or inconsistent with related plans, sections, schedules, or specifications. They are comfortable working in Revit but understand that BIM proficiency is a means to produce accurate and coordinated documentation, not an end in itself.
This individual should demonstrate sound technical judgment, curiosity about how buildings are assembled, and the ability to coordinate effectively with engineering disciplines. They should be capable of taking ownership of assigned drawing packages, identifying potential problems early, and following coordination issues through resolution.
The position offers opportunities to deepen technical expertise, gain exposure to complex projects, and grow toward greater responsibility as a Project Architect within STV’s Washington, DC Architecture practice.
This position is not eligible for sponsorship.
Compensation Range:
$91,976.90 - $105,116.46STV offers the following benefits • Health insurance, including an option with a Health Savings Account • Dental insurance • Vision insurance • Flexible Spending Accounts (Healthcare, Dependent Care and Transit and Parking where applicable) • Disability insurance • Life Insurance and Accidental Death & Dismemberment • 401(k) Plan • Retirement Counseling • Employee Assistance Program • Paid Time Off • Paid Holidays • Back-Up Dependent Care • Parental Leave • Continuing Education Program • Professional Licensure and Society Memberships
STV is committed to paying all of its employees in a fair, equitable, and transparent manner. The listed pay range is STV’s good-faith salary estimate for this position. Please note that the final salary offered for this position may be outside of this published range based on many factors, including but not limited to geography, education, experience, and/or certifications.
Not sure this role is the perfect match? We encourage you to apply if STV’s work and values resonate with you. We know great candidates don’t always meet every qualification, and research shows women and people of color are less likely to apply unless they do. At STV, we believe strong talent comes from a wide range of backgrounds, and your skills and experience may align with this or another opportunity as we continue to grow.
