Architect - Out of Practice (Significant Uplift)

Job description

You know the feeling.

You’ve spent months resolving details, coordinating consultants, answering RFI's and trying to protect the design through Stage 4.

Then construction starts.

Decisions accelerate. Details change. Someone else takes over the conversation with the client and contractor.

And the project you’ve lived inside for two years disappears into another eighteen months of delivery.

There is another way to work.

GRØ Careers is working confidentially with an award-winning commercial interiors business in London looking for a Senior Technical Designer - and they are particularly interested in architects coming directly from practice.

We've hired this profile successfully before.

Now they want another.

What Makes This Different

You’ll still do the technical work you’re good at.

Plans. RCP's. Elevations. Sections. Joinery. Partitions. Doors. Finishes. Coordination.

But the feedback loop is much faster.

You might develop a detail on Monday, discuss it directly with the project team on Tuesday, walk it on site later that week and see it built shortly afterwards.

You’re not hidden behind the drawings either.

You’ll work directly alongside designers, Project Managers, commercial teams, technical services specialists, site teams and subcontractors - solving problems together rather than passing information between disciplines.

And you’ll be visible with clients.

What The Role Actually Looks Like

The projects are fast-moving workplace and commercial interior schemes, typically moving through technical design and construction over months rather than years.

Depending on scale, you could be involved across several projects at different stages.

One might need a coordinated Stage 4 package.

Another is already on site and the subcontractor has found a clash.

A third needs a technical solution agreed with the client before it affects programme.

Your role is to understand the design intent, understand the construction reality and make the two work together.

That means:

• Producing and coordinating technical drawing packages
• Owning interior details and packages through delivery
• Coordinating architectural information with MEP, fire, structure and specialist subcontractors
• Reviewing technical submissions and resolving RFI's
• Managing design changes and drawing revisions
• Working closely with PM and commercial teams around programme and buildability
• Attending site and resolving issues directly with contractors and trades
• Communicating technical solutions confidently with clients

This is not a back-room drafting position.

They need someone who can draw, coordinate, communicate and make decisions.

The Person They Want

Technical capability gets you into the conversation.

The rest matters just as much.

They’re looking for someone who is:

Fast.

You’re comfortable making decisions in a fast-paced environment where weeks matter.

Client-facing.

You can explain a technical problem without disappearing into architectural jargon.

A problem solver.

When something clashes on site, your instinct is to find the solution rather than simply flag the problem.

Positive and engaging.

You enjoy working with people. You contribute to the room. Clients, designers and subcontractors find you easy to work with.

You could currently be a:

• Project Architect
• Architect
• Technical Architect
• Senior Architectural Designer
• Interior Architect
• Technical Designer

The title is less important than what you’ve actually done.

What We Need To See

Ideally, your background will include:

• Strong UK project experience across RIBA Stages 3-5
• Workplace, commercial interiors or fit-out projects
• Ownership of substantial technical drawing packages
• Strong detailing and coordination ability
• Direct interaction with contractors and subcontractors
• Experience resolving technical issues during construction
• Confidence attending client and site meetings
• Revit experience highly desirable
• AutoCAD experience useful

Strong transferable backgrounds from hospitality, retail or other high-quality architectural / interior environments will also be considered.

Most importantly, we want to see evidence that you’ve personally owned technical problems and driven them through to resolution.

Why Architects Have Made This Move Successfully

You see the loop, end to end

You’re involved from concept handover through technical design, construction information and completion. You see how your own details hold up in reality, and you get to apply that learning on the next project quickly.

Your responsibility and salary finally start to line up

You may already be leading packages, coordinating consultants, dealing directly with contractors and quietly carrying a lot of responsibility inside practice.

In this environment, that experience can be valued very differently.

One recent architect we supported into a comparable move went from mid £40k's basic in practice to £63k basic, representing an uplift of around 33% on base salary. With bonus taken into account, the uplift in overall earning potential was over 52%.

That gives a useful indication of the difference in earning potential when strong technical experience is recognised in a D&B environment.

Progression is measured differently

You’re working much closer to project managers, commercial leads, technical services specialists and site teams every day. That broader exposure can open up routes into technical leadership, project management, design management and wider delivery roles without needing to leave the business to progress.

Your curiosity is satisfied properly

You stop looking at programme, cost and procurement from the outside and start understanding how those decisions are actually made.

You still care about design quality. You just gain a much clearer understanding of what makes a project commercially viable, buildable and deliverable.

You get to see the outcome sooner

Instead of spending years on a single scheme, you’re working across faster-moving projects where design decisions become built reality within months.

For architects who enjoy technical detail, coordination and problem-solving, that feedback loop can be incredibly rewarding.

The Environment

You’ll join a highly collaborative London team working from a state-of-the-art workplace designed around how people actually want to work.

Think exceptional project and collaboration spaces, social areas, a fully equipped on-site gym and changing facilities, outdoor space and far more than the traditional row-of-desks studio environment.

It reflects the wider culture: energetic, social, ambitious and genuinely multidisciplinary.

Practical Details

Location: Central London

Role: Senior Technical Designer / technically focused Architect

Sector: Workplace Design & Build / Commercial Interiors

Package: Highly competitive salary + bonus and benefits, with the potential for a significant uplift against traditional practice bands for equivalent experience.

Start: Flexible for the right person

How To Apply

Apply with your CV to GRØ Careers.

For shortlisted applicants, we’ll also request a concise portfolio showing your strongest technical and built-work evidence - particularly:

• Stage 4 drawing packages
• Interior detailing
• Coordination
• Site/problem-solving examples
• Projects where you personally carried responsibility through construction

We’ll advise exactly what to include.

The employer, team and full opportunity will be disclosed confidentially following an initial discovery call.

About GRØ Careers

GRØ specialises in helping architects move beyond traditional practice into Design & Build, Design Management, Project Management and client-side environments.

We take the time to understand what you’ve actually delivered, where your experience translates and what kind of move genuinely progresses your career.

Many of the opportunities we manage are exclusive or confidential and rarely reach the wider market.

Extra information

Status

Open

Education Level

Secondary School

Location

London Area

Type of Contract

Full-time jobs

Published at

13-09-2026

Profession type

Design / Fashion

Full UK/EU driving license preferred

No

Car Preferred

No

Must be eligible to work in the EU

No

Cover Letter Required

No

Languages

English