Role design and job descriptions for Architecture practices: levels from intern to principal
Architecture studios often run on titles that mean different things on different projects. Clear levels tell a junior what to learn next and tell a principal who can be trusted with a client meeting.
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Share your requirementsWhy role design and job descriptions matters in architecture practices
A senior architect in one studio draws details all day. In another, they lead client meetings. When levels are loose, a person is given responsibility without the title or the pay, and a title without the skill to back it.
Role notes for a practice name the level, the work expected, the tools used, the decisions the person can make and the next step. They also help with hiring, since you can say what the studio needs, and with reviews, since they show the standard.
How to set it up
1. List the roles that exist in practice
Include interns, junior and senior architects, BIM operators, visualisers, site architects, coordinators and associates. Note how each really spends the week.
2. Set levels and titles
Choose a ladder of four to six levels with titles that match skills, not years alone. Show the step between each.
3. Write skills and decisions per level
For each level, list drawing skills, software, client contact and what the person can decide alone. Keep each to one page.
4. Add pay bands
Attach a band to each level, checked with pay benchmarks. Explain how people move within and across bands.
5. Test with the team
Share the draft with associates and a few juniors. Ask whether it matches what they do, then fix and publish.
Check these first
Before changing anything, find out what is true today. These take an afternoon and use your own records.
- Ask two seniors what their title means in the studio.
- Check that every level has a written next step.
- See whether job posts use the same wording as the role notes.
- Look for people doing work well above or below their level.
GullyHR can do this with you. Read how we approach role design and job descriptions in general, or share your requirements and we will tell you where to start.
Questions owners ask
A simple ladder helps even in a small team. It gives juniors a route and clarifies who can approve what, without turning the studio into a corporation.
Give them their own track or place them on the main ladder with skills specific to their craft. Make sure they can grow without moving into management.
One page is enough. Longer notes are rarely read by the people they describe, and the point is to agree clearly on the work, not to document every possible task.