Design Architect

Design Architect

Join our design team within the real estate development business, focusing on boutique hospitality assets. In this role, you will conduct design research, assemble architectural ideas, and develop sketches, designs, and drawings across various RIBA stages. You will work independently most days, coordinate with the team when needed, and deliver intermediate results weekly. You will report to a project architect while collaborating with interior designers, CGI artists, MEP team, structural engineers, procurement, and client representatives.

Responsibilities

• Own the full process from inception, concept development, through to detailed design and handover.
• Ensure design integrity aligns with brand identity and delivers exceptional user experiences across all assets.
• Guide interior designers and 3D artists through every stage of project development.
• Bring groundbreaking and experiential ideas in materials, lighting, layout, and spatial storytelling.
• Create distinctive design languages while preserving brand DNA.
• Work closely with the Head of Design and key client representatives.
• Ensure alignment with RIBA stages, oversee site surveys, and facilitate technical design through to construction.
• Liaise effectively with external consultants, suppliers, and contractors.
• Comfortably manage high‑end residential and hospitality projects, including F&B concepts.

Requirements

• Work on a variety of high‑end hospitality projects as a design architect.
• Conduct feasibility studies, volumetric proposals, area calculations, and land plot analyses during pre‑design.
• Interpret the design brief and collaborate with client representatives to achieve the best results.
• Perform design research and create presentations, mood boards, and reference materials.
• Generate architectural ideas and sketches, and conduct research on references and mood boards.
• Develop concept layouts, Revit models, and foundational inputs for the CGI team.
• Refine concept layouts through the schematic and detailed design stages.
• Collaborate closely with in‑house structural, MEP teams, and the local Architect of Record (AOR).
• Support the FF&E procurement team with quantity calculations, material research, and detailing.
• Stay up to date with modern trends in high‑end hospitality, research new technologies, materials, and methodologies, and propose innovative solutions.
• Mentor junior team members and supervise BIM modelers.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's or Master's Degree in Architecture.
• 7 to 10 years of experience in architectural design.
• Experience on low‑rise residential and hospitality projects – private homes, villas, hotels, and resorts.
• Excellent communication and presentation skills.
• Proficiency in Revit, Auto
  CAD, Sketch
  Up, or other sketch‑oriented software such as Rhino, Lumion, or Enscape.
• Professional level of English, both written and verbal.
• Portfolio required.

Job Details

• Full‑time day job, up to 40 hours per week.
• Fully remote.
• Central European Time (CET) working hours 9‑17 or 10‑18; daily team meetings expected.
• Utopia does not provide visa sponsorship or relocation package for this position.

Benefits

Benefits are competitive and based on candidate experience.