About Common 

Common is the nation’s leading residential brand offering convenience and community through coliving and traditional apartments. Our signature tech-enabled property management allows us to deliver unparalleled experiences across 40+ buildings, 6 cities, and over 1,500 members. Common is the preferred choice for both residents looking for a stress-free and all-inclusive living environment, and for real estate owners seeking reliable, above-market returns. Launched in October 2015, we now operate homes in New York City, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Oakland, Seattle, and Washington, D.C. and receive over 15,000 new member applications per month.

It’s an exciting time to be part of Common’s team. We challenge ourselves every day not just to think about ways to make city living better, but to activate those ideas in meaningful ways. Our team is comprised of real estate professionals, designers, engineers, salespeople, marketers, client service representatives, and so much more. We work collaboratively, value self-startership, and embrace a “whatever it takes” mentality to ensure our work is done and done well. Common sits squarely at the intersection between technology and real estate, working every day to build quality residential solutions that bring positive change to the world’s rental housing crisis. 

Common was founded by Brad Hargreaves and has raised $65MM in venture funding. Brad is a visionary leader with vast experience in the technology and service space, previously founding the education company General Assembly.

To follow the latest Common news, get to know our community of residents, and learn about what it’s like to work at Common, you can follow us on Instagram, Linkedin, and Twitter. To see more open roles and hear from Common employees check out our Careers Page. 

About the Role

Common is seeking passionate, highly motivated, and creative intermediate and senior level designers to join our Design Studio on the Interiors team. This position will require the candidate to provide Interior Design services to our partners through drawing sets, specifications, and sketch renderings. 

The ideal candidate will be comfortable in an evolving, fast-paced startup environment. This is an opportunity for a talented thought leader to help conceptualize and execute better housing across multiple cities at a large scale.

Architecture and Interior Design at Common is unique in that we are the industry experts in shared living. We believe that through thoughtful design we can foster a living experience that is convenient, flexible, beautiful, and builds community. The role will require a high level of autonomy and will involve a combination of technicality, project management, and production. The candidate is expected to have strong technical knowledge of architecture and construction industry standards. They should also be familiar with general zoning, cost estimation, specifications, schedules, and contract management.

This is an excellent opportunity to join an exciting start up at an early stage, as your work will have a meaningful and significant impact on both the member experience and the formation of future processes at Common. You will report directly to the Senior Designer - Interiors and work closely with peers in the Design Studio. You will learn the ins and outs of residential design across multiple cities and multiple scales. With success, your role will expand as Common continues to scale.

Responsibilities

• Developing graphic standards and business processes from scratch 
• Production and management of deliverables: architectural drawing sets, concept mood and material boards, specifications, through to construction administration
• Provide technical direction on specifications and construction details
• Building a library of finish and fixture selections
• Project and account management and coordination between owners, architects, and contractors with excellent customer service
• Manage, coordinate and execute multiple projects at once, including architectural level documentation for interiors
• Capable of leading space planning for all residential, public lobbies, and community spaces
• Produce drawings at all phases of design, from concept development, through to design development, construction documentation, and construction administration
• Comfortable managing all client expectations, internal/external team communication, and oversight, leadership and mentoring of Junior Designers. 
• Directly responsible for oversight, and delivery of design documents at all stages of the interior architectural process
• Work closely in collaboration with the Owner’s design team including the Architect of Record (AOR) and consultants to influence the design team in meeting Common’s brand standards of quality and performance 
• Design and produce compelling design concept mood boards in collaboration with the FFE team to set one comprehensive vision
• Work collaboratively to source architectural finishes, fixtures, lighting, hardware & accessories
• Ensures that project design intent is on brand and follows architectural best practices
• Travel as required 
• Other duties and ad hoc projects from time to time based on business needs

Requirements

• Bachelor of Architecture or Master's Degree in Architecture or Bachelor of Arts (BA) or Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) required
• 7 + years of professional experience in an architecture/interior design firm required
• Must have an entrepreneurial spirit with the ability to thrive in a fast-paced environment without standard processes or systems in place
• Understanding and implementing of Common’s design philosophy
• Work Samples must demonstrate experience in production and management of drawing sets and specification manuals
• Capable of working on projects in all phases of design, including concept design, schematic design, design development, and construction documentation
• Familiarity with ADA compliance and building codes for hospitality and multi-family projects
• Work Samples must demonstrate experience and familiarity with finishes, materials and fixtures
• Sharp eye for interior design and finishes required
• Must be detail-oriented and comfortable supporting ideas with both qualitative and analytical reasoning
• Must be very organized and be able to multitask across a large number of projects
• Must be able to prioritize and organize against near and long-term goals effectively
• Show a talent for customer service and client management
• Candidate must be a continuous learner who enjoys researching, testing and implementing best practices
• Quick adaptation to an expanding variety of platforms, apps, and workflows in a fast-paced startup environment required
• Must be a direct and proactive communicator who can be independent but ask questions when needed
• Must have project management experience and successfully managed residential and hospitality projects
• Must have strong client management skills and a track record of successful client relationships
• Membership in professional organizations, ASID or AIA are a plus
• Registered Interior Designer or Architect a plus

Software

• Proficiency in Revit Architecture, AutoCad, Rhino, Excel, Adobe Creative Suite (PS,IS.AI), and Required 3d modeling softwares (Rhino, Sketchup, Vray etc)

What We Offer

Common truly values our employees and wants to do everything to ensure that our employees are not only happy and professionally fulfilled, but also that they have the opportunity to be healthy. Because of this, we are committed to providing a number of affordable and valuable health and wellness benefits for our employees such as paid vacation and sick time, medical, dental and vision insurance, Company paid life insurance, Company paid STD/LTD Insurance, FSA + HSA options, commuter transit benefits, generous paid parental leave (up to 16 weeks!) and a 401K. Additional benefits such as Company equity, paid holidays, weekly team lunches + weekly happy hours, a fully stocked kitchen, flexible working hours, job training + development opportunities + a great wellness program are also available. And as always, we are regularly evaluating our offerings to ensure employees needs are being met.

We are committed to affirmatively providing equal opportunity to all associates and qualified applicants without regard to race, color, ancestry, national origin, religion, sex, marital status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, legally protected physical or mental disability, military or veteran status or any other basis protected under applicable federal or state law.