Cottage was founded with the belief that there had to be a better way for homeowners and contractors to work together. We are building a SaaS-enabled marketplace that allows homeowners to design online, get upfront pricing and access vetted contractors who run their business on our platform. We’re starting with Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs), which provide much needed housing, a smart investment for homeowners and consistent work for contractors.
Cottage is backed by Fifth Wall, Susa Ventures, Base10 Partners and premier proptech angel investors. The leadership team have built businesses and products at Uber, Procore and Tonal, as well as hundreds of millions of dollars of custom homes. Join us to work alongside top talent on a product that outlives you.
Our team is seeking experienced individuals to join the Cottage Design Studio. The Cottage Design Studio is a network of freelance Architects & Architectural Designers at the heart of Cottage’s homeowner services. As a freelance designer with Cottage, you’ll gain valuable client-facing experience, guide Cottage homeowners through the design process and effectively represent the Cottage brand.
This freelance role is a great opportunity for a steady pipeline of design work largely at your own schedule, with access to supercharged architectural tools via Cottage’s ADU-specific resources and tech systems.
We specialize in combining technology with ADU expertise to offer custom residential design at a fraction of the cost and timeline of traditional architecture. As such, the ideal candidate will be enthusiastic to adopt Cottage’s new approach to the architectural design process and deliverables. As a Freelance Architect/Architectural Designer with Cottage, you’ll be the primary architectural expert working on ADU’s at several phases from Design to Permit Submission.
While the role is fully remote, freelancers should expect meetings and communications to occur on Pacific Time as Cottage HQ and homeowners are located in California.
Architecture & Technical
- 4+ years professional experience in architecture
- Ability to manage your own clients
- Proficient in Revit; able to learn new software and platforms quickly (we’ll provide access to the software licenses you’ll need)
- Experience in residential design
- Ability for 1099 / contract work within the United States
- Intent for long-term contract engagement
- Ability to comfortably manage 15-20 hrs/week
- Experience in growth-stage tech environment experience is preferred
Quality, Ownership & Communication
- Proven record of project ownership, proactive organization, communication, and self-management
- Proven record of delivering high quality work at a high bandwidth
- Superb graphic, written, and oral communication skills with clients and the internal team
- A passion for real estate, ADUs, and new solutions to impacting housing markets
Collaboration & Experimentation
- Collaborative work style; you work well with cross-functional teams and are able to operate with many ideas, variables, and inputs
- An excitement to experiment, try new things, and be creative
- Determination, resiliency, optimism - working with an early stage startup is fun and rewarding but certainly comes with its challenges!
- Operates with an owner’s mindset; you bring structure and excellence to ambiguous, high-intensity situations; you are driven, ambitious, and intellectually curious
- Comfort with a fast-paced, rapidly changing, and ambiguous (but fun!) work environment
Cottage celebrates and is strengthened by diversity. We are committed to creating an inclusive environment for the benefit of our people, products, and communities.
