How To Become An Architectural Job Captain: What It Is and Career Path

What is an architectural job captain and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

Quoted expert

Robin Puttock

Architetural job captains oversee the work of architects and craftsmen and ensure the quality of the whole architectural operation.

Some of their specific duties as an architectural job captain are making sure the project meets its budget and timeline, directing the work of their subordinates, and coordinating with the client and team lead along each stage and progress of a project.

To perform their tasks well, architectural job captains need an in-depth knowledgebase on architectural software, such as CAD, and a good grasp of technical schematics and blueprints. Their job typically requires onsite visits and ocular inspections as well.

The supervisory role as an architectural job captain is critical to the operations of a company, especially in industries like public works and construction. Most employers will ask for qualifications such as a bachelor's degree in architecture and a minimum of five years of experience leading similar projects.

What general advice would you give to an architectural job captain?

Robin Puttock

Interim Associate Dean for Undergraduate Studies, Visiting Assistant Professor, The Catholic University of America

In addition to all of the above, I recommend students stay connected with their professors. Most of us have a vast network that we would love to invite you into. Often, an introduction is the pivotal component to a new opportunity. Relationships are key, especially when a recent graduate does not have significant professional experience. In addition, recent graduates should be sure to spend time on crafting their cover letters, their resumes, their work samples, and their portfolios. Make sure you are putting your best foot forward when an opportunity does arise.

ScoreArchitectural Job CaptainUS Average

Salary

5.3

Avg. Salary $68,406

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

4.3

Growth rate -3%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

6.0

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.70%

Asian 7.02%

Black or African American 3.09%

Hispanic or Latino 11.66%

Unknown 5.20%

White 72.33%

Gender

female 22.08%

male 77.92%

Age - 45

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 45

Stress level

4.3

Stress level is moderate

7.1 - high

Complexity level

6.7

Complexity level is challenging

7 - challenging

Work life balance

6.0

Work life balance is fair

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become an architectural job captain

Explore architectural job captain education requirements

Most common architectural job captain degrees

Bachelor's

50.0 %

Associate

30.6 %

Master's

11.9 %

Start to develop specific architectural job captain skills

Skills	Percentages
Revit	34.96%
Building Codes	12.77%
Adobe Creative Suite	8.64%
Sketch	5.96%
Construction Administration	5.94%

Complete relevant architectural job captain training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 4-10 years on post-employment, on-the-job training. New architectural job captains learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as an architectural job captain based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real architectural job captain resumes.

Research architectural job captain duties and responsibilities

Lead production team and coordination effort with associate architects, and MEP and maintain organization and archiving of cad documents.
Review and respond to RFI's.
Work closely with MEP team to produce complete coordinate documents.
Assist in BIM project set up and produce drawings for tri-weekly meeting presentation.

Prepare your architectural job captain resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your architectural job captain resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on an architectural job captain resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable architectural job captain resume templates

Build a professional architectural job captain resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your architectural job captain resume.