Advocating for human dignity and justice through architecture is at the core of MASS Design Group's philosophy. The non-profit practice began in 2008 during the construction of the Butaro District Hospital in Rwanda. With offices in Boston and Kigali, Rwanda, MASS Design Group continues to carry out its mission through collaborative design and construction with local communities, capacity building, and research programs spanning over a dozen African countries and the Americas. Their projects include primary schools, housing, healthcare facilities like a cholera treatment clinic in Port-au-Prince, and the upcoming Memorial to Peace and Justice in Montgomery, Alabama.

When it comes to hiring, what does MASS Design Group expect from potential new hires? The firm's COO Alan Ricks took a moment with Archinect to explain, very succinctly, just that.

(Responses have been slightly edited.)

1. What positions are most in-demand at your firm?

Project Architects w/ 5+ years of experience to be based in Rwanda.
Researchers – Looking at how to prove and scale the impact of architecture.
Advocacy roles – Telling the story of architecture in improving society and shift societal demand for these services.

2. What are the three most important qualities for any new hire to have at your firm?

We maintain flexibility and humility toward the clients and communities we serve; We value hard work and taking initiative to achieve greater impact; We value multi-disciplinary collaboration and the opportunity to learn from each other.

3. What information do you expect potential candidates to know about your firm's practice and work?

What epic challenge should MASS take on next?
Why is MASS the right fit for you?
What does success for MASS look like?

4. After reviewing their CV, what are you looking to learn about an applicant from an interview?

[The] Ability to talk through a design and articulate the relationship between the design strategy and what the goals were to add value to the building’s constituents.

5. What do you say is the best thing about working for your firm? What is the most challenging thing?

We value the contributions of each team member and take opportunities to celebrate achievements. We value transparency in the core thinking of our organization and engage everyone in developing our strategic direction. We [also] value hard work and taking initiative to achieve greater impact on behalf of the partners and their constituents who we have the privilege of working with.

6. What’s the most common mistake candidates make when applying to work with you?

[Not taking] the time to read through the application requirements and thoughtfully complete the short-answer questions.

7. What kind of technical skills are absolutely essential for applicants?

Technical skills depend on the position and what department you are applying for (Design, Advocacy, Research, Training, Development, and Operations). We have a multi-disciplinary team that values a wide range of skills, so single technical skill is essential.

8. What kind of training do new hires undergo when they’re first starting?

New hires are on-boarded by learning about the underpinnings of MASS’s philosophy and meeting with leaders from all of our programs to get a holistic understanding of our work before joining their specific project team.

9. Do you have an internship program? If so, briefly describe.

We offer a variety of internship programs. In Boston we take on summer interns as well as semester long internships. For Africa based placements we require interns to make a minimum of a 1 year commitment to assure they have the opportunity to be fully immersed and productive in the office there.

We take year long fellows as part of the Global Health Corps fellowship program which pairs a Rwandan fellow with and expat fellow and are embedded in our office.

Through our partnership with the Boston Architectural Center we will have 4 Huxtable Fellows working with us each academic year.

10. What are three words that your employees might use to describe your firm?

Inspiring, Passionate, Dedicated

11. When interviewing, how do you describe your company ethos? What part of your working environment do you promote with potential candidates?

Working at MASS provides the opportunity to apply design to challenges facing communities, to expand the role of architecture, and broaden who can benefit from our services.

12. What additional social activities do you do as an office?

As part of our goal to engage the office, leverage our multidisciplinary talents and approaches, and participate in the strategic direction of the firm we have a number of activities that the office participates in. This includes retreats, invited guest lectures, Friday presentations, celebrations, and continuing education.

13. If a candidate had the choice between you and another firm, what argument would you use to win them over?

At MASS, we are committed to bringing together some of the most talented professionals and giving them the opportunity to work on daunting challenges that expand the value of architecture and who benefits from it.

Interested in joining MASS Design Group? Check out their Archinect profile to see if they have any current listings. To see more active listings from hundreds of firms, browse Archinect's Job Board.