“The mountains are calling and I must go.”

John Muir’s dictum from almost 150 years ago has perhaps never been more necessary to the preservation of one of the now reconsidered founder’s more enlightened endeavors. Yosemite National Park has long been considered the crown jewel in the U.S. National Park Service’s already impressive holdings, but the recent moribund threats faced by the park due to climate change and manmade intrusions have added a challenging new dynamic to the park’s original environmentalist mission.

As part of its delivery of that mission, the NPS is currently looking to hire an architect with a strong background in preservation and compliance strategy to serve its ever-changing facilities and park maintenance needs, which to date totals around $500 million.

The post requires past experience in either a public or private capacity working as the Architect-of-Record on design and construction projects with an added knowledge of historical preservation techniques (although academic coursework in the discipline is not necessary).

The experience of being able to look out upon the vast Yosemite Valley and get to work amongst the breathtaking natural beauty of the park’s massive 759,000+ acre site is added to by the ability to make a lasting impact on one of America’s most sacred natural resources through the administration of hard-earned skills applied to typological areas both large and small. 

“There are over 1,000 buildings in the Yosemite National Park portfolio, with an approximate age of 75 years, on average. It is a very diverse portfolio, that ranges from the iconic Yosemite buildings such as the Rangers’ Club and the Ahwahnee Hotel, to more humble facilities such as campground restrooms and administrative buildings,” The hiring manager for the NPS told Archinect. “It is a complex challenge balancing modern building codes and federal requirements for safety, sustainability, and accessibility while preserving and protecting the historic fabric of a facility for future generations to enjoy.” 

Candidates are strongly encouraged to read the full listing in detail. More information about applying to the position can be found here.