Applied Technology Specialist

Kohn Pedersen Fox • New York, NY

35d • $70,000 - $85,000 • Onsite

About The Position

KPF, a global architecture practice headquartered in New York City, is seeking an Applied Technology Specialist to join our New York office. This is a hands-on, forward-facing position at the intersection of AI strategy, design technology, and firm-wide workflow innovation. The right candidate is someone who moves ahead of the curve, not alongside it. We want a strategist, teacher, and maker in equal measure: someone who can spot emerging tools before they go mainstream, pressure-test them in a real production environment, train teams to use them, and produce polished work when the moment calls for it. This is not a traditional visualization role. While strong visual sensibility and production experience are valued, the primary focus is on technology leadership, AI integration, and raising the technical ceiling across the firm. We're looking for architects, designers, recent graduates, and anyone with a genuine passion for applied technology - regardless of where you're coming from. If you're the kind of person who's already experimenting with AI tools, building things on the side, or constantly pushing to learn what's next, this role was written for you.

Requirements

• AI & Generative Tools: Demonstrated, hands-on experience with generative AI workflows: image generation (Midjourney, Nano Banana Pro), video generation (Runway, Kling, Veo), prompt engineering, and an understanding of how these tools fit into a professional production environment.
• Teaching Ability: Proven ability (or strong inclination) to teach, mentor, and communicate technical concepts clearly. Experience creating tutorials, documentation, or training materials is a major plus.
• Self-Direction: You take charge. You are comfortable working independently, managing your own priorities, and pushing projects forward without constant oversight.
• Technical Fluency: Working knowledge of real-time rendering tools (D5 Render, Enscape) and architectural modeling platforms (Rhino, Revit). You don't need to be a dedicated 3D artist, but you should understand the production pipeline well enough to improve it.
• Vibe Coding & Creative Problem-Solving: You don't need to be a software engineer, but you should be the kind of person who opens ChatGPT or Claude and starts building something when you hit a problem. An interest in using AI-assisted coding to prototype internal tools, automate repetitive tasks, or just scratch an itch is exactly the mindset we are looking for.
• Visual Sensibility: A strong eye for design, composition, and visual quality. You can evaluate and guide output even when you're not the one producing it.
• Professional Experience: 0-5 years. A strong portfolio or body of work matters more than tenure. Student projects, side ventures, open-source contributions, and personal experiments are welcome.

Nice To Haves

• Experience with Unreal Engine
• Video editing and motion graphics (Premiere, After Effects)
• Scripting or automation (Python, C++, Visual Scripting, or similar)
• Experience building internal tools, plugins, or custom pipelines

Responsibilities

• AI Workflow Development: Research, test, and implement AI-powered tools and workflows across the firm's design and production pipeline. Move fast, evaluate what works, and build repeatable processes that project teams can actually adopt.
• Training & Knowledge Transfer: Develop and lead workshops, demos, and internal training sessions that bring designers up to speed on new tools and methods. Make complex technology accessible to a non-technical audience. Create documentation and reference materials that outlast any single training session.
• Horizon Scanning & R&D: Continuously monitor developments in generative AI, real-time engines, and design automation. Identify opportunities early and bring informed recommendations to leadership on what the firm should adopt, pilot, or watch.
• Workflow Optimization: Work closely with project teams to understand production pain points and develop practical solutions. Integrate new tools into KPF's standard workflows in ways that improve speed, quality, or both.
• Project Support, Visual & Strategic: Embed with project teams to provide both visual production support and technology strategy. This means producing renderings and animations when needed, but also advising teams on how AI and emerging tools can improve their specific workflows, from early design exploration through documentation and delivery. The goal is not just better images. It is helping teams work smarter across the full project lifecycle.
• Quality Standards & Asset Management: Help establish and maintain visual and technical standards across teams. Build and maintain shared libraries of assets, materials, prompts, and templates that raise the baseline firm-wide.
• Cross-Disciplinary Technology Advocacy: This role sits within the Applied Technology team, but its reach extends well beyond it. You will help identify where AI and emerging technology can add value across KPF's broader business: project delivery, documentation, design analysis, client communication, and internal operations. We are actively expanding the scope of what this team does, and we need someone who thinks that way too.
• Entrepreneurial Problem-Solving: We are looking for those that will take initiative. If you see a gap, fill it. If a process is broken, fix it. If a new tool drops and you're already downloading it before anyone asks you to - that's the energy we want. We are looking for someone with the drive to identify problems, the resourcefulness to solve them without waiting to be asked, and the curiosity to tinker, experiment, and try things that might not work the first time. You don't need permission to explore here.

Benefits

• Career Growth: Opportunities for training, development, and career progression.
• Company Culture: Collaborative, high-performance environment with a focus on innovation and excellence.
• Benefits: Comprehensive health insurance, including medical, dental, and vision insurance, 401k with company matching contributions, paid time off and other perks.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Entry Level
• Education Level: No Education Listed