The career we invented.
Since 1984, CFA has placed architects and designers as career freelancers — working year-round, across a variety of firms, by choice. Build in a few years the range most people take a decade to get, get paid for every hour, and own your time between projects.
Turn one long stint into four.
In our 40+ years of matching, most architects and designers spend two to four years at each firm in the first 15 years after graduating. Take one or two of those periods and work by the project instead.
Rather than two to four years at a famous architect’s office doing stair details, we’ll match you to that same kind of firm, and you’ll learn stair details in six months to a year. Then we’ll match you with a firm doing corporate interiors, then high-rise, then institutional work.
Why designers choose project work.
Paid for every hour you work
A salary is built on 2,080 hours, but deadlines push design teams well past that with no extra pay. As a project consultant, you set your rate and bill for the hours you work.
A portfolio with real range
Move across firms, building types and phases — workplace, residential, healthcare, hospitality — instead of years on one slice of one firm’s work.
Get known for what you do best
Firms bring in project consultants for a specific skill, project type or phase. Your specialty becomes the reason you’re called.
Set your own schedule
You choose which engagements to take and when. Learn how a dozen studios actually run — the fastest route to opening your own. Between engagements, take the long trip, teach, pursue research or sit for your licensing exams.
The 1099 advantage
As a genuine independent contractor you can deduct the real costs of your practice and may qualify for the 20% qualified-business-income deduction.
A path to permanent, if you want it
When you find the right firm, project-to-perm lets the engagement become a permanent seat.
Tax outcomes depend on your situation and current law — this isn’t tax advice; consult a CPA.
What your salary really pays per hour.
Set your salary, benefits, paid time off and the hours you actually work in a typical week, then a project rate. A salary stays the same no matter how late the deadline runs; a project rate pays for every hour.
Illustrative. DPE (direct personnel expense) is salary plus employer-paid benefits. Other benefits default to 30% of salary — about what private employers spend on insurance, retirement, bonuses and payroll taxes beyond paid leave, per the BLS Employer Costs for Employee Compensation, June 2026. The real rate uses the weeks you actually work (52 minus paid weeks off); the project side assumes you bill the same hours and weeks, before your own insurance, taxes and time between projects. Not financial or tax advice.
How it works for you.
Join the network
Submit your portfolio. A design-native matchmaker learns your skills, your rate and the work you want.
Get matched
We put you in front of firms that fit — with your portfolio and references ready, so you arrive credible, not as one more résumé.
Work on your terms
Take the engagements that suit you, at the rate you set. Between projects, the time is yours.
We are matchmakers. On every opening, our matchmakers review it first, then CFA Match Intelligence helps them see the project work behind your résumé, not just keywords — and our matchmakers review every recommendation. We never rely on AI alone.
Some firms make a client-driven request for a CAD assessment. CFAeX is optional and free, and whether to take one is always your choice.
Keep exploring
Work with CFA →
What our matchmakers do for you, from portfolio review to offer support.
Get CFAeX-certified →
Optional and free, for firms that make a client-driven request.
See open roles →
Project, project-to-perm and permanent openings, updated daily.
What the market pays →
Pay benchmarks for architecture and interior-design roles.
From project to permanent →
How a project engagement can become a permanent seat.
The firm’s side of the math →
Why firms keep a full-time core and flex with project consultants.
Common questions
Do project consultants get paid for every hour they work?
Yes. A salary is built on 2,080 hours a year, but design teams routinely work well beyond that during deadlines with no extra pay. As a project consultant, you bill for the hours you work.
How does project work help my career long term?
Most architects and designers spend two to four years at each firm early in their careers. Working by the project for one or two of those periods lets you learn in six months to a year what might take years at one firm, then move on to other firms and building types, such as corporate interiors, high-rise and institutional work. When you return to full-time work, you are more marketable than peers who stayed at one firm, with a stronger personal brand, broader experience and better compensation.
What are the benefits of working as a project consultant in architecture?
Pay for every hour you work, a portfolio with range across firms, project types and phases, control over your schedule between projects, and, as a genuine independent contractor, the ability to deduct the real costs of your practice.
How do I get project work through CFA?
Submit your portfolio to join the talent network. A design-native matchmaker learns your skills and rate and matches you to firms that fit.
What should I plan for as a project consultant?
Your rate has to cover your own health insurance, taxes, retirement savings and time between projects. CFA’s matchmakers can help you set a rate, and the CFA Salary Guide shows what the market pays.
Can a project turn into a permanent position?
It can. When a firm and a consultant both find the right long-term fit, CFA’s project-to-perm placement lets the firm convert the engagement to a permanent hire.
Am I an employee of CFA?
No. CFA’s project consultants are self-employed independent contractors who bill through CFA and are responsible for their own taxes and insurance. CFA has been recognized by the New York State Department of Labor as a Referral Registry.
Do I need to be CFAeX-certified?
No. It’s optional and free. CFAeX is a client-driven request: some hiring firms ask for an assessment as part of their own review; whether to take one is always your choice. If you’d like one, ask your CFA contact for a link.
Build a portfolio with real range.
Join the talent network and we’ll match you to project work worth your time.