Playground Designer

At Earthscape, we create beautiful, innovative custom playground sculptures and structures that inspire children and adults to creatively play. By partnering with some of the most prestigious Landscape Architecture firms in North America, we bring brilliant playground concepts to life. Our award-winning design-build firm is located just outside of Elmira, Ontario in Waterloo Region.

Together, our ambitious team designs, engineers, builds and installs state-of-the-art timber playgrounds that become iconic and well-loved destination spaces. The work environment we’ve created is positive, productive, fun and rewarding. To see our one-of-a-kind projects, visit www.earthscapeplay.com.

Currently, we are looking for a Playground Designer to join our growing team. Sounds like an amazing job, right?! It is!! Does anyone specifically train to be a playground designer? We’ve never met anyone who has, but we believe the right person for this role will likely have a background in Industrial Design.

Your job will be to focus on early concept development. You will be involved in all aspects of the creative design of children’s play spaces. Our clients include internationally renowned Landscape Architecture firms; as well as cities, towns and municipalities; schools; non-profit organizations; and child care centers. Your fellow team members have training in industrial design, landscape architecture, architecture and engineering. Ideally you will have experience working collaboratively with designers from different disciplines.

Ideal candidates:

• have academic training in a design discipline (preferably Industrial Design) with strong illustrative skills (hand sketching (https://www.earthscapeplay.com/project/conceptual-playground-designs/) is key);
• are proficient with Adobe design software and 3D modeling software; bonus points if you have worked in Rhino, Sketchup, Photoshop and/or AutoCAD;
• have a kid-centered approach to life; in reading about this job you’re already dreaming about play spaces;
• are abundantly creative but also have a strong intuition for constructability;
• able to be creative within the rules, playgrounds must meet safety standards so our designs must be adapted to meet these regulations;
• communicate with contagious passion and energy when making public presentations to explain your designs;
• enjoy collaborative work with a multidisciplinary team but also work effectively with little supervision;
• have a growth mindset, and learn from your mistakes;
• have a natural ability to prioritize tasks and work efficiently;
• have a creative mind and willingness to think outside the box.

What’s in it for you?

This job will offer you the opportunity to work on some of North America’s most innovative playground projects. The pace, challenges and problem-solving opportunities will mean you are never bored. You will have the chance to develop and refine a wide variety of skills in our rapidly growing business. Your colleagues are dynamic, and highly skilled. They have an impressive range of backgrounds, skills and expertise. Above all they are dedicated to Earthscape’s success.

If you feel you would be an asset to our team, please include samples or examples of things that you have made in your application package.

We believe strongly in rewarding our staff with a combination of:

• profit sharing and performance bonuses;
• award-winning projects and designs;
• track record of excellent client relationships;
• benefits for full-time and regular seasonal employees.

Compensation: $60,000-$75,000/year

Accommodations: We are committed to treating all people in a way that respects their dignity and independence. Should you require any accommodation during the recruitment process or otherwise, please notify us of this when you apply and we will work with you to meet your accessibility needs.

Pre-employment checks: As part of our selection process, successful candidates may be required to consent to background checks relevant to the role, prior to receiving a job offer. These could include: work references, education and credential confirmation, employment verification, identity check, criminal offense and driver’s license record.

*To apply, please submit your resume and portfolio through our careers page. Preference given to applicants located within commuting distance to our office in Ontario or Amsterdam. *