Senior Architect Career Moves: Hames Sharley

A senior architect career move is strongest when it is about more than a new title. It should show judgement, context, leadership and the ability to bring useful experience into a different studio environment.

Martin Bradbury joining Hames Sharley is a useful example because the story is not only about a person moving from London to Perth. It is about how international experience, urban regeneration work and sustainability thinking can become valuable career evidence.

What made this move notable

The original announcement highlighted Martin’s experience across Australia and Europe, including large-scale urban regeneration work at Allies and Morrison in London. That kind of background can be powerful when a studio wants senior people who can transfer ideas between markets.

For a Senior Architect, the message is clear: practices are not only buying project history. They are looking for someone who can add judgement, help teams make decisions and bring perspective from different project constraints.

Listen: leadership lessons for senior architects

This Architecture Social episode with Karen Fugle is useful for senior candidates because it looks at leadership, judgement and what people expect from experienced professionals.

What senior candidates can learn

• Explain the type, scale and complexity of projects you have led.
• Show how you made decisions, not only what the final project looked like.
• Be clear about client, consultant and team responsibility.
• Connect sustainability, retrofit or regeneration experience to business value.
• Show how your international experience helps the next studio, not just your CV.

How to frame international experience

International experience can be impressive, but only when it is translated properly. A hiring manager needs to understand what was transferable: planning context, stakeholder coordination, procurement exposure, technical standards, project leadership or design judgement.

• Use the architecture CV guide to make senior responsibility visible.
• Use the portfolio guide to explain complex projects clearly.
• Benchmark live opportunities on the Architecture Social jobs board.
• Check the salary hub before discussing expectations.

What practices should notice

For employers, this kind of appointment shows why senior hiring should focus on specific gaps. Do you need someone with regeneration experience, delivery judgement, sector knowledge, international perspective or team leadership?

A vague senior brief attracts vague applications. A clear brief helps the right candidate understand where they can add value quickly.

Interview prompts for senior candidates

If you are interviewing for a senior role, prepare answers that show how you think under responsibility. The strongest examples usually combine project pressure, people management and judgement.

• Describe a constraint that changed the project direction.
• Explain how you helped a team member, consultant or client make a better decision.
• Talk through a sustainability or retrofit judgement, not only the final design.
• Show how you balance design quality, delivery pressure and commercial reality.
• Be ready to explain what you want from the next studio and why.

Common mistakes

• Assuming years of experience explain seniority by themselves.
• Listing projects without explaining responsibility.
• Making international experience sound interesting but not useful.
• Skipping salary and progression research before conversations.
• Using a portfolio that hides the decision-making behind the visuals.

Architecture Social view

Stephen’s recruiter view is that senior architecture candidates should make their judgement visible. If a practice cannot see how you think, lead and improve project decisions, the senior title will not do the work for you.

Next step

If you are planning a senior move, compare your CV, portfolio and salary expectations against live architecture jobs and the Architecture Social salary hub before you start applying.