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Job Description:
Job Title: Junior Signage & Wayfinding Designer
Location: Markham, GTA, Ontario
Job Type: Full-time, Early Career
Department: Signage & Wayfinding / Environmental Graphic Design
Parsons is a leader in infrastructure, mobility, and smart city solutions, delivering integrated design that connects people to places. Our signage and wayfinding team works at the intersection of industrial design, graphic design, and the built environment. We help people navigate complex spaces such as transit systems, campuses, operations facilities, and public realms. We are looking for a junior designer who is excited to blend graphic design, industrial design thinking, and 3D experimentation into meaningful wayfinding solutions.
The Junior Signage & Wayfinding Designer will support the development of signage, wayfinding systems, and environmental graphics from concept through to detailed design. This role is ideal for a recent graduate and/or someone with approximately 1+ years of experience (including internships or co‑ops) and a strong interest in:
Visual communications and typography
Information hierarchy and user experience in physical spaces
3D form, materials, and fabrication
You will work under the guidance of senior designers and project managers, contributing to drawing sets, concept presentations, and design documentation for a variety of public and private sector projects.
Support the design of signage and wayfinding systems for transit, civic, corporate, and mixed‑use projects.
Develop concept designs, mood boards, and visual directions under senior guidance.
Create layouts for signage families, message schedules, and information hierarchies.
Assist with digital and physical mockups for signage forms, materials, and finishes.
Prepare clear, well‑organized presentation documents that explain design thinking and process.
Produce and refine vector artwork and production‑ready files for signage and environmental graphics.
Help assemble drawing sheets and documentation packages, including sign location plans, sign type drawings/elevations, material and finish callouts as well as basic fabrication notes (under supervision)
Contribute to on‑site reviews, audits, or photo documentation as needed.
Collaborate closely with multidisciplinary teams (architecture, interiors, industrial design, engineering).
Required Education & Qualifications
Core Skills & Competencies
Strong graphic design fundamentals including typography, layout and grid systems, colour theory, and information design and hierarchy
Demonstrated interest in environmental graphics, wayfinding, or signage systems.
Proficiency in industry‑standard design tools, such as: Adobe Illustrator, Adobe InDesign, Adobe Photoshop and Adobe Acrobat
Comfortable working with reference standards, templates, and design guidelines.
Ability to clearly communicate design rationale, both visually and verbally.
Organized, detail‑oriented, and able to work on multiple tasks in parallel under supervision.
3D & Making Skills (Assets)
The following are considered strong assets but not strict requirements. Any experience in the following work is welcome:
3D modeling experience in tools such as AutoCad /Revit, SketchUp, Blender, Rhino, Fusion 360 (or other modeling software)
Experience with physical prototyping or making, including 3D printing, woodworking, model‑making, laser cutting, CNC, or other fabrication techniques
Comfort exploring how signs and wayfinding elements exist as objects in space form development, scale and ergonomics, materiality and finishes and integration with architecture and interiors
Fully resolved pieces are not required; we are especially interested in how you explore and develop ideas in 3D.
A portfolio submission is required for this role.
Your portfolio should include 5–10 relevant projects (school or other), ideally showing a mix of:
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Graphic design
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Information design
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Wayfinding/signage or environmental graphics (if available)
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Clearly demonstrate your process, not just final outcomes:
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Research, site/context understanding
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Ideation and sketching
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Iterations and design development
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Prototypes, mockups, or experiments (digital or physical)
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Highlight any 3D or making experience, such as:
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3D models (screenshots, renders, process views)
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Photos of physical models, 3D prints, woodworking, or other experiments
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Notes, diagrams, or progress images that show how you think in form and space
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Clearly label your role and responsibilities on each project, especially for group work.
You may submit your portfolio as a single PDF (preferred), or a curated online portfolio link clearly organized for review.
Starting hourly compensation will be set in line with:
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RGD (Registered Graphic Designers) guidelines for entry‑level and junior designers, and
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Current industry standards for comparable wayfinding/environmental graphic design roles in our region.
Final compensation will be commensurate with education, portfolio quality, and relevant experience, and will be reviewed with candidates during the recruitment process.
This position is part of our Critical Infrastructure team.
For more than 80 years, our experts have designed and delivered the critical infrastructure that connects and protects communities around the world. We work in collaborative teams, both within the company and with our partners and customers, to plan, design, build, and modernize infrastructure. We take special pride in projects and solutions that improve communities as well as people’s quality of life by promoting economic growth, enhancing mobility, and increasing sustainability and resiliency. Powered by our people, we provide the imagination necessary to support our customers’ visions—and to help them see what's next!
Salary Range: $22.69 - $46.73
This job posting is for a current addition or replacement opportunity within Parsons.
We value our employees and want our employees to take care of their overall wellbeing, which is why we offer best-in-class benefits such as health, vision, dental, employer paid provincial care premiums, Defined Contribution Pension Plan (DCPP), Tax-Free Savings Account (TFSA), Registered Retirement Savings Plan (RRSP), life insurance, paid time off, sick leave, all province observed holidays off, and gym membership discounts to fit your busy lifestyle!
Parsons is an equal opportunity employer committed to diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility in the workplace. Parsons equally employs representation at all job levels for indigenous peoples, women, individuals with disabilities, and visible minorities.
We truly invest and care about our employee’s wellbeing and provide endless growth opportunities as the sky is the limit, so aim for the stars! Imagine next and join the Parsons quest—APPLY TODAY!
Parsons is aware of fraudulent recruitment practices. To learn more about recruitment fraud and how to report it, please refer to https://www.parsons.com/fraudulent-recruitment/.
