project manager

designer

architectural designer

technical designer

project coordinator

PBK Architects

My initial interview with the first Chief Financial Supervisor was very positive—he was professional, supportive, and genuinely interested in employee success. He asked thoughtful, relevant questions and came across as a strong asset to the team.

I was hired at the end of November for a collections position, but during the interview process, I was placed into a Project Accountant role based on my prior experience.

Due to the holiday season, onboarding time was limited. We had only a few weeks in December to become familiar with the company, meet coworkers, and complete some initial shadowing. By the end of December, it was announced that the Chief Financial Supervisor would be replaced in January.

As I began working in the role, it appeared that the Project Accountant department had experienced significant turnover, with many experienced staff no longer present by summer 2025. Billing employees had been transitioned into project accounting roles without what seemed to be sufficient training.

My assigned trainer had only a few months of experience and shared that she was still learning the role herself. Overall, training felt incomplete—one trainer provided limited guidance, while another was not available to provide assistance when needed. When questions were escalated to management or the new Chief Financial Supervisor, responses were often delayed or not received.

After the leadership transition, the new Chief Financial Supervisor appeared frequently unavailable due to travel, and communication was inconsistent. At times, interactions felt discouraging rather than supportive.

There did not appear to be established SOPs, process guides, or structured workflows in place. Despite this, expectations remained high. Leadership did not appear to have strong project accounting support systems in place, and guidance was limited.

At one point, the new Chief Financial Supervisor asked the team for input on consolidating consultant reports across multiple states. I created an Excel workbook to help standardize and combine reporting. Although I was informed my assistance was not needed at the time, the workbook was later utilized without acknowledgment of my contribution, which I found discouraging.

Workloads were unbalanced, with limited coverage when employees were out, leading to backlogs. Leadership turnover appeared frequent, which contributed to a lack of consistency. The environment felt highly political, and leadership appeared disconnected from employees, contributing to a challenging and unsupportive workplace culture.

You will learn to work under stress, thrown under the bus by the upper management. When is the deadline you might ask, it is whatever the upper management promised the client in the meeting, in the end it needs to be presented by the upper management, so check the upper management for the font.
Designers are considered puppets to impress the upper management, those that choose not to be part of the show are simply let go. People are considered heroes for pulling all nighters. If you have a family stay away! Most designers live across the street as roommates and complete projects at odd hours, they treat the office like an architecture studio my teammate clocked in 94 hours one week (3 all nighters in a row!) 
This place hires and fires haphazardly for ex: they hired 2 in February, laid off 3, hired 6 in March laid off 32, due to a project ending, while hiring 7 and told the latest employee that we are growing. If you windup joining the office ask around how long everyone has been there, you will find no one stay past 3 years. They select a few that tenure for the reputation of the firm. The clients are shown a "good time." While those 32 employees are being laid off the Design Director ran a personal errand in the company's car to avoid, "stressed" employees.

Although I may have limited experience and time here, I believe I am able to conjure a true, wholesome, and honest, review of PBK. My position here has allowed me to meet & greet with many employees, in which it has made me feel truly lucky to be part of this diverse, welcoming team. 

Despite the multitude of locations, I do feel that PBK tries it's best to communicate and uphold it's name of "a family of companies." The only disparage I have, is the lack of connectivity within individual offices that have employees outside of PBK despite being within the PBK family. 

In regards to the leadership, I appreciate the openness that the managers have to reach out for questions and help. Everyone has very busy schedules and there may be delay in responses, but I have learned that you can only do so much. 

All in all, I think PBK is a growing company with room for improvement- as with any successful company. I appreciate the positive steps that PBK is taking to become better for their employees and customers. 



I have worked at PBK for 5.5 years and have seen the company evolve with respect to workplace culture, while also successfully maintaining its true core passion for serving clients and being a leader in K-12 work. If you are a hard worker, you will succeed - PBK rewards the doers, and those individuals do not go unnoticed no matter what your position / department is. Management is your cheerleader - they want you to succeed and keep a close watch on their employees goals, position, sentiment. Turnover has historically been an issue, but with the leadership we have in place and the next tier of managers, this company is alive with passion, visions, excitement, and new ideas. There are a lot of opportunities at PBK right now because of our growth, steady stream of work, and different paths we are pursuing. PBK is a very established company, but now is an excellent time to get on board. Yes, you might work some long hours and you might juggle multiple projects, but the sky is the limit in terms of your future at PBK and you’ll have all of the support you need to get there. 

PBK will pay you well but will expect the world in return.  Hard work and long hours go unnoticed unless you are a "favorite". Managed by a self centered frat boy who plays office politics and views you as a number in a seat instead of a person. 
You will gain experience because you are thrown in with no direction and either sink or swim. Nothing is developed, no standards, no consistency. They make rules and change them the next week. They don't produce quality drawings because everyone is spread thin and communication is lacking.  Team members are against each other and the managing partner perpetuates it! He will  listen to everyone talk trash about others and does nothing to stop it. NO PROFESSIONALISM in office. Partner in charge listens to and participates in office gossip. He also bases opinions of others on opinions of his favorites.  
If you want to make money go here! If you want to be happy and have personal life then RUN far away from PBK.

I just joined this year and I feel that most of the negative reviews are disgruntled employees that will not likely be happy in any work environment or potentially incentivized by a competitor to leave a negative. The company has relaxed their dress requirements from the complaints/reviews I saw online……no, ties are not required for men on a daily basis, but people do “dress for success” at PBK, especially when client facing. There are lots of passionate people that value the customers and the education sector/architecture.  There is a flexible work schedule where we can have Friday afternoon off if we work slightly more than 8 hours Monday through Thursday. Hybrid work is also available for certain groups/depts as well. The company is investing in their people and adding more HR team members as we grow as a company. Lots of opportunity and the sky is the limit to develop as a leader here! 

I’ve really enjoyed my time at PBK, but when it comes to standards, communication, and support, it seems like it's different with each state. The medical insurance benefits could definitely be improved, and no one seems to know where the online exam prep library can be accessed, just a local folder with some learning resources on the shared drive. I like that our local office has a study group for prepping to take the exam. State and local leadership, particularly HR, really stand out. This is the first place I've worked where I feel like HR actually cares about employees and they make it easy to go to them. The state and local leadership is very supportive, and they seem to care about the team. There is a lot of work and long hours, but it's great to be a part of a company involved in the community and focused on creating the best learning environments for kids.

PBK needs to take a long look in the mirror regarding their employees' well-being and career growth. With access to many school projects, it is more about getting projects out rather than training employees and growing Architects. You are expected to work day and night and always be accessible! 

 A lot of employees get skipped over promotions and raises. Upper management is so far removed from the everyday employees that they don't know to to speak to the younger staff properly. 

The support for licensure is minimal and there is not enough diversity. The firm is all over the place with acquiring other firms nationally and has no clear direction. Believe what you hear in the industry about PBK.  This place is a sweatshop with a very high turnover. 

First, if you choose to accept employment at PBK, get EVERYTHING in writing.  They will make promises they have no intention of keeping.
Second, employees are considered expendable and the general attitude is that the employee should be grateful to be working there.
Third, there have been numerous people start working there and leave within a few days (some not showing up the next day, in fact) due to the horrible treatment they received or witnessed.
Fourth, there is a severe lack of leadership skills at the levels where it is most important.
Fifth, expect to be bird-dogged.  This should be a very professional organization but is run like every employee is an hourly blue-collar worker.
Sixth, many of the folks there who think it's great have never worked in a professional setting elsewhere.

PBK Architects acquired the company that I was working for.  My experience is that you are only a machine.  

They did not care if you needed help.  You were just expected to get the work done - even if it meant working nights and weekends without compensation. They did not pay into the 401K for four years, which was a big hit to me because I was close to retirement.  I had major surgery, and needed 8 weeks off for recovery.  Their only concern was that I continue to produce the work.   When I asked for a two week vacation I was told to take a day off here and a day off there.   My PTO was capped for approx. 2 years.  When I finally retired, they still called me for assistance after I was no longer employed.  There wasn't even a good luck, happy retirement or anything from my supervisor.   

There is no work life balance at all.  

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Project manager 5 salaries reported	$80,000 per year
Designer 4 salaries reported	$69,000 per year
Architectural designer 5 salaries reported	$65,800 per year
Technical designer 3 salaries reported	$69,000 per year
Project coordinator 3 salaries reported	$53,333 per year

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