The Senior Urban Designer takes a leading role in shaping and delivering high-calibre urban environments at every scale, from citywide masterplans through to public realm and streetscape detailing. The position calls for a blend of design excellence, project coordination, and stakeholder management, with the goal of producing sustainable, buildable urban design outcomes that align with the region's planning frameworks.

Roles & Responsibilities:

• Lead and support urban design concepts, masterplans, and public realm strategies across mixed-use, residential, commercial, waterfront, and civic projects.
• Create place-sensitive designs that enhance liveability, sustainability, and identity.
• Translate design visions into detailed frameworks, guidelines, and technical documentation.
• Integrate land use, mobility, infrastructure, landscape, and placemaking into unified proposals.
• Conduct site and contextual analysis covering land use, movement, environment, regulations, and socio-economic factors.
• Identify site constraints and opportunities to guide design decisions.
• Collaborate with multidisciplinary teams, including architects, planners, landscape architects, and engineers.
• Liaise with clients, government entities, and regulatory authorities across the UAE.
• Present design rationale at stakeholder workshops to secure buy-in and approvals.
• Ensure designs meet UAE authority regulations and relevant sustainability frameworks (e.g. Estidama, LEED, WELL).
• Prepare and quality-check masterplanning packages for authority submission.
• Produce drawings, diagrams, 3D models, and visualisations to convey design concepts.
• Develop presentations and reports for internal and external audiences.
• Support the Project Lead with tracking schedules, deliverables, and resourcing.
• Mentor mid-level and junior colleagues.
• Stay current on trends in urban design, masterplanning, and sustainability practice.
• Contribute to internal knowledge-sharing and design quality initiatives.

Experience & Qualifications

• Bachelor's or Master's degree in Urban Design, Architecture, Urban Planning, or a comparable field.
• 7–8 years' relevant experience, ideally gained within the Middle East/UAE market.
• Demonstrated track record delivering masterplanning and urban design work across a range of scales, backed by a strong portfolio spanning concept design, technical delivery, and built projects.
• Solid understanding of local authority processes and masterplanning stages.
• Chartered status or professional membership considered a plus.
• Confident working knowledge of: Adobe Creative Cloud, AutoCAD, SketchUp, Enscape.

Beneficial:

• Rhino Grasshopper and/or SketchUp
• BIM software
• Climate/environmental modelling tools
• GIS platforms