Urban Planner

Roles and responsibilities

• Manages and delivers high value complex multi-disciplinary projects with project management skills, working directly with the Associate Director and Director levels.
• Leads showcase complex proposals and ensures high quality output including innovative ways to present.
• Independently manages client expectations and deliverables to ensure alignment with contracted scopes by leading client and project meetings, articulating and defending the work undertaken.
• Ability to operate as a technical lead for multiple projects at various scale of master planning projects with a sound understanding of all relevant planning workstreams.
• Provide specific technical expertise in spatial planning, regional planning, developing governance and implementation strategies.
• Has strong capabilities to coordinate, challenge, and manage multiple disciplines for complex projects and communicate project objectives/deliverables to drive the best outcome.
• Has strong people management skills and provides professional urban/environmental planning mentorship/guidance to junior staff members.
• Seeks out ways to improve planning/environmental analysis processes and ensures critical thinking is conducted throughout the planning team.
• Has excellent written and presentation skills in English/Arabic (preferred) with an ability to coordinate and develop a deliverable (report) as well as create a presentation and summary to support the deliverable.
• Leads more than one specialty topic / interests in urban planning e.g., wellness planning / placemaking.
• Strong understanding of planning / environmental governance and policy and can communicate planning / environmental governance and policy and make recommendations to clients where relevant.
• Can structure and manage tailored planning guidelines and controls as per client requirements.
• Strong ability to communicate differences between planning stages and drive outcomes of report structure and content.
• Communicates and coordinates with clients and project teams to enable creation of project briefs to set out project objectives.
• Prepare and deliver presentations to clients and government (approving agencies) to advance approvals of development, Master Plans, Development Guidelines and policies.
• Liaise with government agencies and other authorities as may be required regarding development objectives, policies and procedures.

Qualifications

Qualification

• A Bachelor’s Degree in Urban Planning, Design, or Town Planning. Masters in one of these disciplines would be preferred.
• RTPI (or any other planning association membership) would be advantageous.

Desired candidate profile

• 14+ years’ experience in the Urban Planning field, candidates would ideally have worked on government and private sector projects. Management experience is required as the successful candidate would lead a multi-disciplinary team.

Specific Skills Required

• Expertise in providing technical guidance for developing regional plans, city or national spatial strategies, comprehensive city plans and governance and implementation frameworks and action plans.
• Exceptional experience in preparing high-quality, multi-disciplinary written and illustrative planning principles, concepts, strategies, controls and guidelines.
• Strong ability to write, refine and deliver final reports with regard to planning, urban design and development projects.
• Ability to structure, lead and participate in planning, urban design and development workshops as required
• Ability to lead and manage complex, multi-disciplinary projects to successful delivery of outcomes within budget and programme.
• Proven track record in seeking, securing, maintaining and managing positive and successful liaison with clients.
• Strong ability to work either in a team, or alone with positive results from either scenario.
• Ability to mentor and train more junior staff, either in the course of a project or through a separate programme.