London, UK
Senior urban designer
at We Made That
We Made That is looking for a senior urban designer to join its London or Manchester office.
Are you driven by delivering equitable place shaping and a desire to lead progressive masterplans?
We are seeking a candidate capable of leading influential spatial strategies, managing large multi-disciplinary teams and delivering exemplary place shaping and public realm projects.
We have a number of projects focusing on the delivery of sustainable place shaping strategies and city regeneration schemes across the UK and are looking for a new team member to work on the implementation of innovative and inclusive design approaches on these projects. You will have experience in managing complex projects and have the ability to develop and nurture strong working relationships with clients and collaborators.
As a new team member, you should be fluent in operating at a senior level and have a desire to work alongside the practice partners and senior management team. You will be driven by wanting to help create equitable places through impactful projects.
Responsibilities and tasks
The ideal candidate will be a talented and experienced urban designer, responsible for leading teams and delivering complex place plans and area strategies at a range of scales across the capital and the UK. You will have an informed understanding of town centre strategies with a working knowledge of policy guidelines and wider political, economic and societal issues.
Project focused:
- successfully lead project teams, stakeholders and consultants on place shaping strategies and public realm schemes across work stages and contribute design and strategy development across multiple projects
- lead teams to develop robust urban design, public realm and master planning solutions
- lead teams to prepare strategy proposals through graphically strong content
- lead teams in producing complex 2D and 3D drawings and diagrams
- act as an effective project manager, managing complex programmes, budgets and outputs
- demonstrate a powerful public conscience in pursuing project goals and
practice aims - possess strong communication and negotiation skills and have a good
understanding of client expectations and motivations, with the ability to
handle complex situations - lead teams to develop town centre action plans and regeneration strategies and communicate up-to-date knowledge of industry trends and thinking
- lead on shaping and progressing our design strategies and approaches,
through knowledge sharing - lead the team in developing and implementing industry-leading engagement processes
- successfully anticipate issues, propose and implement solutions in an effective and efficient way
- deliver important presentations to clients and stakeholders
- keep abreast of changes to statutory and legislative regulations and
disseminate key information in an accurate and accessible way to the
team and through project work - help to shape the outputs of the practice in line with our B Corp status
and contribute to initiatives to maximise our impacts - commit to developing our EDI strategies and embedding meaningful and
sustainable social value in our projects
Competencies, skills and experience
You must be an experienced urban designer with an in-depth working knowledge of town centres and city regeneration landscapes. With strong project management skills and an eye for detail, you will have the ability to drive project development and possess a solid understanding of the challenges faced in towns and cities today and be able to situate strategies within wider political, economic and societal contexts.
You will be adaptable and well-versed in working directly with local authority clients and consultant teams. You must be an experienced team leader and enjoy shaping a practice wide culture of knowledge sharing and perform comfortably in client-facing roles.
Essential:
- have a master’s qualification in urban design or similar related subject
- have demonstrable strategic or master planning experience in the UK for public sector clients
- proven experience in place shaping strategies, delivering masterplans and regeneration approaches
- have held roles independently leading complex project development and managing multi-disciplinary teams
- excellent design skills and technical knowledge
- possess strong project management skills fluently overseeing resourcing, meeting deadlines and working within budgets, fees and programmes
- highly experienced in successfully managing client relationships and can drive decisions in a confident and effective way
- familiar with London, other major UK towns and cities regeneration contexts and best practice
- excellent communication skills and a sincere desire to contribute to lively, creative and productive team working
- excellent verbal communication and presentation skills
- sensitively and pragmatically navigate working with a wide range of audiences and stakeholders
- demonstrate an in-depth knowledge of environmental and social performance impacts and how we can deliver these within projects
- have fluency with Adobe CS, Vectorworks and GIS
- exemplar working knowledge of policy and industry standards/regulations
Desired:
- five years relevant professional experience post masters-level qualification in urban design/planning discipline
- active contributor to the wider built environment profession and with a strong commitment to driving environmental and social value-focused approaches within projects
- experienced in delivering high-quality projects for public sector clients
- experience using CMAP or similar project management software
Benefits
On top of a competitive salary, we offer staff a wide range of benefits: hybrid working options, flexible working hours policy, pension and enhanced parental leave provision, profit share, paid professional memberships, training opportunities, cycle-to-work scheme and an interest-free TfL season ticket loan. Our internal wellbeing and activities programme includes social events and field trips, as well as wider support.
Equal opportunities
Candidates must be eligible to work in the UK and would ideally be available to start in September 2023. We Made That is London Living Wage accredited, an equal opportunities employer and supporter of the Mayor’s Fund for London Diversity Pledge.
How to apply
Please send a digital copy of your portfolio and CV (max 10 MB) via the ‘apply for job’ button below along with a cover letter outlining how you meet the criteria. Mark the subject line with ‘Senior Urban Designer’.
Pay will be commensurate with experience and we would request that you set out your pay expectations in the cover letter.
The deadline for applications is 18 August 2023.
About We Made That
We create equitable places through incisive research and impactful projects. We work exclusively for the public sector and charities and are committed to delivering public good.
Our multi-disciplinary team delivers urban research, strategies and master plans, and public spaces and buildings. Together, we provide considered and thorough intelligence, shape healthy, fair and well-designed places and bring life and value to the built environment. We are driven by making better places for all.
We Made That was established in 2006 and became a Certified B Corporation in 2021 with new legal accountability to balance profit and purpose. We deliver projects across the UK from offices in London and Manchester.