Senior Urban Designer
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Key skills for this role
About the Role
White Space Recruitment seeks a Senior Urban Designer for a leading UAE-based architectural practice. The role involves leading urban design concepts, masterplans, and public realm strategies across diverse project types.
Key Skills for This Role
Responsibilities
- Lead and support the development of urban design concepts, masterplans, and public realm strategies across diverse project types
- Craft creative, place sensitive design responses that strengthen liveability, sustainability, and a sense of identity
- Convert high level design visions into detailed urban design frameworks, guidelines, and supporting technical documentation
- Carry out thorough site and contextual analysis covering land use, movement networks, environmental conditions, planning regulations, and socio economic factors
- Work closely with multidisciplinary project teams, including architects, planners, landscape architects, and infrastructure/transport engineers
- Liaise with clients, government entities, and regulatory authorities throughout the UAE
- Prepare and quality check masterplanning and design packages ahead of authority submission
- Generate high quality drawings, diagrams, 3D models, and visualisations that clearly convey design concepts
- Assist the Urban Design Project Lead with tracking project schedules, deliverables, and resourcing
- Provide mentorship and technical guidance to mid level and junior colleagues
Requirements
- Bachelor's or Master's degree in Urban Design, Architecture, Urban Planning, or comparable field
- 7–8 years' relevant experience, ideally within the Middle East/UAE market
- Demonstrated track record delivering masterplanning and urban design work across a range of scales
- Hands on experience with projects in Dubai, Abu Dhabi, the Northern Emirates, or elsewhere in the GCC
- Solid understanding of local authority processes and masterplanning stages (e.g. DM, DDA, DMT, ADM, Trakhees)
- Confident working knowledge of Adobe Creative Cloud, AutoCAD, SketchUp, Enscape, AI assisted design workflows, sketching
- Chartered status or professional membership (RIBA, RTPI, ULI, or similar) considered a plus
Full Job Posting
Overview
- White Space has partnered with a lead UAE based Architectural practice who are seeking to add a new Senior Urban Designer to their team.
- 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.
Roles & Responsibilities
- Lead and support the development of urban design concepts, masterplans, and public realm strategies across diverse project types (mixed use, residential, commercial, waterfront, and civic).
- Craft creative, place sensitive design responses that strengthen liveability, sustainability, and a sense of identity.
- Convert high level design visions into detailed urban design frameworks, guidelines, and supporting technical documentation.
- Bring together land use, mobility, infrastructure, landscape, and placemaking considerations into unified design proposals.
- Carry out thorough site and contextual analysis covering land use, movement networks, environmental conditions, planning regulations, and socio economic factors.
- Pinpoint site constraints and opportunities to guide design direction and inform key decisions.
- Work closely with multidisciplinary project teams, including architects, planners, landscape architects, and infrastructure/transport engineers.
- Liaise with clients, government entities, and regulatory authorities throughout the UAE.
- Contribute to stakeholder workshops and presentations, communicating design rationale and securing buy in and approvals.
- Ensure design output meets UAE authority regulations, international best practice standards, and sustainability frameworks (such as Estidama, LEED, and WELL, where relevant).
- Prepare and quality check masterplanning and design packages ahead of authority submission.
- Generate high quality drawings, diagrams, 3D models, and visualisations that clearly convey design concepts.
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.
- Hands on experience with projects in Dubai, Abu Dhabi, the Northern Emirates, or elsewhere in the GCC.
- Solid understanding of local authority processes and masterplanning stages (e.g. DM, DDA, DMT, ADM, Trakhees).
- Chartered status or professional membership (RIBA, RTPI, ULI, or similar) considered a plus.
- Confident working knowledge of: Adobe Creative Cloud, AutoCAD, SketchUp, Enscape, AI assisted design workflows, Sketching, whether hand drawn or digital.
Exposure to the following would be beneficial
- Rhino + Grasshopper and/or SketchUp
- BIM software
- Climate/environmental modelling tools (e.g. Forma)
- GIS platforms (QGIS, ArcGIS Pro, etc.)
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