White Space has partnered with a lead UAE based Architectural practice who are seeking to add a new Senior Urban Designer to their team.
Title: Senior Urban Designer Salary: 20k - 25k DOE
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, Auto CAD, Sketch Up, Enscape.
Beneficial: Rhino + Grasshopper and/or Sketch UpBIM software Climate/environmental modelling tools GIS platforms