Lead Urban Designer

Cairo, Cairo, Egypt

Overview

Atkins Realis is one of the world's most respected design, engineering and project management consultancies, with a proven track record of more than 75 years of relevant experience in the industry. Atkins Realis is a leading provider of consultancy services in the field of master planning, economics and sustainability; architecture, environmental management; landscape & urban design; infrastructure planning; and engineering and transportation analysis, offering professional advice, engineering and environmental consultancy and design solutions.

As a provider of multi-disciplinary technical design services to the built environment, Atkins India is committed to design excellence in the delivery of first-class solutions which combine innovation, imagination and best practice.

The Urban Design practice in Atkins Realis Cairo is currently expanding to contribute to the different sectors including Property, Infrastructure & Transportation, across regions all around the world. We are keen to take on board highly motivated and capable landscape architects and urban designers to shape a well-integrated team delivering projects across the globe.

Your role

• Take ownership and lead, small to medium Urban design and Urban Planning projects and work packages under the supervision of Senior Urban Designers/Practice Lead.
• Develop master planning and urban design concepts using the 3D and digital mediums.
• Being responsible for production of drawings, graphics, models and reports through concept to detail design stages
• Lead Middle East projects with complete design and delivery ownership reporting to Practice Lead
• Take ownership and work effectively under the supervision of Senior Leads and bring urban design concepts to use in large scale public realm projects.
• Draft technical reports and contractual documents, of acceptable technical and presentation quality with minimum guidance.
• Work on a program for the project and proactively advise Senior team members of any issue which affects the efficient completion of the project.
• Set out / agree design standards and parameters with senior team members.
• Check the work of team members and ensure the quality of deliverables meet the Atkins standards of delivery and client expectations.
• Willing to undertake and where required lead interdisciplinary technical co-ordination.
• Responsible for completion of specifically assigned tasks to time and cost.
• Candidates should be able to assign work to team and use business related software independently with ability to guide work of junior team members.
• Candidates should demonstrate competency in software's, clear communications skills to gain understanding of the required tasks, quick and a methodical decision-making approach for the design & related tasks.
• Successful in identifying and following through on leads/suggestions associated with additional work prospects on the projects they are involved with.
• The individual will be required to travel at times to the different Atkins office and sites globally and interface with the team based there.
• Demonstrate strategic thinking to expand the urban design business across different regions in the ME.
• Candidate must be able to contribute to bids and proposals to win work.
• Can cross- over through design thinking between the three disciplines of the practice on large scale projects.
• Design and manage multi-disciplinary urban development projects.
• Liaise with key clients and technical and non-technical stakeholders for positive project outcomes.
• Ensure the team is aware of the design standards, codes and compliances of countries within the ME region and the same are compiled to in the Design.
• Candidate will be responsible for managing the immediate junior team and mentor them.
• Candidate will be responsible for hiring and building the team, along with the Practice Lead, and will be responsible for developing growth as well as containing attrition within the team.

About you

Qualification

• A master's degree in urban design from universities of National and International repute is a must.
• Minimum 12+ years of Professional Working experience in Master planning Projects, in a reputed firm. Middle East experience will be a definitely added advantage
• Bachelor's degree holders in Urban Design or Architecture will be considered, if they can showcase relevant experience in Urban Design Project Stages. Including Design, Documentation and site implementation.
• Chartered candidates shall have an added advantage.

Technical Competency

• Must have good experience delivering Urban Design/Public Realm & Master Planning projects in the public or the private realm.
• Working knowledge of standard regulations and best practice principles, with strong problem-solving skills.
• International experience of the UK, the ME or the APAC regions will be considered an added advantage.
• Must be competent in design, project management, and efficiency matrices.
• Must be conversant of the evolving standards of the profession primarily with respective to collaborative and multi-disciplinary design.
• Must be proficient in AutoCAD, GIS(QGIS or ArcGIS), Adobe Photoshop, InDesign and Illustrator, MS Office, Advanced Excel, civil 3d , Sketch up and Google Pro , freehand drawing .
• Candidate having working knowledge in Rhino, Grasshopper and basic knowledge in Ai softwares and further prototyping competencies will be considered an added advantage. Advanced experience of BIM related software in Urban Design/Infrastructure works will be considered an added advantage.

Behavioral competency

• Excellent communication skills in written and spoken English.
• Good presentation skills and articulation is a must, for the role.
• Capable of working on own initiative or as part of a larger multidisciplinary team.
• Candidates should be able to work with minimal instructions.
• Candidates should be able to coordinate with Line management sitting in GTC Main Office as well as coordinate with Project Managers placed in ME offices.
• Have a logical and organized approach to project delivery and able to follow instructions and guidance by senior team members.
• Be aware of the effect of delivery time on financial performance and proactively manage time, resources and budget on a project.
• Able to identify and communicate concerns of the project/team to immediate Line Manager.
• Able to discuss career goals and aspirations.
• Willingness to share information and knowledge with team members.
• Demonstrate initiative and basic leadership skills to give directions in a small work group.
• Showing commitments to raising design standards, improving your skills, keeping up with the latest technical and digital developments and with the field of urbanism generally.

• Ability to work and crossover between interrelated disciplines of Planning & Urban Design.

• Experience of working in virtual teams is a plus. Will need to manage team as well coordinate with ME counterpart and Client online with respect to the different time zones.