AECOM are currently seeking an Urban Design Associate Director, to join our Urbanism + Planning studio, based in Dubai.
The Urban Design Lead will provide strategic leadership for urban design and masterplanning projects, shaping high-quality, sustainable, and commercially successful urban environments. This role combines design excellence with client leadership, business development, and team mentorship, contributing to the AECOM's regional growth.
Responsibilities:
- Lead the development of masterplans, urban strategies, frameworks, and design guidelines at city, district, and precinct scales.
- Set the urban design vision and quality standards across projects, ensuring design excellence and consistency.
- Review and approve project briefs, scopes of work, programmes, and fee proposals from a design perspective.
- Allocate resources appropriately across projects, ensuring the right skills are deployed at the right stages.
- Monitor workload, delivery performance, and design quality across designated portfolio.
- Lead the development of design concepts, spatial structures, and urban narratives for major projects.
- Provide critical design input on land use planning, massing strategies, public realm networks, and place identity.
- Contribute to regional growth strategy, identifying new opportunities in urban design, masterplanning, and advisory services.
- Lead coordination between urban design, planning, architecture, landscape, transport, and engineering disciplines.
- Ensure a consistent, high-quality client experience across all touchpoints.
- Support account management strategies and key client plans.
- Drive repeat work through strong delivery performance and value-added advisory.
- Represent AECOM in high-level client meetings, public forums, and stakeholder engagements.
- Lead client workshops, stakeholder engagement sessions, and design reviews with senior decision-makers.