Category: 
Job


Location: Charlottesville, VA

Senior Urban Designer

Job Description
Renaissance Planning is an urban planning and design firm known for its creative solutions to some of the most vexing economic, social, and environmental challenges facing our cities and suburbs today. Our 30+ person team with expertise in Urban Land Use and Transportation Planning, Urban Design, Architecture, Landscape Architecture, Data Analytics and Videography, is spread across five offices within the Southeast. We have longstanding relationships with local, state, and federal governments and private sector clients because of our proven track-record in delivering workable, transformative, and inspiring transit and placemaking solutions that are both sustainable and equitable.

Our mission is to create cities that work. Renaissance focuses on the planning, place- design and functionality of cities, towns, neighborhoods, and the transportation corridors that connect them. We are passionate about making cities work today and for generations to come and believe that successful placemaking entails both engineering backed by data and science, and art born out of the cultural and geographic context. That’s why our company has honed expertise in three practice areas that fully integrate with our land use and transportation planning projects: Technology, Design and Development, and Story Telling. The company supports personal growth and career development with in-house training, mentoring, professional association memberships, and licensing examination reimbursement.

We are currently seeking a collaborative, self-directed, professional Senior Urban Designer with a passion and skill for making great urban places to lead our talented team of designers and work with us to produce data-supported visualizations for land planning and transit-oriented projects from Washington DC to Florida. Some in-person weekly attendance in our Charlottesville office will be required, subject to negotiation.

Primary Responsibilities

  • Coordinate virtually and in-person with Principals, Project Managers, Practice Area Leads in Technology, Design and Development, and Story Telling and other staff to execute project design tasks efficiently while maintaining quality control.
  • Serve as a lead urban designer on a variety of projects at multiple scales from start to finish. This will include research, field work, writing, graphics, visualizing data, developing design guidelines, form-based codes, and strategic graphics for community engagement activities, managing the production of all data-informed graphics with other urban and graphic designers, presenting at public meetings.
  • Apply and advance graphic skills both by hand and with the company’s computer programs and standard systems including Word, Excel, and 2-D and 3-D drawing software such as Photoshop, In-Design, Illustrator, Adobe Creative Suite, SketchUp, Revit, Rhino, CADD, GIS, City Engine, and others.
  • Take advantage of professional development offerings to continually expand and improve graphic, design, communication, technical, and management skills.
  • Assist Principals, Practice Area Leads and Project Managers cultivate business and professional relationships with potential clients by helping to prepare proposals, participating in interviews, presenting at conferences.

Education and Experience

  • Master’s degree from an accredited program in Urban Design, Urban Planning, Landscape architecture or Architecture.
  • Not less than 10 years of experience (more welcome) in Urban Design or the allied professions of Architecture and Landscape Architecture provided the design focus was at the scale of the block, street, neighborhood, town, and city.
  • Not less than 3 years of experience in some Design Leadership capacity, such as the Design Lead in a private firm, public entity or community design center.
  • Applicable professional registration/licensure strongly encouraged (including LEED-ND) commensurate with applicable studies/degree.

Skills Desired

  • Ability to both lead our talented design staff and directly produce a variety of urban design deliverables that require both software and hand-drawing skills.
  • Ability to manage design staff in a collaborative, efficient manner to timely execute project tasks in coordination with project managers, consultants, principals, and clients and effectively meet deadlines and complete projects.
  • Ability to collaborate and communicate verbally, graphically and in writing across offices with internal staff and externally between subconsultants and clients.
  • Managing the production of design deliverables for multiple projects at a time. • Independent ability to design site plans and craft implementation strategies (inclusive of form-based codes) at the lot, block, neighborhood, municipal and corridor scales to promote walk-able urbanism and transit-oriented development.
  • Ability to present design work for internal and external review, receive and incorporate constructive comments and provide constructive feedback to others.
  • Ability to plan for and execute the graphic content and process required for internal and external charrettes, public presentations, workshops, open houses.
  • High Proficiency in MS Office, including Word, Excel, Teams, and Outlook.
  • High Proficiency in 2-D and 3-D graphics software such as Photoshop, InDesign, Illustrator, Adobe Creative Suite, CADD, SketchUp, Revit or Rhino.
  • Proficiency in GIS and City Engine.
  • Proficiency in 2-D and 3-D hand drawing.
  • Working knowledge of calculating development costs and build-out scenarios.
  • Working knowledge of splicing still graphics with videography a plus.

How to Apply
Renaissance Planning seeks individuals that take initiative, are self-directed, and possess strong interpersonal communication skills. If you are passionate about what you do and wish to join a growing team of outstanding professionals, we would love the opportunity to talk with you.

Please apply by submitting a resume and portfolio to http://renaissanceplanning.bamboohr.com/careers attention Kathy Galvin, FAIA, CNU- A, Renaissance Planning Design Practice Lead.