Masterplanner / Urban Designer

Our multidisciplinary design studio, located in a beautiful historic building in the centre of Edinburgh, is looking for a senior level masterplanner and urban designer to join our team.

This is an exciting opportunity for an enthusiastic and committed individual to become part of an established studio team and in turn be a key member of the Place Team within the wider Landscape, Design and Assessment offer at SLR. This is a key role offering excellent further career opportunities within an organisation that is committed to the enhancement of our natural and built environment.

The current Place Team in Edinburgh has over 50 creative individuals, engaged in some of the most exciting projects across the UK and Ireland. The team is multidisciplined, covering landscape architecture, masterplanning, urban design, landscape planning and landscape and visual assessment.

The Edinburgh team collaborates closely with other disciplines and teams within the wider Landscape, Design and Assessment offer within SLR and together comprises over 100 like-minded professionals shaping responsible and innovative interventions in our natural and built environment, in a way that creates innovative and healthy places for people, helps to tackle the climate emergency and set the agenda for a more sustainable way of living.

Landscape, Design and Assessment is a significant part of, and influence within, SLR Consulting, enabling truly integrated design across the built and natural environment sector. For example, working with our SLR colleagues in transport and mobility, ecology, engineering, hydrology and natural capital allows us together to tackle some of society’s greatest challenges.

If you want to make a difference, the opportunity exists within SLR.

For further information about the Place Team at SLR please visit: https://www.slrconsulting.com/eur/services/place

About us

SLR are global leaders in environmental and advisory solutions helping our clients achieve their sustainability goals. We are a consultancy with over 3,000 employees across 6 regions – including over 1,000 staff across Europe. SLR’s ‘one team’ culture is at the heart of our business; providing a collaborative and supportive environment for professional development.

Along with competitive salaries, our staff enjoy a comprehensive benefits package with a company pension plus excellent healthcare offering, travel and life insurance, critical illness cover and a structured career framework with regular reviews offering outstanding opportunities for progression. Alongside 25 days\’ annual leave, SLR offer flexible, agile and hybrid working which enables staff to tailor hours worked around core hours, and our family friendly policies help balance the needs of professional and family life.

The Role

You will play a key role with other senior staff within the Edinburgh studio and the wider national Place Team at SLR. The role is based in Edinburgh and will require regular office presence but will include involvement in local, regional and national Place Team projects across the UK and Ireland.

Collaboration with other disciplines will be a key part of this role, working together to shape and design places in a creative and design-led way. As a masterplanner / urban designer you must have skills in coordination with a broad range of disciplines in order to allow our projects to benefit from an integrated and multi-disciplined approach to design.

You will be involved in a variety of complex projects of all scales from a few hectares to thousands of hectares, from rural and edge of settlement sites to urban regeneration. You will always be working in a team of creative natural and built environment colleagues and leading on the development and delivery of place-led projects. This will include all stages of the design process from early advice, concept strategies, Local Plan Representations, public consultation/engagement, through to planning submissions and advice on delivery strategies.

Your experience, design approach and track record will be critical to supporting the team through these stages. You will have the opportunity to be involved in a wide range of design challenges facing the natural and built environment. You will work across our multidisciplinary Place Team on some of the most significant development and regeneration projects throughout the UK and Ireland.

Key responsibilities will include:

• Lead and contribute to a range of masterplanning projects in the Edinburgh studio

• Support Directors in the masterplanning and urban design sectors

• Be involved in client contact and running of projects

• Coaching of younger staff and enhancement of skills

• Where appropriate assisting with wider office projects including landscape and assessment

• Use personal judgement and initiative to develop innovative and constructive design solutions

• Manage established and new client relationships

• Assist with a supply of new projects, building up a backlog of work and prospects

• Negotiate fee proposals with assistance from others

• Seek to “add value” to all the work we do and to the Place Team culture

About you

This position is suited to someone who has a proven track record over the last 10 years in masterplanning and urban design projects, particularly in the context of the commercial development world. Evidence of mixed use and residential led experience is a prerequisite.

You should have extensive professional knowledge and have been playing a key role in leading placemaking projects. We are looking for an ambition to continue to build and grow your own reputation and career, as well as those around you.

You should have a supporting degree in landscape architecture or architecture. Excellent written skills, a working knowledge of Adobe, Microsoft and AutoCAD packages, and design flair are essential.

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion at SLR

We are committed to being an equal opportunities employer, and our expectations go beyond purely complying with legislation. Through our Regional DE&I Committees, Global Council and Employee Networks, we foster an inclusive environment where all people regardless of their background can thrive.

We welcome applications from all individuals, regardless of their background, including those from groups that are currently under-represented at SLR, such as: LGBTQ+ people, ethnic minority groups, women, and people with visible or invisible disabilities, including those who are neurodivergent.

Should you require any special adjustments throughout the recruitment process with us, please let us know. As a Disability Confident Committed employer, we seek to ensure all applicants have equitable support when applying to SLR.