Senior Urban Designer - Masterplanning / Architecture Led in Manchester

We are excited to offer an opportunity for a Senior Urban Designer (Masterplanning/Architecture-led) to join our growing team in Manchester. You’ll work on high-profile, design-led projects that shape places and communities for the future.

Our multi-disciplinary team based at Manchester brings together expertise in Urban Design, Town Planning, Graphics, and Landscape. We work in a vibrant, open-plan office designed to foster creativity and collaboration, with breakout spaces and dedicated drawing areas that reflect the inclusive and innovative culture we live by at Stantec.

Typical projects include major residential led, mixed-use development masterplans and layouts, and public realm work of the highest quality. This includes new communities, new settlements, urban extensions as well as town and city centre masterplanning, and regeneration.

Our clients include landowners and promoters, residential developers (including housebuilders), local authorities and government agencies providing an enviable and loyal client list. Projects are typically those considered by clients to be more complex and challenging, needing the innovative and creative technical expertise and approach that we pride ourselves on.

Responsibilities

• Bring creativity and innovation to every aspect of your design work and project involvement.
• Contribute to UK projects, supporting planning applications and masterplans for new communities ranging from 200 to 10,000 homes.
• Develop visionary, place-led concepts for new settlements and town extensions, ensuring designs are both exciting and deliverable.
• Work confidently across scales, from strategic frameworks to detailed development parcels and building footprints.
• Produce masterplan drawings, design strategies, and detailed illustrations in both 2D and 3D to clearly communicate design principles.
• Create indicative and proving layouts to test feasibility and capacity using CAD and hand-drawn techniques.
• Generate urban design concepts with robust design rationales, balancing creativity with technical constraints.
• Produce high-quality rendered drawings, by hand or using design software, employing a variety of techniques.
• Develop land-use strategies and development schedules, ensuring effective integration of uses on site.
• Support the production of Design and Access Statements and Vision Documents, combining written and graphic outputs, and manage coordination with consultants and client teams.
• Take ownership of comprehensive Design Codes and Guidelines, setting clear standards for delivery.
• Mentor junior team members, fostering collaboration and knowledge sharing.
• Engage with communities and stakeholders through design workshops and public exhibitions.
• Deliver outstanding work to brief and within deadlines, maintaining attention to detail and design excellence.

To Succeed in This Role, You Will

• Bring experience in UK masterplans, including new settlements, urban extensions and urban renewal or regeneration within an Urban Design or Masterplanning role.
• Have consultancy experience, ideally within a multi-disciplinary environment.
• Show strong project management skills, including the ability to coordinate and produce comprehensive and compelling documents including Visions, Design and Access Statements, Design Briefs and Design Codes or Guidelines.
• Combine attention to detail with strategic thinking, balancing the finer points of design with the bigger picture and commercial realities.
• Communicate effectively, both visually and verbally, with clients, stakeholders, and colleagues.
• Be proficient in key design software, including AutoCAD, Adobe Creative Suite, SketchUp, and Microsoft Office. Vectorworks experience is desirable but not essential.
• Produce high-quality hand-drawn sketches to complement digital outputs.
• Demonstrate excellent team-working and facilitation skills, leading workshops and building consensus among diverse stakeholder groups.
• Work independently and manage your own time, delivering to deadlines with confidence and professionalism.
• Hold a full UK driving licence and have access to a car for site visits and client meetings.

Qualifications

• Hold a relevant qualification in Urban Design, ideally complemented by an architectural qualification or experience, and demonstrate a genuine passion for creating high-quality, sustainable communities.

Why Join Us?

• Our People Culture: We’re a close knit team and very proud of our friendly and collaborative environment.
• Awards: Stantec were awarded the ‘Best place to work’ and ‘International consulting firm of the year’ at NCE Awards at the 2024 NCE awards as well as being consistently recognised in the top 10 Corporate Knights most sustainable companies in the world.
• Great Benefits: Competitive salary, pension plan, holidays, free private medical insurance, discounted gym membership and lots more.
• Flexible / Hybrid working arrangements.
• Great Projects in all of our sectors across the UK&I.
• Industry leading training and development as well as paid for professional subscriptions.

The Stantec community unites more than 34,000 employees working in over 450 locations across 6 continents. We have been working with our clients and communities in the UK for over 150 years. We plan, design, deliver and manage the development and infrastructure needed to support the creation of sustainable, healthy and prosperous communities.

Stantec provides equal employment opportunities to all qualified employees and applicants for future and current employment and prohibit discrimination on the grounds of race, colour, religion, sex, national origin, age, marital status, genetic information, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression.

Building an inspired, inclusive work environment that attracts, supports, and develops world-class talent is a crucial key to our success. If you are excited by this role but worry that your experience doesn’t exactly align, we encourage you to apply.