Senior Urban Designer

at  City of Richmond Hill

Posting Id

2670
Department

Planning and Building Services Department
Division

Policy Planning
Section

Urban Design
Job Grade

SEA35 Grade 08
Rate of Pay

$97,702.00 - $114,935.00 Annual
Job Type

Permanent Full Time
Employee Group

POSITION SUMMARY

Reporting to the Manager of Heritage and Urban Design, the Senior Urban Designer is part of a team providing urban design and heritage planning services to the City. You will interpret and implement the City’s Official Plan policies; provide urban design comments on a variety of complex planning applications; participate, develop and provide support on public realm initiatives; and undertake built form modelling as input into Official Plan reviews, any new Secondary Plans, proposed developments and other planning studies. You will lead ongoing research and formulations of urban design principles, policies, guidelines and practices to contribute to the Heritage & Urban Design section’s continued efforts to protect and conserve cultural and heritage assets within the City’s boundaries, while facilitating growth through sound urban design principles. The Senior Urban Designer is expected to be well versed in the principles of design and should be able to provide their expert professional opinion on a variety of topics. You will be required to represent the City as an urban design expert witness at Ontario Land Tribunal hearings.

EDUCATION AND EXPERIENCE

• Post-secondary education in architecture, urban design or a related discipline
• 5 years experience in urban design and/or architecture
• Municipal experience is an asset.
• Membership in OPPI, and/or other professional organizations in the field of urban design, and an RPP designation will be considered a strong asset.

REQUIRED SKILLS/KNOWLEDGE

• Demonstrated knowledge and understanding of architecture and built form.
• Strong working knowledge of, and adeptness in, industry softwares including, but not limited to, Office 365 Suite (Word, Excel, PowerPoint), Autodesk AutoCAD, Adobe Suite (InDesign, Photoshop, Illustrator), and SketchUp, is required.
• Understanding of recently enacted Provincial legislation, and its impact on Urban Design.
• Project management and problem-solving skills with ability to multi-task.
• Proven organizational skills and the ability to work within tight deadlines and competing priorities.
• Ability to synthesize information effectively and in a concise manner.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills and demonstrated ability to express ideas effectively both verbally and in writing.
• Ability to establish and maintain effective working relationships as necessitated by work assignments.
• Ability to work independently with minimal supervision.
• Ability to guide and peer review the work of junior staff.
• Effective interpersonal, consulting, and customer service skills to maintain professional relationships with the community, City departments, the public and external stakeholders.
• Effective negotiation and conflict resolution skills to balance and prioritize political, community and other stakeholder interests in the development and design of projects.
• Highly developed technical, analytical, design, graphic, and interpretation skills relating to urban design matters.

Other requirements/assets:

• Possess a valid Ontario Class “G” driver’s license.
• Access to a vehicle to conduct site visits (mileage compensated).
• Proof of vehicle insurance.

• Attend and participate in internal and external pre-consultation meetings to review preliminary proposals and help identify urban design concerns and submission material requirements as per the Planning Act, Official Plan and the City’s processes.
• Lead and complete the technical review and approval of urban design materials associated with development applications of various scales and complexities. This includes the review and analysis of submission materials against citywide heritage and urban design focused policies, by-laws and guidelines, and advising on the suitability of the proposal based on sound urban design practices and principles.
• Negotiate with various stakeholders during the review of development applications for Official Plan Amendments, Zoning By-Law Amendments, Site Plan Applications, and other application types, and arrive at solutions that safeguard the interests of the City at large, and facilitate the building of successful and sustainable communities.
• Develop, recommend and implement innovative urban design approaches through conceptual site plans, built form modelling, public realm design and streetscape strategies, to guide the physical environment and implement the urban design policies in the Official Plan and citywide Urban Design Guidelines.
• Conduct urban design studies, as they pertain to new legislation, Council direction, and changing City needs and objectives.
• Develop urban design guidelines and policies through research of Best Practices and ongoing trends in the field of urban design.
• Participate in ongoing citywide studies and provide expert urban design advise to inform the outcome.
• Provide technical support and research assistance to the Manager of Heritage and Urban Design.
• Attend industry conferences and meetups to facilitate the research of ongoing trends in the field of Urban Design.
• Maintain an awareness of developments, advancements and Best Practices in the architecture and urban design fields to retain technical competency.
• Act as the Urban Design lead for appeals against the City of Richmond Hill, and act as an expert urban design witness before the Ontario Land Tribunal (OLT). This includes the preparation of Witness Statements, visual evidence and other associated documents, and the facilitation of settlement negotiations with the appellant.
• Participate in the preparation of terms of reference and administer consultant studies.
• Represent the Heritage & Urban Design department at meetings and committees.
• Other duties as assigned.