Associate Planner/Urban Designer - Charlotte Urban Design Center

SUMMARY

The Urban Design Center is in the Design + Preservation Division of the City of Charlotte Planning, Design and Development Department (PDD). The Urban Design Center consists of 7 team members. Candidates will be a part of a unique team that works in a fast-paced environment and should excel in verbal, written, and visual communication skills.

Major Duties and Responsibilities:

• Provides support on projects in the Urban Design Center, with approximately 75% of work week focused on the Corridors of Opportunity Program
• Production of project work, such as creating Corridor of Opportunity playbook documents, implementation frameworks, maps, renderings, drawings, and graphics
• Assists in the implementation of placemaking projects from conceptual design through construction, especially those focused on the “Retaining Culture and Identity” workstream within the Corridors of Opportunity framework
• Prepares and leads community engagement meetings and activations for most projects (e.g. visual preference boards, online surveys, presentations, etc.)
• Plans and implements educational events at the Urban Design Center and produces communications assets (blog posts, etc.), demonstrating expertise in urban design and placemaking
• Provides design guidance to city capital projects and housing investments
• Works with PDD and other city departments on major initiatives where integration of urban design frameworks supports project success (e.g., CATS’ transit, Strategic Mobility, Charlotte Future 2040 implementation, Community Area Planning, etc.)
• Other urban design and placemaking work, as needed

Knowledge, Skills & Abilities:

• Demonstrated knowledge of urban design principles, practices, and their applicability to the public realm and the community
• Ability to write about planning and urban design principles and explain those principles graphically
• Ability to produce maps, renderings, scaled hand drawings, and other graphics
• Experience working with teams on design and/or planning projects
• Comfort with presenting and working with diverse audiences and all segments of the City’s population.
• Proficient with Adobe Creative Cloud (InDesign, Photoshop, Illustrator, etc.), ArcGIS Pro, AutoCAD, and SketchUp, as well as Microsoft Word.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Four-Year degree in Architecture, Engineering, Geography, Landscape Architecture, Planning, Urban Design, or related degree, with a strong preference that it be supplemented by a master’s degree in the above fields of study or one (1) year of professional experience in a design field.

Minimum Qualifications:

• Four-Year degree in Architecture, Engineering, Geography, Landscape Architecture, Planning, Urban Design, or related degree, and one (1) year of professional experience in a design field.