Careers

Urban Design Practice Lead and Urban Designer

GSP Group is celebrating 25 years of practice providing community planning, urban design and landscape architecture services throughout southwestern Ontario. From our offices in downtown Kitchener and Hamilton, GSP Group serves the private and public sectors on a wide range of projects.

GSP Group has big plans for the future and we need the best talent to make it happen.  As a multi-discipline land use planning, urban design and landscape architecture firm, the business is always evolving.  Our team needs to be agile, ambitious and creative in pursuit of our shared goals. This is an amazing and unique opportunity for an experienced and high-performing professional to join our well-established, award-winning multi-disciplinary team in a primary leadership role.

At GSP Group, collaboration is a key part of our identity and success. With so many talented professionals, you’ll find cross-discipline support for projects is always within reach.  Our team is made up of the industry’s best land use planners and landscape architects, and we want to bolster our burgeoning urban design team.  Together, we are “shaping great communities” with smart, influential design.

We are seeking an Urban Design Practice Lead in the Kitchener office where you will:

• Lead and continue to elevate the firm’s multi-disciplinary urban design practice within a collaborative team structure including business development, identification of new work opportunities and coordination of proposals, project management and overall assignment and distribution of work among the urban design team, recruitment, mentorship, professional learning and training, performance review, and other key leadership roles.
• Coordinate, direct and oversee project design efforts and the development of concepts, design briefs, reports, guidelines and other deliverables for planning and urban design projects of a wide range of types and scales, by:
  • Providing conceptual design direction at early stages of project development, and continued design leadership throughout project progression.
  • Identifying and organizing required project resources, developing work plans, budgets, timelines and strategies, and obtaining client approvals.
  • Assigning staff to selected projects and tasks by providing direction, monitoring, and ongoing guidance.
  • Maintaining and enhancing client relations as the key liaison for urban design projects and assignments.
  • Participating in project design and delivering on project requirements.
  • Communicating design proposals and solutions through effective and compelling presentations to a range of audiences and approval authorities.
  • Fostering an environment of teamwork, collaboration and creativity to achieve design excellence.
• Join the firm’s management team contributing to a range of business decisions and support the continued growth and success of the firm, providing updates, advice and direction to continue to grow and advance the urban design team.
• Pursuing and securing municipal urban design projects including review of requests for proposals, coordinating and developing work plans, budgets, schedules and proposal submissions, and leading/managing these projects.
• Demonstrate and exemplify the firm’s high standards of design and quality in projects and deliverables and identify and coordinate submissions for urban design awards.
• Be recognized both internally and externally as a leader in the field of urban design including participation in industry events, speaking engagements, articles, and key liaison for this area of the firm’s practice.
• Ideally will have a design-based degree, such as Architecture, Landscape Architecture or Urban Design, although a Planning degree with significant Urban Design experience will also be considered, and all candidates will a minimum of ten (10) years of relevant work experience;
• Demonstrate effective leadership, management, communication and organizational skills, such as the ability to set and achieve team goals, inspire and motivate staff including individual goal-setting and personal and professional development, and building a positive and productive team environment and culture;
• Have diverse visualization abilities including both hand-drawn and digital (such as Adobe Illustrator and InDesign, Sketchup, or similar, AutoCAD proficiency preferred but not required);
• Demonstrate proficiency in Microsoft Office including Word, PowerPoint and Excel, as well as online meeting applications such as Teams and Zoom.

We are also seeking an Urban Designer in the Kitchener office where you will:

• Prepare concepts, design briefs, reports, guidelines and other deliverables for a wide range of planning and urban design projects;
• Complete site review and analysis and determine and illustrate opportunities and constraints;
• Create conceptual and detailed designs and related graphics and visual representations, including hand-drawn and digital drawings, sketches or models for a variety of development proposals and to demonstrate and visualize key concepts and strategies;
• Develop materials for consultation events and assist with community and stakeholder engagement activities;
• Apply a range of visualization and communication techniques including hand-drawing skills and digital visualization tools with proficiency in design and graphics software such as Adobe Illustrator and InDesign, Sketchup, or similar, with AutoCAD proficiency preferred but not required.
• Be proficient with Microsoft Office including Word, PowerPoint and Excel, as well as online meeting applications such as Teams and Zoom.

GSP Group is a great place to work. We have a dynamic team of professionals committed to creating great places, and doing so in a collegial, professional environment. We are an employee-owned firm and offer competitive salaries and benefits.

Qualified applicants are invited to send a cover letter, resume and portfolio in confidence to gsp@gspgroup.ca, or to GSP Group Inc., 72 Victoria Street South, Suite 201, Kitchener, ON N2G 4Y9. We would like to hear from you as soon as possible and no later than October 30, 2020. We thank all those who submit applications however only those candidates selected for an interview will be contacted.