All Things Urban

Publica is a research and urban design agency that works at a variety of scales, from the detailed design of a single street to setting the vision and strategy for an entire district. We are an ambitious and energetic company that advises local authorities, landowners, developers, architects and community organisations, both in London and abroad. Our projects are driven by rigorous analysis of place and context, combining active, in-depth fieldwork and documentation with an ongoing study of international best practice.

The role of a Projects Director is to manage projects and help support the development of our
growing business. Key responsibilities will be to lead a team consisting of Senior Urban Designers,
Urban Designers and Project Assistants in delivering, planning, designing and writing area
surveys, public realm studies, public realm visions and concept designs for sites across London.
This is a client-facing role working closely with the Executive Directors and other Projects
Directors. Potential candidates should have professional experience of producing urban design and
public realm or equivalent within architectural practice, including detailed analytical work. They
should have minimum eight years industry experience working on detailing and delivering public
realm schemes and a thorough understanding of our sector.

Vision and Strategy
Candidates would have experience in the analysis of wide scale urban conditions, brief setting
and the development of frameworks and concept designs for public spaces, urban integration
schemes or masterplans. Candidates with experience both analysing and working on developments
for complex sites with multiple stakeholders, as part of larger design teams would be desirable.
Working closely with private and public sector clients at decision-making level would also be
beneficial.

Applied Urban Design
Candidates would have a strong design background and experience as a Project Architect,
Landscape Architect or equivalent. Experience in translating analysis of wider scale urban
conditions, visions and strategies into deliverable designs for the public realm is essential, as
are technical knowledge and experience leading teams designing, detailing and delivering hard
landscape and streetscape schemes. Experience of developing proposals for complex sites with
multiple stakeholders, managing teams and working closely with private and public sector clients
at decision-making level would also be beneficial.

At present we are looking for project directors who might contribute specifically in the areas of
Visions and Strategies or Applied Urban Design, or across both. A brief description of relevant
expertise in these service areas is as follows, and these should be read in conjunction with examples
of work elsewhere on Publica’s website:

Key responsibilities

• Work with the Executive Directors of Publica to develop the strategic direction, vision and
  intent of each project.
• Act as project lead by taking overall responsibility for the delivery of multiple/complex
  projects including overseeing the management of the time/resources of the wider Publica
  project team and the coordination, as appropriate, of the following tasks;
• On-site area surveying, including interviews, photography, drawing and mapping.
• Carrying out desk based and archival research.
• Analysing research findings, writing reports and assembling case studies.
• Producing hand drawn and digital visualisations of both current conditions and design
  proposals.
• Schematic public realm designs developed to a level to allow for high level costing.
• Built form proposals and capacity studies.
• Take overall responsibility for adherence to project deadlines and the effective coordination
  with internal teams, such as graphic design, research, communications and administration.
• Collaborate with and co-ordination of project consultants and sub-consultants.
• Take overall responsibility for the compilation, writing and editing of reports, in close
  collaboration with Director responsible for quality assurance, research and policy.
• Present findings and recommendations to external audiences and maintaining on-going
  client relationships, including correspondence, organisation and attendance at client meetings,
  client events and public meetings.
• Take overall responsibility for the Project Risk Register and weekly Progress Report,
  identifying any issues to be addressed.
• Assist with, and independently, fostering new client relationships and contribution to sales
  proposals/tenders / scopes of work for additional services, where appropriate.
• Represent Publica to potential clients and the public, including giving presentations about
  Publica’s work.
• Support the Director of Finance, working closely with them to ensure projects are managed
  within budgets and required timeframes and contributing to wider resourcing considerations,
  including office wide work planning, team development and recruitment.
• Mentor of junior staff to ensure Publica has the skills appropriate to the range of projects.
• Develop the skills of junior staff to ensure Publica has the technical skills appropriate to the
  range of projects and assisting with external recruitment to build the team.
• Attend internal staff meetings, including weekly team meetings and business development
  planning where required.
• Maintain digital and paper office filing systems relating to the above projects.
• General office duties relating to the above work such as printing, tidying or day-to-day
  correspondence.

Other office duties

• Project filing - checking files and folders are in place and monitoring the filing system.
• Manage agreed budgets for project costs with the Practice Director.
• Client liaison, including correspondence, attending client meetings if required.
• Attend internal staff meetings, including weekly team meetings and project meetings.

We are able to offer a permanent post, or a fixed term appointment of either six months or 12
months. In addition, we will be offering a maternity cover appointment running for one year from
July 2021. Please make your preference clear in your application. Salary is negotiable and based on
experience.

Applications
Please send a CV, cover letter and portfolio (PDF format, max 10MB) to recruitment@publica.co.uk
stating Projects Director application in the subject line.
Although Publica does not yet hold a Tier 2 licence we are happy to consider applications with this
requirement while awaiting licence.

We’re not fully sure whether this role is open to international candidates. If you would need visa sponsorship or work authorisation, we recommend checking directly with the employer before applying.