All Things Urban

Happy City is an urban planning, design and architecture consultancy that uses an evidence-based approach to create happier, healthier and more inclusive communities. We lead research and experiments around the world to understand how cities can transform human happiness.

Do you want to design happier cities?

Happy City is on a mission to make cities happier, healthier and more inclusive. To achieve this mission, we bridge the gap between wellbeing research and design practice.

We are hiring a Vancouver-based intermediate Urban Planner and Designer. We are looking for a new team member who is able to apply wellbeing evidence to planning and design processes and outcomes. Someone who can express solutions in visual, written and oral form. And someone who really cares about empowering people to build better cities.

Our ideal candidate has 3-7 years of relevant experience, is excited to join our journey of curiosity and experimentation, and is ready to learn a unique, evidence-based approach to nurturing wellbeing through design. Importantly, we are looking for someone who shares our mission and values, and who is interested in growing and learning with our team.

If you join our team, you’ll be part of a small group of planners, designers, mobility nerds and knowledge translation specialists. We’ve been changing lives in communities big and small, from East Van to Dubai. We also go the extra mile to take care of each other.

The responsibilities of this role will include:

Working primarily with Happy City’s Planning team:

• Working in a highly collaborative team setting on local and international consulting projects.
• Meeting tight deadlines and managing tasks for multiple projects simultaneously.
• Working both independently and as a team to produce high-calibre and innovative deliverables.

Acting as the primary (or occasionally secondary) support on client projects, following delegation of tasks from project lead(s):

• Applying urban planning and design skills, engagement skills, research skills, theoretical planning knowledge and Happy City wellbeing evidence to project work, including on-site/hands-on work.
• Designing or otherwise visualizing how Happy City wellbeing evidence can be applied to public space and urban developments.
• Assessing how the built environment influences wellbeing.
• Creating or carrying out equitable planning and design processes that help make cities more inclusive.
• Managing stakeholder relationships and communications.
• Taking ownership of assigned tasks and project work.
• Applying project coordination skills to small- and mid-sized projects, eventually working towards larger and more complex projects.
• Traveling (post-COVID) to other cities for site visits and client meetings.
• Assisting team lead with coordination of junior team members, as needed.

Supporting Business Development initiatives:

• Working with Senior team members to close prospective leads.
• Providing strategic graphic design, writing and organizational support on proposal submissions.
• Networking with potential clients and collaborators.
• Identifying and proposing business development opportunities.

Working collaboratively with people from different disciplines and expertise levels:

• Supporting team members by completing assigned tasks on time and to a high level of quality, while simultaneously learning or refining new skills.
• Approaching complex challenges with curiosity and creativity.
• Embracing a proactive and transparent approach to problem solving and teamwork.
• Learning from the team’s different areas of expertise and applying an interdisciplinary approach to project work.
• This position reports to Happy City’s Senior Planner, and other project leads as needed.

The ideal candidate will have:

• A robust urban design portfolio. Completed projects are an asset.
• Excellent visualization and graphic design skills: Strong SketchUp skills; Comprehensive grasp of Adobe Suite.
• Experience working with clients in public and private settings.
• A passion for public space.
• Public engagement experience (IAP2 Certification is an asset).
• Broad idea communication skills (visual, written and oral).
• A demonstrated understanding of equity-related challenges, particularly as they relate to urban planning and design processes.
• Strong organizational and time-management skills, and ability to self-motivate.
• An openness to different personal and professional perspectives and backgrounds.
• Creative problem-solving and analytical skills.
• An open mind, sense of humour and a passion for lifelong learning.
• Real world creative skills are an asset (sketching, painting, building, and more).

THE REQUIREMENTS

Required qualifications include:

• A university degree in urban design, landscape architecture or urban planning. Graduate degree is an asset.
• 3-7 years equivalent experience in urban planning environment.

Please note, we are looking for a Vancouver-based candidate, or someone who is willing to move to Vancouver upon offer of employment.

More information about this position:

• This is a full-time, permanent position, averaging 37.5-40 hours per week
• Compensation is in the $65,000-$75,000 range, dependent on experience and qualifications
• Position includes benefits such as flexible working hours, vacation pay, health leave, and health benefits.

APPLICATION

Please apply through Indeed with the following:

• Resume showing your recent employment.
• A portfolio highlighting your strongest urban design, planning and/or landscape architecture work. Please indicate the organization and/or supervisor under which this work was conducted. Demonstrated connection between the built environment and wellbeing is an asset
• A cover letter of maximum 2 pages. Please don’t repeat your resume. We want to get to know you. Tell us your story, tell us how the happy city mission relates to you, or how you can best contribute to the work that we do.
• Please indicate the software you are able to use and your level of proficiency.

A note about our Equity & Inclusion policy:

We apply a rising weighted criteria for diversity in each hiring process. This means we give extra points when hiring or promoting individuals from backgrounds that are not represented, or are under-represented in our firm.

Please note, we are accepting applications on a rolling basis until the application deadline. Our office will be closed between Dec 24th - Jan 3rd, so any interviews will be conducted before and after these dates.

Application deadline: 2021-12-17

Expected start date: 2022-02-01

Job Types: Full-time, Permanent

Salary: $65,000.00-$75,000.00 per year

Benefits:

• Dental care
• Employee stock purchase plan
• Extended health care
• Flexible schedule
• Paid time off
• Profit sharing
• Vision care
• Work from home

Schedule:

Monday to Friday

Education:

Bachelor's Degree (preferred)

Work remotely:

Temporarily due to COVID-19

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.