Urban Planner/Designer

Vanasse Hangen Brustlin Inc. is seeking an Urban Planner/Designer for their Watertown, MA office. The role involves serving clients in the New England region, focusing on equitable and sustainable community planning. Responsibilities include site planning, public outreach, and urban design support. Candidates should have a passion for city planning, strong communication skills, and relevant experience. A B.S. in a related field is required, with a preference for an MS degree.
Urban Planner/Designer

Job Locations

US-MA-Watertown | US-MA-Boston

ID

2025-5204

Category

Planning

Type

Regular Full-Time

Career Stage Type

Experienced

# of Openings

1

Overview

ABOUT THE POSITION

Our Massachusetts team is looking for someone with a true passion for planning, to help make communities more equitable, sustainable, resilient, and healthy. This is a challenging position with room to grow in a forward-thinking multidisciplinary environment. The selected candidate will be actively engaged on high-profile projects throughout the region, in a project management capacity.

Responsibilities

Serve public- and private-sector clients throughout the New England Region, including site due diligence, GIS analysis, concept-level site planning, and housing and/or economic development strategy.
• Support public outreach and engagement, with an emphasis on equity.
• Contribute to VHB's comprehensive planning practice, with an emphasis on sustainability and public health, for towns and cities throughout New England, through spatial analysis, research, writing, and graphic support.
• Research and interpret land use, zoning, and environmental regulations.
• Provide support for urban design assignments, ranging from basic site capacity studies to Transit-Oriented Development planning, to large-scale, mixed-use, urban design projects, including the use of 3D modeling programs and rendering (e.g., Sketchup, etc.).
• Provide graphic support for reports and similar documents, including through the use of the Adobe Creative Suite (e.g., Illustrator, Photoshop, InDesign, etc.).
• Interact with colleagues, clients, and other consultants to advance projects in an efficient and effective manner.
• Provide support in the preparation of local, state, and federal permitting submission documents for public and private projects, in coordination with a wide range of supporting technical specialties.

Skills & Abilities
• Passion for PROMOTING EQUITY in communities large and small
• Passion for supporting SUSTAINABLE GROWTH
• Ability to independently manage multiple tasks and interact appropriately and positively with clients
• Excellent verbal, written, and interpersonal communication skills
• Demonstrable passion for city planning and urban design
• Familiarity with ArcGIS, Sketchup, and the Adobe Creative Suite is a plus
• Understanding of sustainability and climate action/adaptation planning is a plus, including concepts such as Net Zero Energy, Net Zero Waste, etc.
• Understanding of planning for public health is a plus

Qualifications
• B.S in city planning, urban design, or related field required; MS degree preferred.
• Minimum 5-8 years' experience required.
• GIS skills preferred
• Sketchup/Rhino skills preferred (not required)

We are VHB! We're an inspired and innovative team of engineers, scientists, planners, and designers who partner with clients in the transportation, real estate, institutional, and energy industries, as well as federal, state, and local governments. Our work helps improve mobility, enhance communities, and contribute to economic vitality. We do this while balancing development and infrastructure needs with stewardship of our environment.

Our people make us great! VHB provides a differentiating employee experience, which includes:
• Diverse and inclusive culture of collaboration and innovation
• Opportunity to work on complex, transformational projects
• Community and social responsibility as sustainable stewards
• Focus on learning, development, and career growth
• Best-in-class benefits, including flexible, hybrid workplace

We are consistently rated one of the top AEC firms to work for across our 30+ offices on the East Coast. We're growing, and we hope you'll join us!

VHB is a proud Equal Opportunity Employer. Since our founding, we have intentionally fostered a culture of inclusion and belonging, supported by deep-rooted core values, one of which is diversity. Qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, gender, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity/expression, national origin, disability, protected veteran status, or other characteristics protected by law.

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