Associate Director - Urban Advisory

AECOM Middle East Ltd; Dubai; On-site; AED 45,000 - 65,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical coverage

Disability insurance

Life insurance

Professional development

Wellbeing resources

Job summary

ACECOM Middle East Ltd in Dubai seeks an Associate Director - Urban Advisory to lead urban development and infrastructure advisory programs across the region. You will guide multidisciplinary teams, shape transport, mobility, regeneration, and economic city initiatives, and advise senior clients on strategy and delivery.

The role requires a degree in economics or urban planning and 14+ years of experience, with proven leadership in complex advisory assignments, economic appraisal, and financial

Qualifications

• Degree in Economics, Urban Planning, Public Policy, or related field.
• 14+ years of professional experience in urban advisory and infrastructure consulting.
• Proven record directing complex advisory assignments.
• Strong capability in economic appraisal and financial modeling.

Responsibilities

• Lead urban advisory, infrastructure strategy, economic development, and built environment consulting projects.
• Define project objectives, scope, methodology, deliverables, governance, and execution plans.
• Direct assignments from inception through analysis, stakeholder engagement, recommendations, and final delivery.
• Conduct market assessments covering demand, supply, demographics, economic conditions, land use, and investment trends.
• Lead feasibility studies for transport, mobility, infrastructure, regeneration, industrial, and economic city projects.
• Prepare economic appraisals and assess the wider social, commercial, and development impact of proposed programmes.

Skills

Urban advisory

Economic development

Infrastructure strategy

Urban planning

Financial modeling

Education

Degree in Economics, Urban Planning, Public Policy, or related field

Job description

Associate Director - Urban Advisory

Location & Industry

Dubai, United Arab Emirates – Management Consulting.

Job Type

Full-time

Salary

Estimated range: AED 45,000–65,000 per annum.

Overview

Associate Director - Urban Advisory in Dubai is a management consulting opportunity for an experienced leader specializing in urban development, infrastructure strategy, economic appraisal, feasibility studies, and complex advisory programmes. The role will guide multidisciplinary teams, advise senior clients, and shape major transport, mobility, regeneration, industrial city, and infrastructure corridor initiatives across the region.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead urban advisory, infrastructure strategy, economic development, and built environment consulting projects.
• Define project objectives, scope, methodology, deliverables, governance, and execution plans.
• Direct assignments from inception through analysis, stakeholder engagement, recommendations, and final delivery.
• Conduct market assessments covering demand, supply, demographics, economic conditions, land use, and investment trends.
• Lead feasibility studies for transport, mobility, infrastructure, regeneration, industrial, and economic city projects.
• Prepare economic appraisals and assess the wider social, commercial, and development impact of proposed programmes.
• Develop and review financial models, business cases, funding scenarios, and investment evaluations.
• Analyse urban trends, regulatory frameworks, infrastructure capacity, and market dynamics.
• Identify development opportunities, delivery risks, policy constraints, and commercial implications.
• Formulate urban development strategies supported by reliable evidence and clear implementation priorities.
• Convert technical and economic findings into actionable recommendations for clients and senior decision-makers.
• Prepare executive presentations, strategic reports, investment cases, and decision-support materials.
• Present complex information clearly to government entities, developers, investors, and executive stakeholders.
• Manage client relationships throughout the full advisory project lifecycle.
• Maintain clear communication regarding progress, decisions, risks, budgets, and required client actions.
• Facilitate workshops, interviews, steering committee meetings, and stakeholder consultation sessions.
• Lead multidisciplinary teams of economists, planners, engineers, financial analysts, and specialist consultants.
• Establish team responsibilities, work programmes, quality expectations, and review procedures.
• Mentor team members and provide regular technical guidance and performance feedback.
• Monitor project budgets, resource deployment, timelines, and commercial performance.
• Ensure assignments remain within approved scope while meeting quality and profitability objectives.
• Manage project risks and implement timely mitigation actions where delivery challenges arise.
• Coordinate inputs from transport, infrastructure, planning, sustainability, environmental, and design disciplines.
• Integrate resilience, sustainability, digital innovation, and regional best practices into advisory recommendations.
• Support major transport and mobility programmes, infrastructure corridors, and urban regeneration initiatives.
• Advise on economic and industrial city development strategies and implementation frameworks.
• Contribute to proposal writing, scope development, pricing, pitch preparation, and client presentations.
• Identify new advisory opportunities and support market growth across the Middle East.
• Maintain awareness of emerging technologies, policy developments, investment trends, and urban planning practices.
• Attend in‑person Day1 onboarding at an AECOM office as a condition of employment.

Ideal Profile

• Degree in Economics, Urban Planning, Public Policy, or a related field.
• Minimum 14years of professional experience in urban advisory, economic development, and infrastructure consulting.
• Proven record of directing complex advisory assignments involving multiple stakeholders.
• Advanced capability in economic appraisal, feasibility assessment, and financial modeling.
• Strong experience with major transport, mobility, and infrastructure programmes.
• Previous involvement in infrastructure corridors, urban regeneration, and economic or industrial city developments.
• Ability to develop commercially realistic strategies from complex quantitative and qualitative evidence.
• Strong understanding of urban economics, investment planning, market analysis, and public policy.
• Experience advising government entities, developers, investors, or major infrastructure clients.
• Proven team leadership, mentoring, performance management, and resource planning ability.
• Strong commercial judgement covering scope definition, budgeting, profitability, and risk management.
• Ability to lead executive workshops and present recommendations with confidence.
• Excellent report writing, strategic communication, and stakeholder engagement skills.
• Strong analytical judgement with the ability to challenge assumptions and test alternative scenarios.
• Ability to manage several assignments and business development priorities simultaneously.
• Professional discretion when handling confidential commercial, financial, and government information.

Skills Set

• Urban advisory
• Economic development
• Infrastructure strategy
• Urban planning
• Economic appraisal
• Feasibility studies
• Financial modeling
• Business case development
• Market analysis
• Urban economics
• Transport programmes
• Mobility strategy
• Infrastructure corridors
• Urban regeneration
• Industrial cities
• Economic cities
• Strategic assessments
• Regulatory analysis
• Investment evaluation
• Development strategy
• Stakeholder engagement
• Client relationship management
• Multidisciplinary leadership
• Project budgeting
• Resource planning
• Commercial management
• Risk management
• Proposal development
• Executive presentations
• Team mentoring

Benefits

Eligible employees may receive benefits according to employment status and company policy, including medical coverage, disability insurance, life insurance, paid leave, professional development, wellbeing resources, employee assistance services, business travel insurance, recognition programmes, retirement savings support, and other employment benefits.

About Company

ACECOM is a global infrastructure consulting firm providing urban advisory, planning, economics, engineering, design, programme management, and construction management services. Its multidisciplinary teams work with public and private sector clients to develop sustainable, resilient, and commercially informed solutions for cities, transport systems, infrastructure networks, and major development programmes.