Urban Design Principal

HDR, Inc.; San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 182,000 - 220,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Employee ownership

Comprehensive benefits

Competitive compensation

Job summary

HDR is seeking an energetic, team-oriented urban design principal to join our interdisciplinary architecture studio in Northern California. You will lead the development of an urban design and planning practice in the San Francisco studio, guiding interdisciplinary teams across civic, institutional, campus, and transit-oriented projects.

This role requires 15+ years of experience, design leadership, and strong client relations.

Qualifications

• 15+ years professional work experience as an urban designer, with experience leading commercial-scale design projects.
• AICP certified with regional experience.
• Proven track record of pursuing and winning large-scale planning and urban design projects.
• Strong master planning and design skills on urban and institutionally scaled projects.
• Experience leading interdisciplinary design teams within a studio.
• Ability to recruit and retain staff.
• Proficiency with Microsoft Office and project management tools.

Responsibilities

• Lead the development of an urban design and planning practice in the San Francisco studio in collaboration with other disciplines and geographies.
• Manage and direct interdisciplinary teams for civic, institutional, campus, transit-oriented and mixed-use development projects.
• Lead interdisciplinary projects for public realm design from concept to implementation.
• Apply sustainability principles to various project types.
• Mentor junior, mid-level, and senior staff to enable an engaged team environment.
• Develop new business opportunities and maintain client relations.
• Present planning proposals to stakeholders and decision-makers.
• Provide design leadership for infrastructure and urban development.

Skills

Leadership

Team collaboration

Visionary design

Mentoring

Effective communication

Education

Bachelor's or master's degree in urban design and/or landscape architecture

Tools

AutoCAD

SketchUp

Rhino

Adobe Creative Suite

RiNo

Grasshopper

Lumion

Enscape

VRay

Job description

At HDR, our employee-owners are fully engaged in creating a welcoming environment where each of us is valued and respected, a place where everyone is empowered to bring their authentic selves and novel ideas to work every day. As we foster a culture of inclusion throughout our company and within our communities, we constantly ask ourselves: What is our impact on the world?

Watch Our Story: ' https://www.hdrinc.com/our-story'

Each and every role throughout our organization makes a difference in our ability to change the world for the better. Read further to learn how you could help make great things possible not only in your community, but around the world.

We believe architecture is more than designing buildings, it's about providing solutions to societal challenges and creating stronger, more vibrant communities. As part of our Architecture practice at HDR, you'll contribute to the design and delivery of spaces and experiences that advance community well-being around the world. From healing environments and learning spaces to research labs and civic landmarks and infrastructure, your work will directly influence how individuals experience the world around them. We bring together architects, planners, designers, and technical experts to solve complex design challenges with creativity, curiosity, and collaboration. From championing design excellence with an emphasis on resilience and sustainability to pioneering innovative building technologies, your contributions will leave a lasting impact on the built environment. This isn't just a job, it's a chance to drive meaningful change and help define the future of our communities.

HDR is looking for an energetic, team-oriented urban design principal to join our interdisciplinary architecture studio in Northern California. Our design and planning teams work with diverse private and public sector clients to create vibrant places ranging from transit-oriented developments, urban mobility corridors, redevelopment districts, campuses, and waterfronts, to highly sustainable mixed-use communities. The successful candidate would augment and collaborate with a growing team of designers locally as well as across our multidisciplinary organization to provide design leadership, foster collaboration, seek new business development opportunities and contribute to our design culture with innovative and creative thinking.

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Work Responsibilities Include:

• Lead the development of an urban design and planning practice in the San Francisco studio in collaboration with other disciplines and geographies, advancing design excellence and interdisciplinary collaboration.
• Manage and direct interdisciplinary teams for various project types, including civic, institutional, campus, transit-oriented and mixed-use development, transit and urban mobility, community planning and stakeholder engagement, urban redevelopment and environmentally related analyses and assessments
• Lead interdisciplinary projects for public realm design and planning of various types, scales, and levels of complexity, from conceptual vision through implementation.
• Apply sustainability principles to various project types
• Perform site analysis and design concept development including digital and/or hand-illustrated deliverables suitable to communicate design intent to clients and staff
• Mentor junior, mid-level, and senior staff to enable an engaged and collaborative team environment
• Develop new business opportunities with new and existing clients, leveraging HDR's multidisciplinary expertise to help them to conceive ideas and establish a vision for future projects
• Develop and maintain client relations
• Facilitate and present planning proposals with decision-makers, stakeholders and public at meetings and events
• Provide design and thought leadership for infrastructure, urban development, and public realm design in urban environments

Preferred Qualifications

• Bachelor's or master's degree in urban design and/or landscape architecture from an accredited university. Candidates with both bachelor's and master's degrees may receive elevated consideration.
• 15+ years professional work experience as an urban designer, with experience leading commercial-scale design projects
• AICP certifie d (American Institute of Certified Planners) with regional experience
• Proven track record of pursuing and winning large-scale planning and urban design projects, including cross-selling of architecture, engineering, and planning services
• Strong master planning and design skills on urban and institutionally scaled projects
• Collaborative experience working within an interdisciplinary design studio on a full range of planning and design project phases
• Ability to recruit and retain staff
• Proficiency with AutoCAD, SketchUp, Rhino, Adobe Creative Suite, and rendering software such as RiNo, Grasshopper, Lumion, Enscape and VRay, and the ability to direct others in applying a variety of digital tools to develop urban design solutions, visual communication and storytelling
• Hand sketching and drawing skills
• Strong design and critical thinking skills: ideation, concept iteration and exploration through multiple platforms
• Exceptional design rigor, clear visual communication
• Experience with a range of design activities, including site analysis, site planning, conceptual development, and detailed design.
• Experience in sustainable and / or regenerative design
• Desire to work towards the integration of holistic sustainable processes into design projects at early design stages
• Experience and understanding of basic building physics, low carbon materials and high-performance design strategies
• Ability to travel.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in related field or an equivalent combination of education and related professional experience
• 15 years related experience
• A minimum of 7 years project management experience
• Proficient with Microsoft Office, estimating and scheduling software, project management software
• Must have the ability to interact with various design teams, have excellent organizational, project management and communication (both written and verbal) skills
• An attitude and commitment to being an active participant of our employee-owned culture is a must

What We Believe

HDR is our company. Together, we build on each other's life experiences and perspectives to make great things possible every day. This shapes our collaborative culture, encourages organizational trust and connects us closer to the clients and communities we serve.

Our Commitment

As employee owners, we all have a role in creating an inclusive environment where each of us is welcomed, valued, respected and empowered to bring our authentic selves to work every day.

Our eight Employee Network Groups (Asian Pacific, Black, Hispanic/Latino(a), LGBTQ+, People with Disabilities, Veterans, Women, Young Professionals) help create a sense of belonging and foster a supportive environment where everyone is empowered to engage and contribute. Each group has an executive sponsor and is open to all employees.

We provide a comprehensive benefits package that promotes employee ownership, employee health, performance, and success, which includes medical, dental, vision, short and long-term disability, life insurance, an employee assistance program, paid time away, parental leave, paid holidays, a retirement savings plan with employer match, employee referral bonus and tuition reimbursement. The expected compensation range for this position depends upon skills, experience, education and geographical location. (Stated benefits are for full-time regular positions. Temporary and part-time roles eligible for limited benefits.) Anticipated pay: $182,000 - $220,000

Primary Location: United States-California-San Francisco

Industry: Urban Design, Planning, Landscape Architecture

Schedule: Full-time

Employee Status: Regular

BusinessClass: Urban Design-Planning-Landscape Architecture

Job Posting: Oct 6, 2026