Project Manager​/Urban Designer - Urban Design Center

Join to apply for the Project Manager/Urban Designer - Urban Design Center role at City of Charlotte
.

Position open:
Monday, December 29, 2025 12:00 AM. Close date:
Monday, January 12, 2026 12:00 AM.

Department:
Planning, Design & Development Department.

Salary: $83,208.00 – $, commensurate with experience.

Charlotte is America’s Queen City, opening her arms to a diverse and inclusive community of residents, businesses and visitors alike. Here you will find a safe, family‑oriented city where people work together to help everyone thrive. The mission of the City of Charlotte is to deliver quality public services and promote the safety, health, and quality of life for all residents.

• Attracting and retaining a skilled and diverse workforce
• Valuing teamwork, openness, accountability, productivity, and employee development
• Providing all customers with courteous, responsive, accessible, and seamless quality services
• Taking initiative to identify, analyze, and solve problems
• Collaborating with stakeholders to make informed decisions

Focuses on transforming Charlotte’s growth and transit investments into well‑designed, people‑centered places. Leads urban design and placemaking projects across city departments, guiding everything from early concepts to construction so public spaces, station areas, and corridors reflect strong design principles and community needs. By serving as both a project leader and in‑house design consultant, the position ensures that major city initiatives create vibrant and inclusive public places.

• Lead interdepartmental projects for the Urban Design Center and other city departments, as assigned
• In partnership with other PD+D divisions, lead transit/station area planning efforts around recently funded transit projects
• Oversee urban design reviews of future transit projects and provide feedback based on sound principles of urban design
• Lead large placemaking projects and manage budgets from design through construction
• Partner with planning staff to assist with Community Area Plan implementation
• Provide urban design guidance to city Capital Projects
• Work with other Departments on major initiatives where urban design and placemaking is concerned (e.g., Corridors of Opportunity, Strategic Investment Areas, etc.)
• Assist/lead, as needed, on ad‑hoc planning and urban design projects (e.g., master planning, design responses and test fits, ordinance updates, etc.)
• Perform regulatory tasks as they relate to urban design and the Unified Development Ordinance (UDO)
• Manage and mentor junior employees

• Urban design principles, best practices, and applicability to the built environment
• Construction management and project implementation, especially how construction methods and design interventions impact the public realm
• Leading multi‑disciplinary project teams and project management
• Management and leadership of junior staff
• Experience working with design and development professionals
• Ability to effectively collaborate within internal and external organizations
• Effective communication of design principles and practices to diverse audiences and all segments of the City’s population
• Community engagement experience and ability to build relationships with neighborhood leaders
• Work in a fast‑paced environment that requires personal organization, a self‑starting work ethic, and the ability to switch between tasks quickly
• Rendering and graphic production including hand sketching, master planning, computer‑generated perspectives, diagrams, etc.
• Software knowledge, including Adobe Creative Cloud, ArcGIS Pro, AutoCAD, Sketch Up, and Microsoft 365

• Bachelor’s degree in Planning, Architecture, Geography, Landscape Architecture, Engineering, Political Science, Public Administration, Social Science or related degree, with a strong preference that it be supplemented by a Master’s Degree in the above fields of study. Preference given for candidates with a design education and/or design training and experience.
• Five (5) years of progressive professional design experience (urban design, public space planning and design,…