Associate - Landscape architecture

- Legal Entity: AECOM MIDDLE EAST LIMITED ABU DHABI
- Business Line: U&P
- Work Location Model: Hybrid
- Operating Group: International
- Primary

Location:
AE
- Abu Dhabi, UAE
- International Company Description Work with Us. Change the World. At AECOM, we're delivering a better world. Whether improving your commute, keeping the lights on, providing access to clean water, or transforming skylines, our work helps people and communities thrive. We are the world's trusted infrastructure consulting firm, partnering with clients to solve the world’s most complex challenges and build legacies for future generations. There has never been a better time to be at AECOM. With accelerating infrastructure investment worldwide, our services are in great demand. We invite you to bring your bold ideas and big dreams and become part of a global team of over 50,000 planners, designers, engineers, scientists, digital innovators, program and construction managers and other professionals delivering projects that create a positive and tangible impact around the world. We're one global team driven by our common purpose to deliver a better world. Join us.

Job Description
The Associate – Landscape operating as a senior design professional is responsible for driving strategy, innovation, and excellence in the design and delivery of landscape architecture projects. This role combines hands‑on project leadership with team management, technical oversight, and client engagement. The Associate plays a key role in shaping project outcomes, mentoring staff, and contributing to the studio’s growth and reputation through thought leadership, quality assurance, and business development.

Responsibilities:
- May be required to act as a line manager and should be able to mentor, monitor timekeeping, conduct performance reviews, and provide feedback on assigned technical staff.
- Play an active role in the technical development of the allocated team. Acts in a supporting role to the Team Leader/ Manager/ Associate Director /Director by delegating work and directing less experienced staff to complete assigned projects' technical tasks.
- Able to monitor and track the budget for specific tasks within the project.
- Take the lead on multiple landscape architecture projects and define roles and responsibilities.
- Lead client interface and manage projects' contractual requirements.
- Planned and conducted design and creative review sessions for ongoing projects and competitions.
- Identify skills gaps, source, interview, and recruit new joiners.
- Present market research outcomes and develop a thought leadership presentation for the wider team.
- Well aware of landscape architecture standards generally applied across landscape architecture projects sourced from landscape architecture authorities and regulatory guidelines.
- Drive and conduct site opportunity and constraint studies for projects, present proposals internally and externally, and derive design ideas for implementation and further consideration.
- Contribute to discussions and design drivers within the studio's ethos. Establish innovative visions for the projects that align with the studio ethos, the site's potential, and the project brief.
- Lead landscape architecture project deliverables with applicable landscape architecture authorities and client requirements.
- Ensure the compliance of deliverables with the scope of work and contracts.
- Clearly understand the scopes of Architecture, urban planning, and landscape, as well as the synergies and overlaps between them, on projects and in the studio.
- Able to develop new landscape architecture and building typologies applicable to projects and sites with conditions.
- Able to tailor design responses to project-specific conditions.
- Narrate landscape architecture ideas clearly through literature in reports and presentations, and guide/mentor direct reports in effective report writing.
- Bridge between delivering design ideas and delivering to budget.
- Understand client objectives and steer design thinking accordingly.
- Actively promote innovative landscape architecture attributes and influence peers and reports.
- Promote the use of innovative digital tools in landscape architecture projects and engage in internal research and development.
- Identify new potential areas of innovation and improvement in design ideation and presentation that the landscape architecture team can benefit from.
- Manage, coordinate, and deliver landscape architecture bids and proposals, tailoring technical approaches, methodologies, and delivery structures as needed. Prepare and coordinate the commercial aspects of bids in accordance with project expectations.
- Structure teams for landscape architecture projects with a clear understanding of project roles and responsibilities.
- Advocate for quality procedures applicable to the landscape architecture technical practice group and continuously apply thorough self-checks an