Architect Full Time

Established in the 1930s as a trading business, Al-Futtaim Group today is one of the most diversified and progressive, privately held regional businesses headquartered in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Structured into five operating divisions; automotive, financial services, real estate, retail and healthcare; employing more than 35,000 employees across more than 20 countries in the Middle East, Asia and Africa, Al-Futtaim Group partners with over 200 of the world’s most admired and innovative brands. Al-Futtaim Group’s entrepreneurship and relentless customer focus enables the organization to continue to grow and expand; responding to the changing needs of our customers within the societies in which we operate.

By upholding our values of respect, excellence, collaboration and integrity; Al-Futtaim Group continues to enrich the lives and aspirations of our customers each and every day

Overview of the role:

The role will support a variety of design ideation and related research tasks for the Development & Design department, typically working in the project origination, pre-concept and concept design stages and supporting site analysis, typology modelling, site zoning strategies, space planning, façade studies and public realm strategies. The role will typically be responsible for supporting a couple projects at a time, to be completed in short durations.

What you will do:

Responsible for:

Design and Ideation

Support Design Research on a Variety of Topics

• Support on research into relevant topics related to physical environments, including building typologies, public realm, architectural or component design details, materials and finishes, and so on, with a special emphasis on user experience.
• Support on research into relevant topics related to city design, including master planning, urban fabric, smart city technologies, advanced mobility, sustainability, thermal comfort, public realm and art, etc.

Support Site Assessments Across a Range of Project Types

• Support the in-depth analysis of sites, including context, views and benchmark references, with high quality, descriptive diagrams, illustrations and related graphics related.
• Prepare programmatic assessments and other quantitative studies to support the ideation stage, describing these with tables, graphs and other illustrative graphics.

Support Design Ideation and Related Design Studies

• Follow a rigorous ‘design-thinking’ methodology, employing a rapid, iterative approach to understanding the issues, defining the problem, ideating potential solutions, creating prototypes and testing the solutions.
• Complete rapid scenario modeling studies for site zoning and circulation, as well as building space planning and massing, described with high quality diagrams, plans, 3D models, illustrations and related graphics.
• Complete design scenarios related to user experience, with high quality collages, 3D renders, visual imagery or mood boards related to master planning, architectural or public realm studies.
• Support the ideation of various design components, including facades, open spaces, custom public realm furnishings, etc.
• Build simple physical models to represent massing or other relevant design criteria.
• Prepare summary presentations to executive Al-Futtaim stakeholders on various topics, as and when required.

Support the Preparation of Design Guidelines

• Support the translation of research findings on physical environments into clear actionable design guidelines, ranging from space planning, to facades, to sustainability, to landscape details, using clear written descriptions and
• Compile and explore preferences for typical design details – whether facade, interior design, landscape or other – and support the organization of them into clear and actionable design guidelines and related material.

Design Management (Design and Delivery Focused)

Support the Design Brief

• Support the development of a detailed design brief, incorporating product objectives, project and context description, collating all relevant background information and related documents, and defining the key design objectives and technical criteria.

Support the Design Management Process

• Occasionally support projects through the various stages of the project, from origination to design vision to detailed design, in coordination with the design manager, if applicable.

Job Context:

This position is directly related to our overall business plan and our ability to manage critical design and research efforts required by executive management. The roll-out programme for our projects is defined by our 5-year plan, which can be subject to change when our business plan is impacted by external factors and market forces beyond our immediate control.

Required Skills to be successful:

Job-Specific Skills:

• Exposure to diverse design disciplines, including master planning, architecture and interior design
• Strong skills in graphics and presentations
• Some awareness of technical requirements of buildings, including understanding of engineering and statutory authorities
• Ability to prepare clear and compelling presentations to executive management
• Emphasizes process over outcome for design
• Proficiency in MS Office (i.e. Word, Excel, PowerPoint)
• Proficiency in Adobe Suite (i.e. Photoshop, Illustrator and InDesign)
• Proficiency in 3D software (ex. SketchUp, Rhino, 3D Max, Grasshopper, etc.)

Behavioural Competencies:

Delighting Our Customers

• Demonstrates a passion to understand the impact of design on user experience, with a natural obsession for identifying the customer journey.
• Emphasizes human-centric product design approach, prioritizing specific sets of human needs, desires and behaviors related to how they would use or interact with a place or object.

Working Across Boundaries

• Makes it easy for other parties to respond, providing clear and concise descriptions, clear and accountable requests that enable the other party to respond quickly and with the precise feedback required.
• Employs an empathetic approach, seeking to clearly understand the priorities and motivations of the other parties in order to communicate more effectively.
• Avoids pointing faults in others, but admits mistakes in him or herself, seeking the best outcome for the team over the best outcome for the individual.

Managing Complexity

• Identifies and set priorities, with a clear process for addressing new requests according to relative urgency and importance.
• Creates or works with systems that have typical processes, templates and references for tasks that are highly complex and/or repetitive, in order to more rapidly and consistently complete the tasks with high quality.
• Anticipates areas of uncertainty and works to clarify these between parties to ensure an expedient outcome.

Influencing Others

• Applies an empathetic approach to communication, building rapport and regularly framing the issue from the other person’s perspective in order to demonstrate alignment of goals.
• Employs clear and consistent follow-up, applying regular and increasing degrees of pressure as needed, while being respectful of the parties concerned.

Taking Initiative

• Assumes an ‘extreme ownership’ mindset, taking full responsibility for the outcomes of his/her project and ensures others are held accountable for their inputs.
• Flips timeframes, asking not when is the latest an activity can be completed, but seeking out the earliest it can be achieved.
• Assumes a growth mindset, curious about new possibilities and ever seeking to learn new things and improve themselves

Drive for Results

• Assumes an entrepreneurial mindset, considers all aspects of the project – quality, timeframe, reputational, cost, financial performance and so on.
• Insists on relentlessly high standards, with an aim to consistently deliver world-class outcomes across the range of activities and outputs of responsibilities.
• Has high ambitions for themselves, their colleagues and their projects, embedding this mindset in their work.
• Accomplishes more with less, being resourceful and inventive on ways to deliver outsized results.

Engaging Leadership

• Effectively communicates goals, objectives and considerations with clear and compelling written, verbal and graphical materials, suited to the needs of the audience and circumstances.
• Consistently models the values of the team, the business and of Al-Futtaim.

Developing Talent

• Seeks to understand the team’s explicit and implicit motivations, working to support their goals in line with the business objectives.

What equips you for the role:

Minimum Qualifications and Knowledge:

• Master’s or bachelor’s degree in architecture or similar
• Fluent in English, Arabic is a plus

Minimum Professional Experience:

3 to 5 years’ experience in design roles, especially focused on conceptual design studies, and preferably having worked with highly reputable consultants or developers

About Al-Futtaim Group Real Estate
The real estate development and operations arm of Al-Futtaim, Al-Futtaim Group Real Estate is responsible for a multi-billion-dollar portfolio across MENA. With high-quality residential, business, retail, tourism, educational and healthcare developments, the master developer caters to the diverse needs of cities and communities in the region. From origination, conception, development, sales, procurement and construction of mega-projects and the leasing, operation and management of these projects after completion, Al-Futtaim Group Real Estate (AFGRE) has been developing and managing owned landbanks, unlocking the economic potential of the region and contributing to future development for more than 40 years.
Our focus is to enable and invest in meaningful relationships to make our properties the best places to live and work, build additional products and services and enable partnerships to create true value to our customers throughout their entire experience with us.
AFGRE is responsible for master planning of all projects in its portfolio, including two large scale mixed use destinations: Dubai Festival City and Cairo Festival City.