Manager; Urban and Real Estate Economist

Job Description Overview AtkinsRéalis is seeking an experienced Senior Urban and Real Estate Economist to join its Advisory team in the Middle East. The role will provide economic, demographic and real estate market analysis to support development advisory, urban planning, master planning and infrastructure planning assignments. The successful candidate will translate population, household, employment and sector growth forecasts into spatial and real estate requirements, including:
Land-use and development demand. Real estate asset mix and scale. Housing and employment requirements. Social infrastructure needs. Development capacity and absorption. Development and infrastructure phasing. Investment priorities. The candidate will work as part of multidisciplinary teams alongside development advisors, urban planners, master planners, real estate specialists, infrastructure planners, engineers, transport specialists, GIS professionals and financial advisors.

• Undertake economic, demographic and socio-economic analysis for regional strategies, city plans, master plans and major development programmes.
• Prepare population, household, employment and economic forecasts at regional, city, district and development levels.
• Translate growth forecasts into spatial requirements for residential, commercial, retail, hospitality, industrial, mixed-use and community development.
• Assess relationships between economic activity, population distribution, employment, accessibility, land use and infrastructure provision.
• Develop and test alternative growth and development scenarios and assess their spatial implications.
• Prepare socio-economic baselines, city and regional benchmarks, economic impact assessments and wider-benefits analysis.
• Translate demographic forecasts into requirements for housing and social infrastructure, including education, healthcare, recreation and community facilities.
• Work with planning and GIS teams to spatially represent population, employment, economic activity and development demand.

• Undertake real estate market, demand and supply assessments across relevant asset classes.
• Analyse market drivers, existing and planned supply, occupancy, take-up, pricing, absorption and competing developments.
• Prepare development demand forecasts for residential, office, retail, hospitality, industrial and other real estate uses.
• Provide economic and market inputs into development positioning, land-use mix, scale, density and phasing.
• Assess the market supportability and absorption of proposed development programmes.
• Support highest-and-best-use studies, development strategies, land strategies and master plans.
• Test development scenarios against economic, demographic and real estate market conditions.
• Work with financial advisors to align market assumptions, development programmes and financial feasibility.
• Provide evidence to support development, land-use and investment decisions.

• Translate population, employment and real estate forecasts into high-level infrastructure and service-demand assumptions.
• Support infrastructure planners in understanding how development growth affects transport, utilities, municipal services and social infrastructure.
• Identify development dependencies and infrastructure triggers affecting land release, development sequencing and phasing.
• Support the alignment of real estate absorption, development delivery and infrastructure investment.
• Provide economic and demand inputs into infrastructure strategies, investment plans and business cases.

• Lead defined urban and real estate economics work streams within multidisciplinary advisory assignments.
• Develop clear methodologies, analytical…