Data Scientist (Computational Design)

About Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) The Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) is Singapore’s land use planning and conservation authority. Our mission is to make Singapore a great city to live, work and play. We plan and facilitate the physical development of Singapore, in partnership with agencies and the community, to create a vibrant, sustainable and cosmopolitan city of distinction. About URBEX and DPLab URA has spearheaded efforts to strengthen urban planning and design workflows through the application of urban science, geospatial and data analytics, modelling and simulation (M&S), and AI technologies. In 2022, URA was designated as the Whole-of-Government (WOG) Urban Planning & Design Technology Centre of Excellence (URBEX), to lead the planning and design sector in building up these strategic capabilities. The Design & Planning Lab (DPLab) is a multi-disciplinary team in URA which drives URBEX efforts. In recognition of our work, URA was conferred the 2024 Esri Special Achievement in Geographic Information System (GIS) Award for demonstrating vision, leadership and innovation in the use of GIS technology. URA was also awarded the Esri Singapore GeoInnovation Award in 2024 for being amongst Singapore’s most progressive organisations in the use of geospatial solutions to transform the future. Our flagship product, ePlanner (a web-based geospatial platform that brings digital planning tools to WOG) also won the Excellence Award at the Singapore Public Service’s Science, Technology and Engineering Conference 2024. In DPLab, you will work alongside talented individuals with expertise in wide-ranging domains including data policy, governance, strategy and engineering, product strategy, business analysis, software engineering, cloud engineering, urban design technologies, data science, AI/Machine Learning, and M&S. You will also work closely with planners, architects, and policymakers to co-create digital solutions that contribute to enhancing the liveability, sustainability and resilience of our city-state. Responsibilities As a Data Scientist (Computational Design), you will help build parametric systems that generate, analyse, and evaluate building and urban form — from individual building massing to neighbourhood and city-scale scenarios. Working with senior team members, you will translate planning parameters into computational logic, prototype generative tools, and analyse results to surface patterns, trends, and insights across large sets of generated scenarios. You will also contribute to developing and integrating these tools into URA's in-house planning platforms. Requirements Knowledge • Proficiency in Python (or similar) with exposure to computational geometry and spatial libraries (e.g. Shapely, NumPy) for generating and manipulating forms programmatically. • Proficiency in data analysis tools and libraries (e.g. Pandas, GeoPandas) for processing, querying, and analysing large sets of generated or geospatial data. • Familiarity with parametric or generative design tools (e.g. Rhino/Grasshopper, CityEngine) or procedural systems from game/VFX pipelines (e.g. Unity/Unreal). Experience through personal projects, coursework, competitions, or hobby work is a strong plus. • Basic web development knowledge (e.g. TypeScript/React) sufficient to build tools or contribute features to an existing web platform, or a strong willingness to pick this up. • Foundational understanding of architectural or urban design concepts (e.g. massing, floor area, site coverage, spatial layout), or a demonstrated ability to learn these quickly. • Working knowledge of GIS and spatial data analysis (e.g. ArcGIS/QGIS, spatial joins, geospatial statistics). • Basic exposure to data visualisation (e.g. Matplotlib, Plotly) or 3D/web visualisation (e.g. Three.js, deck.gl) is a plus. Skills • Relevant experience in computational design, generative or parametric modelling, data analytics, web development, or a related field — whether through internships, academic or personal projects, competition entries, or professional work. • Able to think in systems and rules, decomposing a design problem into parameters and logic that a computer can execute. • Comfortable reasoning about shapes, geometry, and spatial relationships programmatically. • Strong analytical skills, with the ability to work with structured and spatial datasets to draw meaningful, defensible conclusions. • Able to translate a working prototype (script or notebook) into a usable feature on a shared web platform, with guidance from more senior engineers. • Strong visual and spatial judgement — able to sense-check whether a generated output is architecturally or urbanistically sensible, not just technically correct. • Willing to work across design, engineering, analytics, and front-end development, and to learn planning and architectural context on the job. Attitude • Curious about cities, architecture, and how rules, systems, and data shape the built environment • Enjoys working at the intersection of design, computation, analysis, and product/tool-building • Keen to learn new tools (GIS, parametric/procedural software, data analytics, web frameworks, AI/ML) and grow into the role