Built Environment Specialist (Medior)

As a Circular Built Environment Specialist, you bring domain depth to a team that works at city scale. You see the built environment as a key characteristic of urban systems rather than a sector on its own, shaped by and shaping other urban sectors such as energy, mobility, consumption, land use and material flows. You are genuinely curious about how circular principles work in practice across that system: measuring the real impact of construction materials, shaping strategies that cities and authorities can act on, and identifying the implementation measures that move the needle on the ground.

You understand the built environment from the inside, whether your background is in architecture, building materials, engineering, urban development, or a combination of these.

Internally, you contribute your expertise to projects across Circle Economy’s Cities portfolio, guide the quality of technical content and analysis, and help shape how we approach our work  in the built environment. Externally, you represent us in technical discussions and client conversations, contribute to proposals and tenders, and proactively identify and develop new opportunities. You are as comfortable in a conversation about a city's construction and built environment strategy as you are presenting your research in front of high level staff or EU policy makers. You work together closely with the Cities Lead, deepening your expertise across the circular economy.

Project and content leadership

• Bring built environment expertise into live projects, working with data analysts and researchers across teams to produce high-quality analysis and novel insights.

• Independently deliver research, ensure the technical quality of reports, develop methodologies and manage deliverables in the circular built environment space.

• Present findings and recommendations to clients and stakeholder groups, including in workshops and external sessions.

• Act as the go-to reference point on built environment questions for colleagues across the organisation.

Service development and innovation

• Help translate Circle Economy's portfolio of research, advisory services, capacity building programmes and multi-stakeholder partnerships into compelling offerings for built environment clients.

• Identify opportunities for new service offerings based on project learnings and emerging trends in circular construction.

• Stay close to external developments in adjacent domains and bring relevant insights back into the organisation.

Business development and stakeholder engagement

• Identify and develop new commercial opportunities with cities, regions, municipalities, corporate clients and construction sector bodies.

• Support the full commercial process, from prospecting and relationship development through proposal co-creation to closing, with the support of Programme Leads, topic experts and senior management.

• Apply your built environment knowledge in proposals, tenders and client conversations across the organisation.

• Build and maintain relationships across the circular built environment ecosystem, and represent Circle Economy at external events and in the broader industry conversation.

Competencies

Essential

• Around 3 to 5 years of relevant professional experience with a background in the circular built environment, spanning architecture, building materials, civil engineering or a related field. You understand the sector and can speak its language with confidence.

• Experience producing research or technical analysis in a built environment or sustainability and circular context. You have led or contributed to research, written reports, methodologies or publications, and you can judge whether a piece of work is rigorous enough to put in front of a client. You are comfortable working with evidence on material flows, embodied carbon, building stock or comparable data, and can interrogate findings and identify potential gaps and improvements

• Working knowledge of the technical tools and data standards used across the built environment, such as BIM and IFC, material passport platforms, life cycle assessment tools, or GIS. While not necessarily being a modeller yourself, you can understand the results and hold a credible technical conversation with the people who use them daily.

• Past experience working in consultancy or in an advisory role, with an ability to work across teams and with multiple projects simultaneously on varying content. 

• A demonstrable affinity with business development. You have built relationships, developed proposals and converted opportunities into work with government, non-profit or commercial clients, and you are keen to grow this experience.

• Strong written communication skills. You can structure an argument, adapt your register for a researcher, a city official and a commercial client, and contribute to both thought leadership and a winning proposal narrative.

• Experience as a workshop facilitator, online and in person.

• A collaborative approach, bringing content and commercial thinking to your team, not only to a client conversation.

• A hands-on, problem-solving mindset, with the ability to work autonomously and keep track of your own delivery.

• Experience working in multicultural teams in an international environment

• Professional fluency in English and at least one additional language such as: Dutch, French, Spanish, German, Italian, Portuguese

• Affinity with our core values: Belonging, Collaboration, Courage and Transformation.

Desirable

• Familiarity with circular economy policy and EU-level legislation such as the Construction Products Regulation or Ecodesign. You do not need to be a policy specialist, but awareness of how the regulatory landscape creates both pressure and opportunity for clients is a genuine asset here.

• Experience developing or applying metrics, indicators or assessment methods used in the sector, such as life cycle assessment, material flow analysis, embodied carbon accounting, or circularity indicators for the built environment.

• Knowledge of urban sustainability frameworks or city-level circular procurement policies.

• Affinity with topics beyond your core specialisation: e.g. material banks and circular logistics, urban regeneration, biodiversity, social cohesion, critical raw materials, business models or meta-trends in consumption behaviour.

Our Offer

For this role, we offer an initial 1-year contract for 32 to 40 hours per week. This is a hybrid role based in Amsterdam. We offer a salary between EUR 3201 and EUR 4440 (gross for 40 hrs, excluding 8% holiday pay) commensurate with your experience. We also offer a pension plan, reimbursement of travel costs, phone plan, bi-weekly office drinks, and quarterly team outings.

Beyond the package, this is a role where your expertise genuinely shapes the work, where your commercial instincts have room to grow, and where the people around you are among the most thoughtful practitioners in the circular economy field. You will report directly to the Cities Lead and engage with our Textiles, Global Value Chains, and Finance & Economics teams, with real influence over how our Built Environment and Circular Cities portfolios develop.

Join Us

If you are motivated to contribute to a global team that is accelerating the transition to a circular economy, and you have the skills and experience we’re looking for, we would love to hear from you! Circle Economy is an equal-opportunity employer. We welcome and encourage candidates from all backgrounds to apply. To apply, please respond with your CV and a motivation letter.