Urban Innovation (Knowledge Products & Place Strategy) - Senior Associate / Manager (Based in KL) - Careers

Think City is building a new Urban Innovation unit, organised as an urban studio. This will be a small, high-trust team that translates real place challenges and Think City’s collective knowledge and experience over the past 16 years into reusable tools and evidence-based narratives that strengthen partnerships and funding.

You will be Employee #2 in the unit. You will work closely with the Unit Lead to shape what we build, define how we work, and benchmark what “good” looks like. If you are highly curious, enjoy shipping tangible outputs, and are energised by turning messy inputs into usable tools, this role is for you. As the team grows and our scope expands, your role can grow too, with opportunities to specialise over time.

YOUR ROLE:

1. Knowledge products / productisation (50% weightage)

Turn past project outputs and internal knowledge into Think City-branded products that strengthen thought leadership, business development, and delivery
efficiency. This includes:

Identify the needs of internal and external users (teams, partners, clients, funders).
Build and manage a productisation pipeline (what to package first, why, and for whom).
Translate project learnings into usable formats (toolkits, templates, guides, frameworks).
Develop and test prototypes quickly, then iterate with real users (internal and external).
Bring products to publish-ready quality; you do not need to be a graphic designer, but you must have strong visual/editorial judgment and be able to coordinate design and manage vendors to a high standard.
Drive adoption by enabling colleagues to use them (light training, usage guidance, office hours).
Maintain quality over time (versioning, updates, feedback loops).
Concrete examples of knowledge products could include a community survey question bank, a case study library of local economic development projects, and a city scenario planning toolkit.

2. Place-based anchor framework (30% weightage)

Develop a unifying, credible framework that anchors Think City’s work and clarifies our role (for example, as a local economic development agency).
This includes:

Develop a unifying, credible framework that anchors Think City’s work and clarifies our role (for example, as a local economic development agency). This includes:
Synthesise Think City’s learnings into a clear narrative of what we do, why it matters, and how it works.
Develop analysis and comparative case studies to strengthen the narrative.
Produce assets that expand and build upon the framework and connect it to current and potential projects.

3. Enabling work and exploration (20% weightage)

Desktop research, writing/editing, and synthesis across diverse materials.
Support colleagues as a subject matter advisor, where relevant.
Track emerging urban innovation topics, what other organisations are doing, and identifying where Think City should explore.
Support the Unit Lead in building and advocating the Urban Innovation unit.2.

WHAT SUCCESS LOOKS LIKE:

Within the first 6-12 months, you would have:

Built a nuanced understanding of the breadth and depth of Think City’s past and current work.
Led the development of 2-3 Think City toolkits for internal and/or external use.
Developed a draft place-based anchor framework that strengthens proposals, partnerships, and positioning.
Established a studio delivery cadence (prioritisation, build cycles, reviews, and releases) that balances quality, speed, and learning.

WHO WE ARE LOOKING FOR:

We are looking for the strongest combination of these attributes (no one will have everything):

Core strengths (high priority):

Synthesis + product craft: demonstrated ability to turn complex inputs into usable outputs (e.g., toolkits, playbooks, frameworks, guides, training materials) with a high bar for clarity, usability, and quality.
Strong writing: excellent writing, editing, and synthesis skills (English and Bahasa Melayu) with the judgment to shape narratives for different audiences (e.g., internal teams, external partners, funders).
Delivery drive: ships tangible outputs, iterates quickly based on feedback, and can establish a steady delivery cadence (rather than one-off deliverables).
Ownership + systems thinking: builds templates, workflows, and reusable methods that improve consistency and efficiency across teams over time.
Comfort with ambiguity: able to turn messy inputs into a clear plan, structure, and next steps, with strong judgment about what to prioritise and what “good” looks like.
Collaborative stakeholder approach: gathers inputs across internal/external stakeholders and shapes alignment; able to bridge high-level strategy/policy with on-the-ground implementation and real-world constraints.
Good judgment and ethics: handles evidence, stakeholder perspectives, and sensitive contexts responsibly; chooses rigour and integrity over convenience when it matters.
Curiosity + learning mindset: asks great questions, seeks clarity, and enjoys building in new domains and evolving practice.
Technical comfort: able to learn enough to collaborate across domains (e.g., spatial analytics, local economic development, community building) without needing to be the expert in all of them.
Sustainable pace: outcome-oriented and flexible when needed, while valuing good planning and sustainable ways of working.

Relevant experience (including but not limited to):

Place-based work in relevant fields including urban regeneration, economic development, public policy, urban analytics, community development, ESG, urban planning, real estate, management consulting, product development, service design, and knowledge management.
Stakeholder fluency across public, private, communities, and funders.
Product development and project delivery experience (end-to-end scoping, building, testing, and iterating).

Nice-to-have (optional):

Facilitation and service design (workshopping, journey mapping, translating insights into usable assets).
Spatial data storytelling (spatial analysis/GIS to strengthen frameworks and case evidence).
Knowledge systems and AI-assisted workflows (urban/product taxonomy, digital product management, internal knowledge tools, agentic AI experimentation).
Business development packaging (proposal development, pitch narratives, case studies).

Role level expectations:

Senior Associate: You are an excellent individual contributor. You can extract and synthesise messy content from different sources, and turn it into an attractive and usable toolkit, with minimum supervision.
Manager: The expectations of a Senior Associate, plus the ability to lead vendor relationships, manage a project budget, and proactively identify new “products” to build.

WHAT YOU WILL GET:

The opportunity to help establish and shape the Urban Innovation Unit from the ground up and Think City’s future direction.
High ownership and a front-row seat to Think City’s strategy, methods, and partnerships.
A role that blends craft (building toolkits/frameworks) with real-world place impact.
Close mentorship from the Unit Lead and exposure to Think City’s diverse projects and team members.

HOW TO APPLY:

A two-page CV.
One to two work samples that show your ability to synthesise, productise, and/or innovate. This could be a toolkit, framework, deck, guide, report, case study, or writing sample. The sample should demonstrate how you structure information and make it usable.
In addition to a face-to-face interview, shortlisted candidates may be required to complete a 45-minute in-person exercise.

The perfect candidate doesn’t exist. We welcome candidates who do not meet every single requirement. Tell us what you can do, what you wish to learn, and what you have shipped.