PROJECT MANAGER (PRIORITY DEVELOPMENT REVIEW)

City of Toronto; Toronto; On-site; CAD 105,000 - 161,000; Full time

Job summary

The City of Toronto is seeking a Project Manager for Priority Development Review to advance a portfolio of high-profile development applications through the City's development review and approval processes. This role focuses on priority sectors and requires coordinated leadership across divisions and stakeholders at City Hall.

As the relationship manager for assigned portfolios, you will build trusted connections with developers and internal experts, anticipate issues, and drive rigorous

Qualifications

• Experience managing land development projects or complex development applications.
• Experience leading projects and teams.
• Experience developing project plans, coordinating schedules and milestones.
• Experience identifying and mitigating project risks and issues.
• Experience building relationships with diverse stakeholders.
• Ability to influence decisions without direct supervisory authority.
• Excellent facilitation, negotiation and conflict-resolution skills.
• Strong communication skills for briefing materials to senior management.
• Strong political acuity and discretion for high-profile matters.
• Knowledge of municipal development approval processes and Ontario Planning Act.

Responsibilities

• Develops and implements detailed plans and recommends policies for program-specific requirements.
• Guides prioritized development applications through the City’s review process to planning approvals.
• Maintains project plans, schedules and milestones across stages.
• Manages portfolio governance, reporting and escalation; tracks decisions and actions.
• Leads assigned projects with effective teamwork and high-quality output.
• Manages relationships with developers and external stakeholders with clear expectations.
• Promotes transparent review processes with timely information to applicants and teams.
• Coordinates multidisciplinary reviews across City divisions and external agencies.
• Negotiates priorities and deadlines among colleagues without direct reporting lines.
• Anticipates risks and bottlenecks, coordinating solutions before barriers arise.
• Integrates technical, policy and stakeholder perspectives to resolve complex issues.
• Provides briefings and recommendations to senior management and elected officials.
• Represents and supports the Director at meetings and interagency discussions.
• Conducts targeted research within policy and industry developments.
• Directs and reviews work of corporate teams and external consultants.
• Ensures expenditures stay within approved budgets.

Skills

Land development projects

Project leadership

Scheduling & planning

Risk management

Stakeholder engagement

Influence without authority

Facilitation & negotiation

Verbal & written communication

Political acumen

Planning act knowledge

Job description

PROJECT MANAGER (PRIORITY DEVELOPMENT REVIEW)

Job ID: 65977
Job Category:Project Management
Division & Section: Development Review, Priority Development Review
Work Location: City Hall, 100 Queen St. W
Job Type & Duration: Full-time, Permanent
Salary Range: $105,241.00 - $160,649.00 Shift Information: Monday to Friday, 35 hours per week
Affiliation: Non-Union
Number of Positions Open: 1
Posting Period: 30-Sep-2026 to 15-Oct-2026

Job Summary

Reporting to the Manager, Priority Development Review Service, the Project Manager is accountable for advancing a portfolio of high-profile development applications through the City’s development review and approval processes. The portfolio focuses on priority development sectors, and may include affordable and supportive housing, shelters, healthcare, schools and other city-building initiatives requiring coordinated leadership across multiple divisions, agencies and stakeholders.

Acting as the Development Review Division’s relationship manager for assigned portfolios, the Project Manager builds trusted working relationships with development applicants and subject matter experts across City divisions and partner agencies. The role anticipates emerging issues, critical dependencies and potential bottlenecks, helping ensure development applications are evaluated rigorously, decisions are made efficiently and strategically important projects maintain momentum toward construction.

Success in this role requires disciplined project coordination, collaborative problem solving, sound judgment, strong relationship management and a relentless focus on delivery.

Major Responsibilities

• Develops and implements detailed plans and recommends policies and practices regarding program-specific requirements.
• Guides the advancement of a portfolio of prioritized development applications through the City’s review process from submission through planning approvals and toward construction.
• Develops and maintains project plans, schedules and milestones to coordinate activities, monitor progress and maintain momentum through multiple project stages.
• Manages portfolio governance, reporting and escalation processes; tracks key decisions, commitments, dependencies and required actions; and reports on portfolio status, progress and issues requiring intervention.
• Manages assigned projects, ensuring effective teamwork and communication, high standards of work quality and organizational performance and continuous learning.
• Manages relationships for assigned portfolios, building productive relationships with developers and other external customers and stakeholders, establishing clear expectations and fostering joint accountability.
• Promotes effective, predictable and responsive service by establishing clear expectations for the review process, providing timely information to applicants and development teams, and ensuring emerging issues are communicated early and transparently.
• Coordinates the multidisciplinary review process across City divisions and works with external agencies and applicants to coordinate review process activities and achieve project milestones, while technical experts retain responsibility for their professional advice.
• Negotiates task priorities and deadlines among colleagues without a direct reporting relationship.
• Anticipates emerging risks, critical dependencies, and potential bottlenecks, escalating issues and coordinating practical solutions before they become barriers to project delivery.
• Integrates technical, policy, operational and stakeholder perspectives to resolve complex project issues, challenge the status quo and adapt approaches while maintaining rigorous review against City policies, standards and objectives.
• Provides timely briefings and recommendations to senior management and elected officials on emerging issues, options and actions required to advance high-profile and politically sensitive development projects.
• Represents and supports the Director at conferences and interagency, intergovernmental, senior staff and steering committee meetings.
• Conducts research into assigned area ensuring that such research takes into account developments within the field, corporate policies and practices, legislation and initiatives by other levels of government.
• Directs and reviews work of corporate teams.
• Retains and manages external consultants on project-specific assignments and studies.
• Ensures that the project expenditures are controlled and maintained within approved budget limitations.

Key Qualifications

• Considerable experience managing land development projects or complex development applications, including navigating approval processes and regulatory requirements to support project delivery.
• Considerable experience leading projects and teams.
• Experience developing project plans, coordinating schedules and milestones, and monitoring delivery through multiple project stages.
• Experience in identifying and mitigating project risks, dependencies, and issues in complex projects or initiatives.
• Experience building and maintaining productive relationships with diverse internal and external stakeholders, balancing competing interests while achieving organizational objectives.
• Ability to build alignment, influence decisions and foster accountability among multidisciplinary teams and technical experts without direct supervisory authority.
• Excellent facilitation, negotiation and conflict-resolution skills, with the ability to integrate technical, policy and stakeholder perspectives to support the resolution of complex issues.
• Strong verbal and written communication skills, including experience preparing briefing materials and communicating complex issues clearly to senior management and elected officials.
• Strong political acuity, sound judgment and discretion in managing high-profile and politically sensitive matters.
• Knowledge of municipal development approval processes, including Zoning By-law Amendment and Site Plan Control applications, and applicable legislation such as the Ontario Planning Act.

Note To Current City of Toronto Employees

City of Toronto employees are eligible to apply for the posted job opportunity, but cannot hold two different jobs. To be considered for this job posting, you must indicate that you are a "Current City of Toronto employee" on the on-line application form, and provide your "Employee Number".

Equity, Diversity and Inclusion

The City is an equal opportunity employer, dedicated to creating a workplace culture of inclusiveness that reflects the diverse residents that we serve. Learn more about the City’s commitment to employment equity .