Principal Transport Planner

Auckland Council; Auckland; Hybrid; NZD 130,000 - 144,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Flexible working options

KiwiSaver contribution

Employee benefits

Job summary

Auckland Council is seeking a Principal Transport Planner to join our Development Planning team within the Transport and Infrastructure Directorate. You will lead the review of complex development proposals, providing high-quality transport advice including street design, trip generation, network capacity and the needs of all transport system users.

As a Principal Transport Planner, you will take ownership of leading and reviewing complex technical matters, provide quality assurance and support

Qualifications

• Degree in Transport Engineering, Transport Planning or similar required.
• Significant Transport Engineering or Transport Planning experience in a relevant role including land development.
• Strong knowledge of the RMA and Auckland Unitary Plan with experience reviewing complex development applications.
• Experience preparing or reviewing Integrated Transport Assessments.
• Ability to work across multiple disciplines and negotiate a way forward.
• Excellent communication and stakeholder-management skills.
• Strong time-management and ability to meet deadlines.

Responsibilities

• Provide comprehensive transport reviews of complex resource consent applications and pre-applications.
• Review Integrated Transport Assessments, Traffic/transport reports, and engineering plans.
• Provide technical leadership and mentoring to staff.
• Apply regulatory provisions to support robust decisions.
• Liaise with internal and external stakeholders.

Skills

Technical leadership

Mentoring

Stakeholder management

Communication

Time management

Decision making

Independent work

Education

Degree in Transport Engineering or Transport Planning

Job description

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Lead and provide comprehensive transport technical reviews of complex development proposals across Tāmaki Makaurau, covering all modes and transport system users including reviews of street design; capacity assessment/trip generation; existing environment context and local knowledge.

Develop and maintain effective relationships with internal business units, stakeholders and customers.

Provide quality assurance and technical leadership/ coaching and mentoring of less experienced staff.

Bring your Transport Planning/Engineering and Resource Management expertise to decisions that help influence the transport network.

Use your technical expertise to influence safer, well-integrated development outcomes and make a positive impact for Auckland communities.

Auckland Council has an opportunity for a Principal Transport Planner to join our Development Planning team within the Transport and Infrastructure Directorate. Our Development Planning team provides and manages specialist technical transport advice into the review of development proposals that shape land use change and growth in Auckland. This is a senior technical role at the heart of t ransport input into the resource consent process. You will lead the review of complex development proposals, providing high-quality transport advice including, but not limited to, street desi gn, trip gen er ation , network capacity and the needs of all transport system users. As a P rincipal Transport Planner, you will take ownership of leading and reviewing complex technical matters, provide quality assurance and support the development of less experienced colleagues through coaching and mentoring .

You could expect to:

Provide comprehensive transport reviews of complex resource consent applications and pre-applications , including a review of complex development proposals covering all modes and transport system .

Review Integrated Transport Asse ssments , Traffic/transport reports, and engineering plans, identifying risks and providing technical advice on proposals where required

Provide technical specialist advice across street design, park ing , network capacity, trip generation and transport outcomes for all modes .

Apply the RMA, Auckland Unitary Plan provisions and current transport engineering standards to support robust regulatory decisions .

Provide technical leadership, quality assurance, coaching and mentoring, while contributing to process and continuous improvement initiatives

Liaise with various stakeholders and industry professionals , both internal and external.

You will be a highly ex per ience d transport professional who can confidently assess and review complex development proposals and exercise sound technical judgement. You will be confident reviewing highly complex and detailed technical transport reports/assessments , pro viding high-quality transport review s /advice, whilst managing competing deadlines . You will be comfortable and confident in managing and negotiating views with various technical specialists, communicat ing your advice both verbally and written to a high standard . You will be able to work both independently and within a team and share your knowledge to strengthen capability and provide mentorship across the team.

We will be looking for:

A degree in Transport Engineering, Transport Planning or a similar discipline is required .

Significant T ransport E ngineering or T ransport P lanning experience in a relevant role , including land development .

Strong knowledge of the RMA and Auckland Unitary Plan, with experience reviewing or preparing complex development applications .

Experience preparing or reviewing Integrated Transport Assessments .

Experience in working across multiple disciplines, understanding multiple professional points of view and negotiating an agreed way forward.

Strong technical experience in and understanding of the user requirements across the full range of transport modes and activities.

Excellent communication and stakeholder-management skills, with the ability to clearly communicate s ound technical advice .

Strong time-management and decision-making skills, with the ability to work independently, identify risk early and manage firm deadlines .

Experience in a government or regulatory environment would be valuable .

Auckland Council is the largest local government council across Oceania, serving more than 1.7 million people and contributing towards making Tāmaki Makaurau a world-class city.

This is an opportunity to bring your experience into a varied and influential technical role. You will work across a wide range of complex development proposals, help improve processes and initiatives, and use your expertise to positively influence transport and development outcomes for Auckland communities.

Applications close: 11 th of November 2026

If you have any support or access requirements, please advise us when submitting your application so we can assist you. Any offer will be subject to the pre-employment checks required for this role.

This role has a remuneration range of $ 1 30 ,0 05 – $144,450

• We offer a range of employee benefits and support flexible working options where possible.
• Our employer KiwiSaver contribution is additional to the base salary offered.

Auckland Council is an equal opportunity employer (EOE) and we are committed to providing a working environment that embraces and values diversity and inclusion. If you have any support or access requirements, we encourage you to advise us at the time of application to assist you through the recruitment process.