Senior City Planner

IMDiversity; Los Angeles (CA); On-site; USD 141,399 - 206,732; Full time

Job summary

The City of Los Angeles is seeking a Senior City Planner to join its City Planning Department. This full-time role supervises a planning unit, reviews complex urban projects, and helps shape short- and long-range plans for the city’s development.

Salary ranges from $141,399 to $206,732 annually, with a master’s degree preferred. Applicants must have related experience and meet the department's education requirements; a California driver’s license is required at appointment.

Qualifications

• Two years of full-time paid experience as a City Planner with the City of Los Angeles, or six years in related urban planning roles.
• A four-year degree in urban planning, urban studies, urban design, architecture, landscape architecture, geography or related field with six years of professional planning experience, including two years supervising a unit.
• Education from an accredited college/university; proof provided in application.

Responsibilities

• Supervise a specialized planning unit, review work and maintain an effective team.
• Develop departmental work programs, project timetables and budgets.
• May develop long-range strategic plans for department sections.

Skills

City Planner experience

Supervisory experience

Education

Urban planning degree

Master's in urban planning (desirable)

Job description

Overview

SENIOR CITY PLANNER 7947

Salary: $141,399.00 - $206,732.00 Annually

Location: CITY OF LOS ANGELES, CA

Job Type: FULL-TIME

Job Number: 7947 OP 2026/07/10 R

Department: City Planning

Responsibilities

A Senior City Planner assigns, reviews and evaluates the work of a specialized unit or planning office engaged in professional City planning activities, applies sound supervisory standards and techniques in building and maintaining an effective work group and fulfills equal employment opportunity responsibilities. Additionally, the Senior City Planner functions as a senior-level supervisor and accordingly develops Departmental work programs inclusive of project timetables and budgets, and occasionally may be called upon to develop long-range strategic plans for sections of the Department.

Minimum Qualifications

• Two years of full-time paid experience as a City Planner with the City of Los Angeles; or
• Graduation from an accredited four-year college or university with a major in urban planning, urban studies, urban design, architecture, landscape architecture, geography or a closely-related field and six years of full-time paid professional experience in long-range or current urban planning, with two of the six years supervising a professional planning unit.

Process Notes

Applicants who lack six months or less of the required experience at the time of filing may file for this examination. However, they cannot be appointed until the full experience requirement is met.

Applicants qualifying under Requirement #2 must list their school name and location, type of degree earned and major in the Education section of the on-line City application. Applicants who fail to provide this information on their application will not be considered further in this examination and their applications will not be processed.

As a condition of employment, a valid Class C driver’s license issued by the California DMV is required at the time of appointment. Applicants will be disqualified or deemed ineligible for hire if their DMV record reflects three or more moving violations and/or at-fault accidents, or a conviction of a major moving violation within the last 36 months in any state or jurisdiction. The City of Los Angeles reserves the right to issue a notice of disqualification or ineligibility at any time before a final job offer is extended.

For qualifying work experience in Requirement #2, the term “professional experience” applies to positions that require possession of a degree from an accredited four-year college or university in order to obtain that position. Therefore, to be considered “professional,” qualifying experience must be gained in positions requiring a four-year degree.

Please note that qualifying education must be from a college or university accredited by a City of Los Angeles recognized agency. A list of approved accrediting agencies can be found at https://personnel.lacity.gov/Accredited%20Institutions%2008-21-08.pdf

A master’s degree in urban planning is desired but not required.

Membership in the American Institute of Certified Planners (AICP) is desired but not required.

Candidates completing the examination process and qualifying under Requirement #2 will be contacted by the Personnel Department to provide required proof of qualifying degree and/or coursework. Applicants who wish to expedite this process may attach a copy of their qualifying degree and transcripts to their on-line application at the time of filing in the Attachments section.