Senior Planner

City of Bellevue; Bellevue (WA); Hybrid; USD 100,000 - 135,000; Full time

Job summary

The City of Bellevue is seeking a Senior Planner/Urban Designer to lead planning and urban design efforts within the Strategic Planning Team. You will guide complex initiatives, coordinate with departments, and represent design concepts to council and stakeholders.

The role requires advanced education in urban planning or related fields, five or more years of experience, and a track record in transit-oriented development, placemaking, and comprehensive plan amendments.

Qualifications

• Graduation from an accredited four-year university in urban planning, architecture, landscape architecture, environmental studies, urban geography, or related field. A master’s degree is preferred.
• Five or more years of progressively responsible experience as an urban designer, planner, or design professional.
• Certification as a member of the American Institute of Certified Planners (AICP) is preferred.

Responsibilities

• Provide project management expertise for large, complex initiatives.
• Help strategize spatial configurations that support development goals.
• Represent design concepts for council, boards, commissions, and stakeholders.
• Align policy, regulation, and economic development with design documentation.

Skills

Project management

Transit-oriented development

Urban design

Budget management

Stakeholder communication

Education

Urban planning degree

Master's degree preferred

AICP certification preferred

Job description

The City of Bellevue is rapidly maturing into a tech-centric, diverse, metropolitan city within the Central Puget Sound

Region. The Community Development Department is looking to fill the Senior Planner/Urban Designer position in the Strategic Planning Team with a creative, forward-thinking individual to help us shape and catalyze positive change. The department’s vision is to secure Bellevue’s future as a livable, inspiring, vibrant and equitable community.

The Strategic Planning Team works on a range of planning initiatives, including station area plans, urban infill development, and major placemaking features such as the development of the Civic Center and the continuing integration of the Bellevue Grand Connection. Collaboration, high level critical thinking, and organization is key to being successful in this position and organization. The Senior Planner/Urban Designer plays a primary role in orchestrating the planning and urban design aspects of the above, with the following broad set of responsibilities:

• Provide project management expertise for large, complex initiatives.
• Help strategize spatial configurations that further the city’s development aspirations.
• Play a prominent role in representing design-based ideas for easy comprehension by city council, board and commissions, other departments, and stakeholders.
• Support the alignment of policy, regulation, and economic development goals with practical and suitable design documentation.
• Provide visual translations of the implications of development concepts.
• Identify existing typologies and generate new or hybrid prototypes for housing, retail and commercial structures, and configurations.
• Translate and test various economic constraints, policies and regulations with coordinated feasibility evaluations.
• Serve on various regional committees and represent Bellevue.
• Project manage and advance Comprehensive Plan Policy Amendments
• Generate reports and analysis on subjects such as TOD, placemaking, and design
• Provide inter-departmental support as a subject matter expert in design, transit oriented development, and placemaking.
• Organize and lead public engagement events related to assigned projects and support other public engagement events that are being led by different inter-department teams.
• Create, maintain, and manage various consultant contracts.

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities

• Expert knowledge of all the phases of project management.
• Ability to develop, manage, and monitor work programs for complex and/or controversial projects with a focus on addressing City Council priorities.
• Skilled in conducting complex technical work involving transit-oriented development, placemaking, urban design, site planning, and spatial analysis.
• Understanding of how buildings, streets, parks and other cityscape components work individually and together (i.e. assembled).
• Ability to administer and maintain budgets, agreements and contracts with public agencies and consultants.
• Ability to communicate effectively with peers, elected and appointed officials, and other stakeholders in areas of expertise.
• Ability to build partnerships with constituencies on controversial complex planning and design issues and, ensuring a comprehensive evaluation of potential project impacts.
• Ability to prepare planning reports with supporting data and develop recommendations for various land use and urban development proposals.
• Familiarity with municipal planning and processes

Education and Experience Requirement

• Graduation from an accredited four-year university in urban planning, architecture, landscape architecture, environmental studies, urban geography, or closely related field. A master’s degree is preferred.
• Five or more years of progressively responsible experience as an urban designer, planner, or design professional. This experience could be in any order and in any allied discipline.
• Alternatively, a clear equivalent combination of education, experience, and training that provides the required mix of knowledge, skills and abilities.
• Certification as a member of the American Institute of Certified Planners (AICP) is preferred.

Physical Demands

The physical demands and work environment described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

• Work involves walking, talking, hearing, using hands to handle, feel or operate objects, tools, or controls and reach with hands and arms.
• Vision abilities required by this job include close vision, distance vision, peripheral vision, depth perception, and the ability to adjust focus.
• The employee may be required to push, pull, lift, and/or carry objects up to 40 pounds.
• The noise level in the work environment is moderately quiet.

FLEXIBLE/HYBRID WORKING:

A hybrid work schedule is available for this position after an orientation period. Remote work for this position is subject to the department's operational needs and will be discussed with candidates during the selection process. Full-time remote work is not an available option. Once hired, employees must reside in the State of Washington and within reasonable commuting distance to Bellevue City Hall.