Senior Planner (COM3)

State of Washington; Washington; On-site; USD 85,000 - 110,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical benefits

Vacation & holidays

Job summary

Washington State Department of Commerce seeks a Senior Planner (COM3) to provide technical assistance to Eastern Washington jurisdictions, focusing on Growth Management Act compliance and specialty areas. The role requires reviewing plans, ordinances, and regulations, and delivering guidance to local governments and staff.

The position emphasizes independent problem-solving, coordination with regional staff, and participation in workshops, forums, and training events across the Eastern Region.

Qualifications

• Seven (7) years of combined experience and/or education in planning or related field.
• Experience with review of plans, ordinances, and development regs.
• Certification with AICP or ability to obtain within two years is desirable.

Responsibilities

• Provide technical assistance to Eastern Region jurisdictions for Growth Management Act (GMA) topics.
• Review and analyze comprehensive plans, critical areas ordinances, and development regulations; provide comments and feedback.
• Develop and maintain relationships with assigned jurisdictions and facilitate trainings or forums.

Skills

GMA knowledge

Critical thinking

Communication

Project coordination

Education

Urban and regional planning

Tools

Microsoft Office

Excel

Job description

Senior Planner (COM3)

The Department of Commerce is the one agency in state government that touches every aspect of community and economic development: planning, infrastructure, energy, public facilities, housing, public safety and crime victims, international trade, business services and more. We work with local governments, tribes, businesses and civic leaders throughout the state to strengthen communities so all residents may thrive and prosper.

The Local Government Division (LGD) partners with local governments, nonprofits, and others to strengthen the ability of all forms of local governments and community-based organizations to fund and develop critical services to their citizens. The division provides leadership in local government finance and statewide infrastructure initiatives that help create and retain jobs. It also provides grants, loans, and planning and technical assistance to local governments for community development needs, infrastructure improvements, and economic development opportunities.

This position works within the Growth Management Services (GMS) Unit of LGD. This position provides technical assistance to counties and cities in Washington State through the review of comprehensive plans, critical areas ordinances, and development regulations on a statewide basis ensuring the GMS Plan Review system does not develop a backlog of review work. As such, this position requires a strong working knowledge of Washington State’s Growth Management Act (GMA), 36.70A RCW. In addition, this position will assume a technical specialty role in one or more GMA topics (i.e. sections) and provide assistance related to the specialty to other GMS planners as well as counties and cities.

This position is based in Eastern Washington and requires travel throughout a jurisdictional assignment in NE Washington.

Technical Assistance to Assigned Jurisdictions in the Eastern Region:

• Review and analyze comprehensive plans, critical areas ordinances, and development regulations submitted to the state for review by assigned jurisdictions, as back-up for other jurisdictions, and provide technical assistance related to the specialty to other GMS planners as well as counties and cities.
• Use independent, critical thinking to determine appropriate technical assistance and, as needed, provide plan review comments and prepare letters or other communication and feedback to local governments on items reviewed.
• When requests for GMA-related technical assistance are received from assigned jurisdictions in the Eastern Region outside of a submittal to the state for review, then independently determine appropriate level of technical assistance and respond accordingly.
• Determine existing need then communicate with supervisor about alleviating temporary plan review workflow and bottleneck issues as they arise.
• Develop and maintain ongoing professional relationships with staff in assigned jurisdictions such as scheduling phone calls and/or attending meetings.
• Assist program coordinators of the GMA Short Courses, Planners’ Forums or conferences, meetings and training opportunities in assigned jurisdictions. Assistance may include but is not limited to presenting the content of the short course, identifying topics of interest and securing suitable speakers for planner forums.

Technical Specialty Assistance:

• Serve as the GMS unit’s designated subject matter expert on essential public facilities and school siting.
• When requests for technical assistance related to the GMA technical specialty are received, independently determine needs then provide appropriate technical assistance concerning the request. Requests may be received from any Washington county, city, or other stakeholders on issues related to the assigned technical specialty/specialties.
• Complete and draft legislative bill analyses related to technical specialty area(s), as assigned; this may include drafting testimony to the legislature.
• Serve as the lead for rulemaking as it pertains to the technical specialty.
• Travel to on conferences, forums, or workshops to present on technical specialty. Report observations, questions received and/or recommend improvements based on feedback to Eastern Regional Manager.

Managing Grants, Loans, and Contracts:

• Provide contract management for Growth Management and/or other planning grants administered by Commerce.
• Develop, negotiate, and monitor financial packages for local governments, including a scope of work and a budget.
• Oversees, reviews and approves the expenditure of funds and the adequacy of deliverables against the contracted scope of work and budget.

Eastern Washington Planners’ Forum Coordinator:

• Develop, schedule and coordinate informational workshops for the Eastern Washington Planners’ Forum.
• Maintain sign-up lists and solicit feedback on future topics.
• Seek out technical experts to present on relevant topics.
• Schedule and coordinate advertisement the forum.
• Collaborate with the other Planners’ Forum Coordinators and partners on issues related to the forum.
• Submit forum sessions to the American Planning Associations for continuing maintenance credits.

Required Position Qualifications:

Seven (7) years of combined experience and/or education as described below:

Experience

• Implementation of state or federal requirements
• Contract management, particularly those funded with state grants or loans
• Policy research

Education

Education involves urban and regional planning or related field. Qualifying education post High School or equivalent may be substituted year for year for experience.

Examples of how to qualify:

• 7 years of experience
• 6 years of experience and one year of education
• 5 years of experience and two years of education
• 4 years of experience and three years of education
• 3 years of experience and four years of education
• 2 years of experience and five years of education
• 1 year of experience and six years of education

Preferred/Desired Qualifications:

• Experience with Washington State planning and plan implementation procedures.
• Specialized training or experience related to a GMA technical specialty.
• Experience with administration of state or federal grants for planning.
• Certification by the American Institute of Certified Planners (AICP), or ability to obtain AICP certification within two years of appointment.

Required Position Competencies:

• Strong working knowledge of Washington State’s Growth Management Act (GMA), 36.70A RCW.
• Intermediate skill level in the Microsoft Office Suite products including OneDrive, Teams, SharePoint, Excel, Word, and Outlook
• The ability to take action to learn and grow
• The ability to take action to meet the needs of others

Displaying Professional Expertise:

• Keeps their technical skills current; effectively applies specialized knowledge and skills to perform work tasks; understands and masters technical skills, knowledge, and tasks associated with their job; shares technical expertise with others.
• Allocates time and attention based on what is most important to achieve key goals and objectives. Effectively organizes and balances tasks and priorities to keep multiple projects on track.
• Handles uncertain situations professionally and reasonably; recognizes that ambiguity is inevitable in some processes and accepts that some risks must be taken to make progress.

Thinking Critically:

• Effective at thinking through complex problems and information, using traditional and innovative approaches, to identify effective solutions. Seeks to accept and build off the ideas of others for solutions others may not have considered.
• Makes confident, timely, fact-based, decisions drawing on a broad range of resources. Acts on decisions with a sense of calculated risk-taking. Ensures others understand the decision before moving forward.

Communicating Effectively:

• Shares information. Listens and involves others. Clearly conveys ideas in a manner that engages others and helps them understand and retain the message.
• Changes interpersonal style and approach based on circumstance or audience; works hard with all kinds of people and workgroups; does not judge others.
• Customer Focus - Provides timely and professional service to both internal and external customers; is responsive to customer needs and requests; is always courteous to the customer and considers the needs of the customer when making decisions.
• Creating and Maintaining Networks - Makes strong impressions; forms lasting relationships; has a positive and kind demeanor.

To be considered for this position the following are needed:

• A complete and detailed online application.
• A cover letter (enter online).
• At least threeprofessional references(enter online).

Our Commitment to Equal Opportunity

The Washington State Department of Commerce is an equal opportunity employer. We strive to create a working environment that includes and respects cultural, racial, ethnic, sexual orientation and gender identity diversity. Women, racial and ethnic minorities, persons of disability, persons over 40 years of age, veterans or people with military status, and people of all sexual orientations and gender identities are encouraged to apply. Persons needing accommodation in the application, testing, or interview process or this job announcement in an alternative format may email Human Resources at [e-mail]. Applicants who are deaf or hard of hearing may call through the Washington Relay Service by dialing 7-1-1 or 1-800-833-6388.

Work from Anywhere in Washington State

This position may be located anywhere within Washington State though occasional travel to a Commerce office building or in-state travel to attend events or meetings may be required. If selected, you will need to travel to pick up equipment and receive instruction. Many Commerce employees work remotely or have a hybrid schedule. This recruitment may be used to fill future vacancies over the next 60 days.

Technical support is provided by NEOGOV, 855-524-5627 (can't log in, password or email issues, error messages). DES job seeker support may answer general questions regarding the recruiting system at

[e-mail]

Department of Commerce also offers a competitive benefits package including:

• medical and dental insurance benefits
• retirement and deferred compensation plans
• 11 paid holidays each year
• 14-25 vacation days per year (depending on length of employment)
• 8 hours of sick leave per month (if full time employed)
• bereavement leave
• an employee assistance program
• as well as other benefits

Please see the Benefits Tab for more details.

For questions about this recruitment, please contact our recruitment team via email: [e-mail] - please reference the job number in your message.