Assistant Director of Development Services - Zoning & Design Review

Mackenzie Eason & Associates • Fort Worth, TX

3d

About The Position

Assistant Director of Development Services – Zoning & Design Review City of Fort Worth, Texas Fort Worth is a high-performance, full-service municipal organization operating at the center of one of America’s most dynamic growth regions. The City’s work is not theoretical—every decision has immediate consequences for neighborhoods, infrastructure, economic vitality, and the lived experience of residents and businesses. That reality has shaped a culture that values execution, measurable outcomes, transparency, and cross-department collaboration. As Fort Worth continues to grow and evolve, the City is investing in leaders who can match pace with performance—leaders who can protect what works while advancing what’s next. The City’s Development Services Department sits directly in that equation, serving as both the operational gateway for development activity and a strategic platform for shaping Fort Worth’s long-term community framework. This recruitment represents a rare opportunity: a senior leadership role inside a nationally recognized development services organization, now evolving from “exceptional at managing growth” to “exceptional at guiding it.” About the City of Fort Worth as an Organization The City of Fort Worth is a full-service municipal organization operating under a council–manager form of government. The Mayor and City Council set policy direction, and the City Manager Jay Chapa serves as the organization’s chief executive, responsible for implementing Council priorities and overseeing daily operations across the enterprise. Fort Worth delivers services through 27 departments and major offices, spanning public safety, infrastructure, community development, financial stewardship, and internal operations. The City’s scale is reflected in its workforce of approximately 7,200 employees, including roughly 4,500 civilian employees, 1,700+ police employees, and about 960 fire employees. Supporting this platform is a multi-billion-dollar operating structure; the City’s FY2026 operating budget is $3.09 billion, including a $1.11 billion General Fund. Together, this scope demands leaders who can drive performance in a complex environment, balancing customer expectations, transparency, risk management, and cross-department coordination while delivering measurable outcomes. Department structure and scope: a coordinated development platform Development Services operates through multiple functional divisions that collectively deliver a coordinated development experience: Customer Care provides the front door for customers, helping with submittals, answering questions, managing CRM inquiries, and improving customer satisfaction through education, communications, and training resources. Development Coordination supports critical connective points: contract management, business support/financial management, facilitation for strategic projects, strategic operations/KPI tracking, and administration of programs such as transportation impact fees. This division emphasizes both customer navigation and internal accountability. Development Engineering delivers infrastructure-related development review: engineering plan review, stormwater development services, transportation development review, and water/wastewater coordination, supporting safe, compliant, predictable development with a strong customer experience orientation. Plans Exam & Inspections ensures public health and safety through building plan review, code adoption and amendments, and inspections, including modernization efforts such as video inspections and certification goals. Zoning & Design Review is the engine where land use, urban form, entitlement decisions, and place outcomes converge. It is one of the most visible, stakeholder-facing portfolios in the Department and one of the most consequential for Fort Worth’s long-term success. The role: Zoning & Design Review as the City’s “growth-shaping” platform The Assistant Director of Development Services – Zoning & Design Review is a senior leader who helps set direction, align teams, and ensure decisions are consistent, timely, and strategically grounded. The role has historically been a key part of the Department’s leadership team during a period of tremendous growth, strengthening the operational foundation, improving processes, supporting staff, and keeping pace with increasing development volume while maintaining high service standards. Now, the role is evolving. This is not a turnaround. Fort Worth is not “fixing what’s broken.” The City is building on a strong foundation and asking the next Assistant Director to help the City Manager’s office shift the organization from primarily responding to development pressure to more intentionally guiding growth through proactive planning, area plan development, and alignment of land use decisions with infrastructure and transportation investments. This Assistant Director will oversee a complex and high-impact portfolio

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in Planning, Urban Planning/Design, Public Administration, Urban Geography, Civil Engineering, or a closely related field.
• Six (6) years of progressively responsible experience in city planning, development services, or a closely related municipal function, including broad exposure to zoning/entitlements, land use regulation, and development review.
• Four (4) years of management or administrative leadership experience, including supervising professional staff and coordinating multi-function work programs.
• Valid Texas driver’s license (or ability to obtain upon hire).

Nice To Haves

• Masters Degree in Planning, Regional Planning, Urban Design or planning related degree strongly preferred.
• A demonstrated record of leading or influencing zoning and land use policy in a high-growth environment, including ordinance interpretation, case management, and code modernization.
• Experience overseeing or partnering closely with urban design, downtown design standards, form-based tools, conservation districts, or historic preservation programs where public process and defensibility are paramount.
• Working knowledge of subdivision/platting and annexation/ETJ coordination, including collaborative workflows with engineering, transportation, utilities, and capital planning partners.
• A history of success improving customer experience and service-level performance (cycle time, predictability, transparency) while maintaining decision quality and public trust.
• Evidence of strong people leadership—developing staff capability, building a leadership bench, implementing training/cross-training, and strengthening accountability in a high-volume environment.
• Professional credentials such as AICP and/or CNU (or comparable design/planning credentials) are valued.

Responsibilities

• Zoning change case management , ordinance updates, and administration of the Zoning Commission.
• Historic preservation, form-based codes, and downtown design , including Certificates of Appropriateness, code enforcement in designated districts, federal review components, and the boards and commissions that support design and preservation.
• Zoning plan review, urban forestry, and zoning appeals , including compliance with the urban forestry ordinance, Boards of Adjustment administration, verification letters, and related determinations.
• Platting and annexation / ETJ coordination , including subdivision ordinance enforcement, coordination of Plan Commission and development review committees, and collaboration across the entitlement and predevelopment landscape.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Director
• Number of Employees: 1-10 employees