Borough Certification Manager

City of New York • New York, NY

1d • Hybrid

About The Position

The Department of City Planning (DCP) plans for the future of New York City, working to create thriving and dynamic neighborhoods with access to housing and jobs, resilient infrastructure, and a vibrant public realm. The Department engages communities to develop inclusive plans, expands housing access and economic opportunity, and plans for long-term sustainability. DCP supports the City Planning Commission in its annual review of hundreds of land use applications. The Department also advises on citywide strategic and capital planning, analyzes data, conducts policy analysis, and creates open data and civic engagement tools. The Department of City Planning offers staff meaningful opportunities to help shape the future of New York City and address some of its most pressing challenges. The Department values public service, collaboration, and creativity, and supports professional development. Manhattan is home to over 1.6 million residents and serves as the economic engine of the regional economy with well over 2 million workers commuting to and within the borough daily. The landscape of Manhattan is highly varied and ranges from very high-density office and residential districts to low scale rowhouses, stretching the full 13.4 miles of the island. The borough includes the sources of some of the most iconic images of the global imagination – Times Square, Wall Street, Central Park, Harlem, the United Nations – as well as countless hidden gems around every corner. The Manhattan Borough Office, located in the Department of City Planning’s headquarters building in the heart of Manhattan’s Financial District, is responsible for developing borough-wide and local area plans, reviewing and processing land use applications pursuant to the Uniform Land Use Review Procedure (ULURP), and providing technical and policy guidance and direction on all land use and zoning related matters to the City Planning Commission, local Community Boards, elected officials and the public at large. The Manhattan Office emphasizes planning and urban design that create a more equitable city, with rich opportunities for and access to housing, employment, recreation, and transit. The approximately 20-person Office is comprised of professional planners working in teams arranged by community district as well as urban designers that work borough-wide across a wide range of projects. The Borough Certification Manager (BCM) plays a key role in overseeing the borough’s pipeline of public and private applications. The BCM is tasked with ensuring that projects are accurately reflected in ZAP and are moving through internal processes towards certification and completion in a timely manner. The BCM is the borough’s representative for the Pipeline Team, ensuring that the division’s project priorities are clearly communicated and reflected in central division review schedules. The BCM will provide support to the division’s office manager in ensuring that new project requests are assigned to the appropriate planner via email and appropriately updated in ZAP. This manager will help refine and reinforce the consistent use of standards and standard operating procedures; improve communications between borough planners, technical divisions and applicant teams; and strengthen the capabilities of planners working with a variety of applicant teams. This role will maintain an active dialogue with the borough director and deputy director, and work closely with the Agency’s central divisions and coordination functions to contribute to broader process improvements. The responsibilities of the BCM role may utilize up to 50 percent of the selected individual’s time, while the remainder of their time will be spent on duties and responsibilities related to their core position (e.g., borough planner, team leader).

Requirements

• A baccalaureate degree from an accredited college or university and two years of satisfactory full-time experience in city planning
• A satisfactory combination of education and/or experience that is equivalent to the above, where graduate education in city planning, urban planning, urban design, architecture, landscape architecture, transportation engineering, public administration, economic development or related fields may be substituted for experience on the basis of 30 graduate semester credits from an accredited college for one year of experience. However, all candidates must have a baccalaureate degree.
• For Assignment Level III: one additional year of professional experience after meeting minimum requirements.
• For Assignment Level IV: two additional years of professional experience after meeting minimum requirements.
• Only candidates who are permanent City Planners, those reachable on the open-competitive civil service list for City Planner (exam #5045), or New York City Employees serving permanently in comparable civil service titles are invited to apply.
• Authorization to work in the United States is required for this position.

Responsibilities

• Work closely with central divisions including Land Use Review, Technical Review Division, Environmental Assessment & Review Division to ensure MNO’s projects are reviewed and advanced
• Maintain oversight of MNO’s Zoning Application Portal (ZAP) records to ensure planners are maintaining quality and legibility for both internal DCP use and public record-keeping
• Maintain through knowledge of DCP Standard Operating Procedures, and contribute to their improvement and consistent utilization by staff
• Review, analyze, and make recommendations and presentations on Uniform Land Use Review Procedure (ULURP) and non-ULURP applications and coordinate this work with technical divisions of the Department, other city agencies, Community Boards, elected officials and the public
• Develop and execute community engagement and outreach strategies and represent the department at community boards and other meetings
• Provide mentorship, training, and guidance to colleagues, and help establish office-wide best practices
• Provide direct feedback on work programs to Director and Deputy Director
• Perform other related tasks

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Mid Level
• Number of Employees: 5,001-10,000 employees