Director of Planning, Building and Development

City of Roanoke, Virginia•Roanoke, VA

3d•Onsite

About The Position

The City of Roanoke is seeking a Director of Planning, Building, and Development whose work is both technical and deeply civic. This position is simultaneously regulatory and proprietary: the department administers public codes, ordinances, and adopted plans that govern what may be built and where, while also delivering permit, inspection, and plan review services essential to the City's economic health and quality of life. The Director serves as a member of the senior leadership team, directly supporting the Mayor and City Council's vision for Roanoke's future. The Director's role is to implement that vision faithfully through adopted plans, ordinances, and formal policy direction, and to advise the City Manager and Council when plans, codes, or procedures need to evolve. A clear and practical responsibility of this position is recognizing that individual preference does not carry the same weight as adopted plans, codes, ordinances, and the public processes through which they are established. The Director must hold that distinction with professionalism and clarity, while remaining open to the legitimate policy conversations that may warrant changing the rules through the proper process. The successful candidate will also understand that development decisions touch real people. A permit application is rarely just paperwork: it is someone's home, business, or livelihood. Zoning decisions shape neighborhoods that residents care deeply about. And the outcomes of planning and land use decisions belong to the whole community, not just those at the table. The Director will need the skills and the temperament to navigate that reality every day. The City of Roanoke is an Equal Employment Opportunity/AA/M/F/Disability Employer. To elevate the performance of the organization, we are committed to respecting, celebrating, and embracing the collective mixture of differences and similarities between our employees as a rich tapestry. Our behaviors will demonstrate open communication, and we will seek opportunities to learn, recognizing and rewarding actions that promote acceptance while suspending judgment. By doing this, we will foster an inclusive, open work environment that delivers excellent service and creates a more vibrant and inviting community. This is an exempt position.

Requirements

Bachelor's degree from a four-year college or university with a major in public administration, urban planning, architecture, urban design, business administration, or a related field.
Minimum of ten to twelve years of progressively responsible experience in planning, building, or development services, including considerable management and supervisory experience.
Equivalent combinations of education and experience that demonstrate the ability to perform the essential functions of this position will be considered.
Ability to read, analyze, and interpret complex documents, regulations, and technical reports.
Ability to respond effectively to sensitive inquiries or complaints orally and in writing.
Ability to make effective and persuasive presentations on controversial or complex topics to City Council, management, public groups, and appointed boards.
Ability to negotiate and resolve conflicts.
Ability to organize, direct, and coordinate a complete range of administrative and regulatory activities to achieve maximum efficiency and public benefit.
Ability to define problems, collect data, establish facts, and draw valid conclusions.
Ability to interpret an extensive variety of technical, legal, and policy information and deal with multiple abstract and concrete variables.
Ability to identify key stakeholders, facilitate competing interests, and build teams to address complex issues.
Ability to think and plan strategically within a public policy and regulatory environment.

Nice To Haves

Master's degree in a related field.
Membership in the American Institute of Certified Planners (AICP) or comparable professional certification.
Experience leading public engagement processes for plans, code amendments, or significant regulatory initiatives.
Demonstrated experience working with or within an economic development function, or a track record of effective collaboration with economic development partners on complex projects.
Experience implementing or optimizing electronic permitting and plan review systems.
Experience presenting to elected officials, appointed boards, and diverse public audiences on planning and regulatory matters.

Responsibilities

Provide clear, consistent, and visible leadership to departmental staff, establishing a culture of professionalism, accountability, continuous improvement, and mutual respect.
Lead, mentor, and develop division supervisors and staff, building a team that is technically skilled, equitable in its application of regulations, and empowered to exercise sound professional judgment.
Establish measurable performance standards and hold the department accountable for cost-effective, high-quality results that advance the Mayor and City Council's vision for Roanoke.
Manage overall department direction, coordination, and evaluation in accordance with City policies and applicable law, including all personnel responsibilities: hiring, training, performance appraisal, and disciplinary matters.
Prepare and manage the departmental budget, ensuring efficient and transparent stewardship of public resources.
Administer the City's zoning, subdivision, building code, stormwater management, and erosion and sediment control regulations with consistency, fairness, and fidelity to adopted policy and law.
Direct comprehensive planning efforts, neighborhood planning initiatives, and long-range land use strategies that reflect community priorities, City Council's direction, and applicable state law requirements.
Oversee building safety operations, including plan review, permitting, and inspections, ensuring both public safety and a predictable, consistent experience for applicants.
Lead the development, maintenance, and periodic amendment of the City's development codes, ensuring they remain clear, current, legally defensible, and aligned with adopted plans and Council's policy direction.
Maintain the distinction between individual preference and adopted policy: administer codes and plans as adopted, and advise City leadership transparently when amendments may be warranted through the proper public process.
Coordinate all applicable building code functions through the Building Commissioner.
Conduct feasibility reviews of proposed developments and expansions in coordination with other City departments.
Serve as ex-officio member of applicable service district boards.
Design and lead public engagement processes for the development of plans, policies, and regulations that are genuine, accessible, and reflective of the full range of community voices.
Recognize that planning and development decisions are publicly owned: the plans the City adopts, the codes it enforces, and the precedents it sets belong to the community, and the public has a legitimate right to meaningful participation in shaping them.
Build and sustain transparent communication about regulatory requirements, pending decisions, and department performance through public hearings, community meetings, digital platforms, and direct neighborhood outreach.
Develop engagement strategies appropriate to the nature of the decision, from citywide comprehensive plan updates to individual neighborhood initiatives, ensuring that community input is visible in outcomes.
Foster trust between the department and the public it serves, recognizing that how the City handles development matters is as important as what it decides.
Partner actively with the City Manager's office, Economic Development, Public Works, utilities, and other City agencies to coordinate development review and support business attraction, retention, expansion, and neighborhood revitalization.
Bring economic development awareness and sensibility to the Director's role, understanding how the regulatory environment affects investment decisions, what makes Roanoke competitive, and how the department can support economic vitality without compromising its regulatory responsibilities or the integrity of adopted plans.
Serve as a coordinator and problem-solver for significant development projects, ensuring that applicants receive timely, consistent, and predictable responses from across City government.
Build and sustain strong working relationships with neighborhood organizations, business associations, the regional development community, and state and regional planning partners.
Identify regulatory and procedural barriers that discourage responsible investment and recommend code amendments or policy changes through the appropriate public process.
Lead a service culture grounded in the recognition that applicants navigating permitting, zoning, plan review, and inspection processes are doing so in connection with something that matters to them, and deserve clear, consistent, and respectful service within the framework of applicable regulations.
Establish service-level standards and performance metrics for permit processing, plan review turnaround, inspection scheduling, and responsiveness, and report regularly on results to City leadership and the public.
Develop clear communication channels, accessible intake systems, and digital tools that set transparent expectations around timelines, requirements, and costs.
Build a structured case-management approach for complex projects, ensuring applicants have a clear point of contact throughout the process.
Conduct regular reviews of internal workflows, identify bottlenecks, and lead continuous improvement initiatives benchmarked against peer cities and best practices.
Provide, or arrange to provide, the technical and advisory information required by City Council, the Planning Commission, the Board of Zoning Appeals, the Architectural Review Board, the Building and Fire Code Board of Appeals, and other municipal officials on matters relating to development codes, planning policy, and building safety.
Present well-prepared, objective recommendations on code amendments and policy matters, and represent the department effectively in public hearings, community meetings, and intergovernmental forums.
Communicate complex regulatory and technical matters clearly and accessibly to a wide range of audiences, from individual applicants to elected officials to neighborhood groups.
Stay current on regional, state, and national trends in planning, land use, building codes, and development services, and keep City leadership informed of emerging issues and opportunities.