Senior Planner (COM 3)

State of Washington•Multiple Locations Statewide, WA

About The Position

The Washington State Department of Commerce’s Local Government Division (LGD) works with local governments, tribes, nonprofits, businesses, and civic leaders to strengthen communities and support community and economic development. The Senior Planner works in the Growth Management Services (GMS) Unit, providing technical assistance to counties and cities across Washington State and helping ensure the GMS Plan Review system does not develop a backlog. The role requires a strong working knowledge of Washington State’s Growth Management Act (GMA), 36.70A RCW, and includes serving as a technical specialist in one or more GMA topics. The position is based in Western Washington, with jurisdictional assignments in Central and South Puget Sound and regular travel to assist assigned jurisdictions. It may be located anywhere in Western Washington. Occasional travel to a Commerce office and in-state or out-of-state travel to meetings, events, and conferences may also be required. Commerce employees may work remotely or on a hybrid schedule. The planner reviews comprehensive plans, critical areas ordinances, and development regulations; determines and provides appropriate technical assistance; and communicates review feedback to local governments. The role also supports GMA training and forums, serves as a subject matter expert on an assigned topic, contributes to legislative analyses and rulemaking, and may present at conferences and workshops. Additional responsibilities include managing planning grants and contracts, developing and monitoring financial packages, and providing backup plan-review support to address temporary workloads and backlogs.

Requirements

Seven years of combined experience and/or qualifying education. Qualifying post-high-school education in urban and regional planning or a related field may substitute year for year for experience.
Experience working in local or regional government planning in at least two relevant areas: implementation of state or federal requirements; contract management, particularly contracts funded with state grants or loans; or policy research.
Strong working knowledge of Washington State’s Growth Management Act (GMA), 36.70A RCW.
Intermediate skill with Microsoft Office Suite products, including OneDrive, Teams, SharePoint, Excel, Word, and Outlook.
Ability to apply specialized technical knowledge, keep technical skills current, and share technical expertise with others.
Ability to organize time and balance priorities across multiple projects, while handling ambiguity professionally and reasonably.
Ability to think critically about complex problems and information, identify effective solutions, and make timely, fact-based decisions.
Ability to communicate clearly, listen, involve others, adapt communication style to different audiences, and provide timely, courteous service to internal and external customers.
Ability to build and maintain professional networks and relationships.

Nice To Haves

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

Responsibilities

Review and analyze comprehensive plans, critical areas ordinances, and development regulations submitted by assigned jurisdictions, and provide related technical assistance.
Independently determine appropriate technical assistance and prepare plan-review comments, letters, and other communications to local governments.
Respond to requests for GMA-related assistance from assigned Western Region jurisdictions, including requests unrelated to a state submittal.
Identify plan-review workflow needs and communicate with the supervisor about temporary bottlenecks and workload support.
Develop and maintain professional relationships with staff in assigned jurisdictions through calls, meetings, and other engagement.
Assist program coordinators with GMA Short Courses, Planners’ Forums, conferences, meetings, and training opportunities, including presenting content and identifying topics or speakers.
Serve as the GMS unit’s subject matter expert for one or more GMA-related technical topics and provide assistance on those topics to Washington counties, cities, and other stakeholders.
Draft legislative bill analyses related to assigned technical specialties and, when assigned, draft legislative testimony.
Lead rulemaking related to the assigned technical specialty.
Present on the technical specialty at conferences, forums, or workshops and report observations, questions, and recommended improvements to the Western Regional Manager.
Manage contracts for Growth Management and/or other planning grants administered by Commerce.
Develop, negotiate, and monitor financial packages for local governments, including scopes of work and budgets.
Oversee, review, and approve expenditures and assess deliverables against contract scopes of work and budgets.
Review comprehensive plans, critical areas ordinances, and development regulations from jurisdictions outside assigned areas to help address temporary plan-review backlogs.
Prepare appropriate plan-review comments, letters, and other feedback for jurisdictions receiving backup review support.
Communicate with the supervisor about workload needs and temporary plan-review bottlenecks.