Senior Planner (COM 3)

State of Washington•Multiple Locations Statewide, WA

13d•Hybrid

About The Position

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 communities. 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 must be located within Western Washington and regular travel to meet with and assist assigned jurisdictions is required.

Requirements

Seven (7) years of combined experience and/or education as described below:
Experience working in local or regional government planning in two or more of the following areas or work related to the position:
Implementation of state or federal requirements
Contract management, particularly those funded with state grants or loans
Policy research
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
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

Nice To Haves

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.

Responsibilities

Review and analyze comprehensive plans, critical areas ordinances, and development regulations submitted to the state for review by assigned jurisdictions and provide technical assistance related to those submittals as needed.
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 Western 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 an ongoing professional relationships with staff in assigned jurisdictions such as scheduling phone calls and/or attending meetings.
Assist program coordinators in the coordination of 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.
Serve as the GMS unit’s designated subject matter expert on one or more GMA-related topics. Examples of GMA technical specialty topics may include but are not limited to rural lands, transportation, critical areas, resource lands, urban growth areas, housing, capital facilities, climate change, economic development, buildable lands, and essential public facilities.
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 Western Regional Manager.
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.
Analyze and review comprehensive plans, critical areas ordinances and development regulations from counties and cities in Washington State, outside of assigned jurisdictions, in order to alleviate temporary plan review backlogs experienced by the Western Team, Eastern Team, and/or GMS unit during periodic update cycles or at other times as needed.
Use independent, critical thinking to determine appropriate plan review comments, as needed, and prepare letters or other communication and feedback to local governments on items reviewed.
Determine existing need then communicate with supervisor about alleviating temporary plan review workflow and bottleneck issues as they arise.