Senior City Planner (Urban Design) - Community Planning and Development

Are you a passionate and creative urban planning or design professional seeking to build community and shape the future of one of the country’s fastest-growing cities? Do you have experience with urban design and regulation? The City of Denver is seeking Senior City Planners to join a tight-knit team of professionals who create the regulations and design tools that move our city forward. This position provides an opportunity to manage and participate in meaningful efforts to promote equitable development in Denver within a fun and supportive workplace. If this sounds like a fit, we invite you to apply today by clicking here!

Working for the City and County of Denver (CCD) is so much more than a job. It’s a chance to make a difference in your own life and in the lives of people around you. Click here to find out about all the amazing benefits and reasons to work for the city that you love!

BUILDING COMMUNITY: Denver Community Planning and Development (CPD) is responsible for visionary city planning and ensuring safe, responsible, sustainable building. CPD regulates planning, zoning, development, and maintenance of private property in Denver. We're working hard to make Denver a great place to live, work and play! Visit www.denvergov.org/cpd and www.DenverGov.org/DS to learn more.

The City and County of Denver’s Community Planning and Development Department (CPD) is seeking highly motivated and creative individuals to fill two full-time Senior City Planner positions with a focus on urban design and/or regulatory implementation in our Planning Services Division’s Regulatory Planning Team. The ideal candidates will offer experience in project management, development regulations, and implementing plans through regulatory tools with a strong commitment to advancing equity and advancing the City’s adopted plans, including Comprehensive Plan 2040 and Blueprint Denver.  

 

One of the two Senior Planner positions will focus on urban design/design review and the other position may emphasize policy planning, regulatory implementation and supporting both legislative and privately initiated rezonings. 

 

Key responsibilities for the Senior City Planner positions include: 

·      Coordinate and contribute to complex planning projects, which may include multi-agency/multi-jurisdictional efforts and may include overseeing the work of consultants and staff. This entails developing scopes of work, timelines, and budgets 

·      Lead regulatory projects to implement planning goals, including drafting amendments to the Denver Zoning Code and/or preparing urban design standards and guidelines 

·      May lead rezonings (map amendments), including preparation of staff reports and presentations to the Denver City Council and Planning Board 

·      May conduct staff review of projects located in design review districts using adopted urban design standards and guidelines 

·      Assist with negotiation of improved design outcomes, equity outcomes, and other community benefits in new development that is shaping Denver’s future 

·      Proactively engage the public in planning including facilitating meetings, making effective presentations, and bringing together stakeholders to discuss proposed planning initiatives, assess obstacles, evaluate opposing views and interests, and determine areas of support 

 

 

 

·      Three or more years of professional experience in community planning, ideally with direct experience writing regulations and/or solving urban design issues;  Experience with integrating equity into planning/regulatory work 

·      Experience leading interdisciplinary teams and engaging with a wide range of staff and departments 

·      Experience with negotiating positive outcomes and navigating complex political contexts 

·      Excellent interpersonal and customer service skills; Excellent written and verbal communication skills 

·      Problem solving skills to effectively engage internal and external partners and mitigate risky outcomes 

·      Strong self-motivation and motivation to help others 

·      Ability to work as part of a team to support both internal and external customers; Ability to maintain confidentiality; The ability to multitask and work well under pressure 

·      Familiarity with software used in Denver’s planning and regulatory implementation efforts, including Adobe Creative Suite (especially InDesign) and GIS applications; Proficiency with Sketchup or other similar design visualization/evaluation software will be important for the Senior City Planner position focused on urban design 

·      Proficient in the Spanish language a plus- speaking, reading and writing 

·      Government experience a plus

 

We realize your time is valuable so please do not apply if you do not have at least the following required minimum qualifications:

·      Education requirement: Bachelor’s Degree in City or Regional Planning, Architecture, Landscape Architecture, Historic Preservation, Engineering, or a related degree

·      Experience Requirement: Five (5) years of professional planning experience

·      Education/Experience Equivalency: One (1) year of the appropriate type and level of experience may be substituted for each required year of post-high school education

·      Additional appropriate education may be substituted for the minimum experience requirements

 

·      Three work samples that demonstrate your urban design and graphic skills. At least one of the samples must highlight your experience using 3D modeling software such as SketchUp. If submitting samples from group projects, please specify which task(s) you performed