PRINCIPAL PLANNER

 

The City of Tucson Planning and Development Services Department seeks a Principal Planner to play a key role in shaping the next phase of development in Tucson’s downtown and beyond.
Recent years have brought a record-breaking pace of development to Tucson. This period of growth is expected to continue across every sector, from residential to commercial to industrial. At the same time, the City is engaged in multiple long-range planning efforts to promote climate resilience, affordability, economic opportunity and quality of life, including an update of the General Plan, code updates, and neighborhood planning.

This recruitment will fill multiple Principal Planner vacancies including positions that may: manage the General Plan update; manage updates to the Unified Development Code; manage projects in the Current Planning Division; manage projects in the Entitlements Division; and supervise staff. 

A Principal Planner is expected to help promote our customer-centric culture providing strategic, timely, quality planning and development services to an engaged community. Promoting safety, economic vitality, and adaptability to a growing development sector is what drives our department.  We are seeking motivated, highly qualified, adaptable and creative professionals whose strong interpersonal skills and ability to work with the public will help advance our department efforts.

This position is expected to be in our office at 201 N. Stone Avenue full time and may be eligible for alternative work schedules depending on Department needs. 

ABOUT TUCSON 

Tucson has a rich cultural heritage and is known for its lively arts scene, unsurpassed natural beauty, and outdoor lifestyle. Tucson's culture centers around a unique blend of Native American, Spanish, Mexican and Anglo-American influences. The city is situated in the Sonoran Desert and is surrounded by five mountain ranges. Blessed with the desert natural beauty and an unsurpassed climate of 360 sunny days a year, Tucsonans embrace a rare lifestyle and are committed to preserving that quality of life.  

The city is home to the University of Arizona and Davis-Monthan Air Force Base. Tucson is the seat of Pima County and has a Council-Manager form of government. The Tucson metropolitan area supports almost a million residents. As metropolitan Tucson continues to grow, the challenge of meeting resident expectations also increases. 

The City of Tucson is committed to providing quality municipal services which promote a healthy community, offer opportunities for participation and leisure, and enable citizens to prosper at work and at home. 

CITY-WIDE BENEFITS 

The City of Tucson offers a wide range of generous benefits for eligible employees. Some of those benefits include: 

Health and Well-being: 

• Choice of medical, dental and vision insurance plans 

• Life insurance and long-term disability options 

• Employee assistance program to enhance your wellbeing 

• Flexible spending plan for health and dependent care expenses 

• Other voluntary benefits for financial security 

Your Security and Future:  

• Generous pension plans that help employees retire more comfortably 

• Optional deferred compensation plans to save towards retirement 

• Training, professional development, and tuition assistance programs 

• Student loan repayment assistance 

• Back-up care options for loved ones 

Your Peace of Mind: 

• Six weeks paid parental leave when you welcome a child and other generous leave policies 

• New hires enjoy 37 days of paid time off in the first year, with time increasing steadily thereafter (In year one: 13 accrued days of vacation, 13 accrued days of sick leave, and 11 paid holidays). 

• Generous employee discounts available  

• Connections with the community through paid volunteerism and payroll-deducted charitable giving 

For a full description of benefits offered to eligible employees, or to inquire further about the City of Tucson's benefits options, please visit: https://www.tucsonaz.gov/hr/employee-benefit-snapshot 

The Principal Planner, working in a collaborative environment, is expected to exhibit leadership, the ability to apply past experience, technical knowledge and professional judgement while serving and assisting in the management of the Current Planning team. The Principal Planner will supervise permanent and contracted staff working on development review, zoning, planning initiatives and special applications processes associated with complex, time-sensitive projects that require dedicated points of contact.

Supervises and coordinates the equivalent of two or more fulltime employees and all assigned work in a unit ensuring timely and quality activities to respond to the needs of the City, community, department, and unit.

Assists with the implementation, evaluation and interpretation of department policies, projects and procedures.

Manages, coordinates, and determines priorities of work load, monitoring levels of resources, establishing time lines, assigning work, monitoring progress, recommending changes and suggestions, writing, reviewing and editing reports prepared by staff, and approving completed projects and reports.

Implements controls for appropriate unit staffing and effectiveness by participating in the recruitment and hiring of employees, making recommendations on employee discipline, and other human resources issues, evaluating and managing employee performance, discussing and identifying personnel issues and facilitating resolutions, promoting positive morale in the unit, ensuring staff is trained appropriately for maximum performance, and providing leadership and guidance.

Contributes to the needs of the community and City by implementing and causing others to implement the organization's values and strategies by leading through example, competency, and accountabilities.

Provides customer service by responding to information requests, conducting research, providing solutions to problems, and correcting errors.

Ensures that unit work conforms to local, state, and federal governmental regulations, and other applicable rules and requirements.

Prepares detailed reports, approves vendor payments, attends and conducts meetings, assists with preparation of contracts and amendments, maintains procurement documents, responds to inquiries, and reviews rezoning cases.

Coordinates public outreach programs, reviews licenses, issues permits and researches codes.

Minimum Education Level & Type: Bachelor’s Degree

Minimum Experience Qualifications: At least 3 years experience in land use planning projects

An equivalent combination of education, experience and training that provides the desired knowledge, skills and abilities to perform the essential functions may be considered.

In addition to the minimum qualifications stated above, the ideal candidate will possess the following:

•Master’s degree in Planning, Real Estate Development or closely related field
•At least 5 years professional experience as a Planner
•Project management experience
•Strong interpersonal communication skills
•A proven track record of successfully completed planning projects
•AICP certification or certification in progress

Applicants who meet the minimum qualifications will be evaluated on the education and work experience in their employment profile and the responses to their supplemental questions. Qualified applicants will then be invited to participate in the following assessments:

• A written assignment which will be distributed the week of July 18, 2022 and due by close of business July 28, 2022
• Virtual Oral Board Interviews which will include a presentation and will be held August 2, 2022

The City of Tucson uses Microsoft Teams for its virtual interviews.  Please ensure you have access to this software application.

Upon completion of all examination processes, the highest scoring applicants will be placed on the Civil Service Employment List. An applicant's ranking on the Civil Service list will be based on their final score which will be calculated as:

• 15% of your rating for education and work experience
• 15% of your score from the written assignment
• 35% of your oral board interview score
• 35% of your presentation score

This recruitment will establish a civil service list that will be utilized to fill vacancies occurring within the next 6 months. Veterans, Native American, or Disability preference points will be added to the final score for those that are placed on the Civil Service Employment List. If you qualify for preference points as outlined in the Employment Profile, please email your documents to Pilar.Jauregui@tucsonaz.gov when you receive your invitation to participate in the interview process. The DD 214 must be a copy that indicates characterization of service. If you are in need of Americans with Disabilities Act-related accommodation during the testing process, please email Pilar.Jauregui@tucsonaz.gov at least 48 hours prior to the evaluation.

You are encouraged to print this bulletin because it contains important dates and information that will not be available online once this position closes. Communications throughout this process will be sent via email exclusively so please ensure your browser accepts emails from jobs@tucsonaz.gov and check your email account regularly; this may include your junk box/spam filter. Failure to respond or follow instructions will result in disqualification.

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To ensure accurate payroll information for tax purposes, the successful candidate will need to provide their original Social Security Card or original letter from the Social Security Administration with their social security number prior to beginning work with the City of Tucson.

The City of Tucson hires lawful workers only - US citizens or nationals and non-citizens with valid work authorization - without discrimination. Federal immigration laws require all employers to verify both the identity and employment eligibility of all persons hired to work in the United States. In its efforts to meet the law's requirements, the City of Tucson participates in the E-Verify program established by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Social Security Administration (SSA) to aid employers in verifying the eligibility of workers.

Retired City of Tucson employees receiving benefits from the Tucson Supplemental Retirement System who are considering reemployment with the City should be aware that pursuant to Section 22-37(g) of the Tucson City Code, retirement benefits shall be suspended during the period of reemployment with the City of Tucson unless you have been separated at least twelve consecutive months before returning to work AND you return to a non-permanent employment classification. Creditable service does not accrue during any reemployment period.