PLANNER / Planning and Development Services Department

 

The City of Tucson Planning and Development Services Department seeks a professional Planner to join our customer-centric culture providing strategic, timely, quality planning and development services to an engaged community.   We are seeking an experienced, motivated, highly qualified and creative professional whose strong interpersonal skills and ability to work with the public will help advance our department's goals of promoting economic vitality and adaptability to a growing development sector.

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:

• 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

• Generous pension plans that help employees retire more comfortably

• Optional deferred compensation plans to save towards retirement

• Training, professional development, and tuition assistance programs

• Back-up care options for loved ones

• 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

• 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.

This position assists with a variety of land use planning projects. Reviews proposed land use changes for compliance with codes, area plans and policies. Provides assistance to the public regarding zoning issues and transportation programs. Drafts code amendments and related corresponding and coordinates projects.

Occasionally directs helpers, assistants, seasonal employees, interns, volunteers or temporary employees and may temporarily act in a higher capacity.

Enforces zoning codes by analyzing plans and proposals for compliance, making recommendations, writing comments, reviewing development projects, processing applications, coordinating activities with personnel, preparing and submitting reports, issuing citations, gathering evidence during field inspections and following up on violations.

Provides assistance to the public by providing information on zoning laws and transportation programs, logging complaints into a database and communicating case information updates to related parties.

Analyzes development impacts, transportation and planning needs and participates in the planning of neighborhoods, land use studies, zoning, impact analysis, transportation, subdivision development, demographic studies and economic studies.

Participates in short and long range plans and programs for community development.

Drafts code amendments by collecting and analyzing data obtained from other jurisdictions, accepting and analyzing revision requests, ensuring that deadlines are established and met, preparing proposals, technical reports, correspondence and informational materials to summarize research results.

Coordinates projects by conducting research, collecting technical materials including Geographic Information Systems information, meeting with businesses and organizations, presenting multi-media materials, making recommendations on bicycle and pedestrian programs and coordinating special events to promote programs.

Testifies in court to present evidence, approves vendor payments, provides assistance with grant applications, assists with writing new area plans and policies and provides technical assistance as needed.

Performs special studies such as cost benefit, marketability, and special site analysis.

Minimum Education Level & Type: Bachelor’s Degree

Minimum Experience Qualifications: At least 1 year land use planning

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

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. The highest scoring qualified applicants will be invited to participate in an Oral Board interview.   

• Virtual Oral Board Interviews will be held August 23, 2022.  *It is important to note that the City of Tucson uses Microsoft Teams for its virtual interviews. Please ensure that 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:      

• 20% of your rating for education and work experience
• 20% of your Cover Letter & Resume
• 60% of your oral board interview   

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, you must email  your documentation to Pilar.Jauregui@tucsonaz.gov   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

You are encouraged to print this bulletin because it contains important dates and information that will not be available online once this position closes. Additionally, communication during this process will be sent via email to the email address on file, 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 may result in disqualification.

None

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.