Land Development Section Manager #2006-233600-01

The Charlotte Department of Transportation (CDOT) includes a talented staff of over 400 employees organized into six divisions with an operating budget of $67 million. CDOT develops and maintains a dynamic multi-model transportation system across 308 square miles that includes more than 5,300 lane miles of streets, 760 traffic signals, 2,250 miles of sidewalks, 190 miles of bicycle facilities, and 145,000 traffic signs.

Charlotte is the 15th largest city in the country with a population of over 850,000 in a metropolitan region of 2.3 million. Charlotte enjoys a vibrant, balanced economy that encompasses many sectors and companies that help make Charlotte’s economy one of the strongest in the nation.

CDOT is recruiting an experienced manager who can lead the dynamic work of our Land Development Section. This is a unique and exciting opportunity to support and shape Charlotte’s fast-paced growth and development.

The Land Development Section Manager is a prominent and high-profile position that leads CDOT’s management and coordination of transportation review and approval for commercial plans, subdivisions, urban zoning, traffic impact studies, and rezoning petitions. This position leads a staff team of six (6) and reports to CDOT’s Development Services Division Manager.

This position represents CDOT in a multi-departmental team that comprises Charlotte’s Development Center and regularly collaborates with other city departments in managing and developing plans, policies, regulations and procedures to implement Charlotte’s multimodal vision for vehicles, transit, pedestrians and cyclists.

The Land Development Section Manager requires a high level of independent judgment, initiative, organizational and great communication skills. This position involves extensive public contact and regular interaction with City Council in addressing the transportation and traffic impact of land development projects. The Land Development Section Manager is a leader who brings out the best in their team and works well in a collaborative environment, both within the city and with the community at large.

• Proactively identifies and tracks critical projects and issues, regularly communicating to the Division Manager topics that require input or direction from Department Leadership.
• Represents CDOT as a leader on land development and transportation issues including communicating technical information and answering questions from City Council, property owners, neighborhood representatives and various community stakeholders.

• Strengthens the quality and efficiency of service delivery, regularly tracking workload and adapting processes and technical materials.
• Adapts resources and responsibilities to support staff morale and workload balance while meeting customer expectations.

• Builds and fosters a professional environment that reflects a high value on customer service, collaboration, preparation, work quality, and appropriate professional behavior.
• Mentors and supervises staff, identifying and targeting areas of growth and development and empowering staff to manage their work and make decisions.
• Recruits and hires highly skilled and motivated professionals to create and sustain a working environment that supports staff retention, professional growth and development.

• Implements regulations, policies, and guidelines, balancing the interpretation of regulations with professional judgement, flexibility, and best practices.
• Leads CDOT’s negotiation and identification of transportation projects and mitigations with a problem-solving approach that identifies shared solutions and differentiates between ordinance requirements and professional requests.
• Builds and maintains partnerships with NCDOT to coordinate transportation review, mitigation and investment projects.

• Models excellent customer service, ensuring that all customers are treated promptly and professionally.
• Meets customer service expectations, holding the Section accountable for setting and tracking customer service goals (e.g. on-time review targets & response times) and adapting resources to achieve targets.

• Ability to communicate effectively with diverse audiences. Act as a public advocate while enforcing good traffic/transportation engineering standards for access, safety, design, construction and improved traffic operations. 
• Requires strong interpersonal skills in communication, leadership, decision-making and innovation.
• Knowledge of principles and practices of transportation planning or transportation engineering.
• Knowledge of the principles and problems involved in planning, managing employees and resources and financing traffic/transportation engineering programs and projects.
• Knowledge of intergovernmental laws and procedures relating to traffic/transportation engineering.
• Knowledge of municipal government administration and the subsequent role of traffic/transportation engineering.
• Ability to use engineering and financial software packages such as AutoCAD or Microstation, Access and Excel.
• Ability to plan, direct and manage the preparation of the designs, estimates, and specifications.
• Ability to relate engineering principles to land use and city planning principles.
• Ability to make recommendations to address traffic/transportation engineering problems.
• Ability to exhibit and model good customer service skills.
• Ability to facilitate and provide leadership for staff, committees and citizen groups.
• Ability to communicate strong interpersonal skills such as tact, active listening, respect and calmness.
• Ability to act as a visionary leader, build consensus, empower employees, be flexible and manage conflict as well as meet deadlines. 
• Ability to establish and maintain effective working relationships by being proactive and diplomatic with other city employees, outside agencies and general public both verbally and in writing.

• PE or AICP Certification strongly preferred.
• Preferred 7 years minimum of experience in transportation engineering, transportation planning, administration, customer service, and managing project teams.
• Master’s Degree in Urban or Regional Planning, Architecture, Engineering, Geography, Landscape Architecture or related field with 3 years of experience; or any equivalent combination of experience and training.

• Graduation from a four-year college or university with a degree in transportation engineering or transportation planning at the bachelor or graduate level with an emphasis on transportation engineering or planning with 5 years of experience.

• $84,295.00 - $105,369.00/year: commensurate with experience

The City’s Background Check Policy requires background checks to be conducted on final internal or external candidate(s) applying for any position with the City of Charlotte. The type of information that will be collected as part of a background check includes, but is not limited to: reference checks, social security verification, education verification, criminal conviction record check, and, if applicable, a credit history check, sex offender registry and motor vehicle records check.

Background checks must be in compliance with all federal and state statutes, such as the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA). The checks must be consistent with the guidelines set forth by these laws requiring organizations to obtain a candidate’s written authorization before obtaining a criminal background report, motor vehicle records check or credit report; and to properly store and dispose of information derived from such reports.

Final candidates must pass a pre-employment drug-screening test and physical examination. During the selection process, candidates may be asked to take a skills test, and/or participate in other assessments.

The City of Charlotte is an Equal Opportunity Employer.

Apply online.

Federal law requires employers to provide reasonable accommodations to qualified individuals with disabilities. Please tell us if you require a reasonable accommodation to apply for a job.

You are welcome to visit the City of Charlotte Human Resources Department lobby where we have workstations available. Our office is located at 700 East 4th Street, Suite 200, Charlotte, NC 28202. Our hours are Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. (EST), excluding official City holidays.

Anyone seeking an accommodation to apply for a job may call (704) 336-2285 for assistance or you may email questions to CityHrJobPostingsNotify@ci.charlotte.nc.us.

The City of Charlotte provides a comprehensive benefits package to all employees.

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The City of Charlotte is a drug and alcohol-free workplace.