Employer: City of Issaquah
Job Type: Full Time
Job Number: 2019-00091
Salary: $84,176.72 - $107,477.52
Location: Issaquah, WA
Opening Date: 12/02/2019
Closing Date: Until Filled

Job Description:

The City of Issaquah is inviting qualified candidates to apply for the position of Senior Current Planner. The City of Issaquah was listed by Sunset Magazine as one of the Best Burbs in America and by Family Circle magazine as one of the best places to raise a family. Our community of more than 34,000 is conveniently located off the interstate 90 corridor, just 16 miles east of Seattle.

Issaquah--nicknamed Trailhead City--is centered within the Issaquah Alps (Cougar, Squak and Tiger Mountains). It's a destination for countless outdoor enthusiasts, including hikers, mountain bikers, and paragliders.

Come join our team! Our mission – We enhance lives through public service.

POSITION SUMMARY

Positions in this classification perform a range of professional-level urban design and urban planning work including knowledge and experience with pedestrian and bike-friendly urban core centers that promote livable, sustainable, and balanced mixed-use neighborhoods as well as evaluating and protecting critical areas. As such, work involves activities in support of land use and construction project review and writing of regulations.

Job Duties:

MULTIDISCIPLINARY COLLABORATION AND LEADERSHIP

Candidates will work in a highly collaborative environment often including property owners, developers, engineers, architects, current and long-range planners, plans examiners, inspectors, SEPA officials, and other development-related individuals and City departments. In addition, Development Services' purpose is to create streamlined, one-stop permitting, whose process is collaborative, accessible, reasonable, creative, predictable, and efficient. As such, there are opportunities to take a leadership role in shaping it. We are looking for engaged individuals who will proactively participate in achieving the department's and city's vision.

LAND USE, CONSTRUCTION PERMIT, AND BUILDING PERMIT REVIEW

  • Independently and collaboratively performs technical urban design and planning review for a wide range of projects, including highly complex and politically sensitive proposals; private or public development; residential and commercial uses; land use permits and drawings for construction (building, landscape, and site); critical area study review and protection of environmentally sensitive areas.
  • Leads and coordinates land use applications through review, recommendation, documentation, and decision preparation, including review by other departments and disciplines.
  • Is an active participant in the review and permitting process of construction and building permits, necessitating a high-level understanding of permit issuance, inspection, punch list preparation, and final acceptance.
  • Able to manage workloads including multiple project/permit review and meet deadline expectations.

URBAN DESIGN

For almost 20 years, the City of Issaquah has, beginning with Issaquah Highlands, and expanding to other Urban Villages and the Central Issaquah Plan area (totaling almost 900 acres), embarked on an ambitious goal of creating a pedestrian and bike-friendly city, which places a high value on the quality of the urban environment through an active shift away from traditional suburban forms of development while protecting and enhancing critical areas. Candidates must have experience with urban projects, pedestrian and bike-friendly design, and the essential actions necessary for successful urban design and environmental protection. This will include the well-developed skills in strategic negotiation, analysis, and sketching to create alternative site design options, when appropriate. Candidates should have written and implemented code to implement this vision.

COMMUNICATION

Candidates require excellent communication skills in a variety of media and settings. Communication is thoughtful, informed, and open, to ensure sharing and alignment of information and achievement of City and departmental goals for the urban environment and collaborative City government. Settings will include multi-disciplinary discussions within the department, inter-departmental exchanges, presentations to elected officials and decision-making bodies such as commissions and the Hearing Examiner, communication with the public and applicants as well as other interested persons. Media will include verbal, written, graphic, and electronic, in both casual and structured situations.

Experience/Qualifications/Knowledge/Skills:


EDUCATION, TRAINING, AND EXPERIENCE

Bachelor's degree in planning or related field, and ten years of progressively responsible experience with a planning process related to urban design, planning, and development permitting; or a Master's degree in planning or related field and five years of progressively responsible experience with a planning process related to urban design, planning, and development permitting; or any combination of education and experience which would provide the applicant with the desired skills, knowledge, and ability required to perform the job.

Licensing and Certification:

  • Requires a valid Washington State Driver's License with a driving record free from serious or frequent violations.
  • American Institute of Certified Planners (AICP) certification preferred
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