Planner - Planning and Policy

Are you Richmond R.E.A.D.Y? Respect. Equity. Accountability. Diversity…YOU!!!

This is an EXCITING time to Join the City of Richmond! We are committed to nurturing talent, fostering growth opportunities, and building strong connections within our workforce. As we continue to make strides to becoming the employer of choice, we are thrilled about the below employee benefit enhancements:

• Virginia Retirement System (VRS)
• Language Incentive
• Referral Bonus
• Tuition Assistance Program

Description

Duties include but are not limited to

DUTIES INCLUDE, BUT ARE NOT LIMITED TO:

• Contribute to the dynamic team of Planning and Policy that work to create implement long-range plans.
• Develop neighborhood, district, corridor, and other small-area plans.
• Propose and adopt amendments to the zoning ordinance and associated codes that help implement these plans.
• Assist with the redevelopment of city-owned land via public-private partnerships.
• Participate in capital budget review to ensure alignment with master plan priorities.
• Prepare plans of work and assign tasks and projects.
• Prepare and administer scopes of work, budgets, contracts, and programmatic agreements.
• Prepare reports and present findings to boards, commissions, and Council.
• Organize and facilitate meetings and public engagement activities, including night and weekend meetings
• Compile and analyze data to create charts, graphs, maps, and other visualizations.
• Create publications, presentations, and content for website.
• Prepare, evaluate, and award requests for proposals.

• Exercised: none
• Received: typically reports to a Planning Supervisor or Deputy Director
• Note: other reporting relationships may apply

Note:

• Class description is intended to represent only the key areas of responsibilities; specific position assignments will vary depending on the business needs of the department. The employee may perform other duties of a similar nature or level subject to the needs of the department.

Qualifications, Special Certifications and Licenses

KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS, AND ABILITIES:
KNOWLEDGE:

• General knowledge of principles, methods, and practices of land use planning and zoning, and how they affect each other.
• General knowledge of Euclidian, form-based, and hybrid approaches to zoning.
• Basic knowledge of state and local land use laws and zoning codes.
• General knowledge of pedestrian, bicycle, and transit transportation planning.
• General knowledge of principles, methods, and practices of economic development, affordable housing, historic preservation, urban design, environmental planning, and brownfields redevelopment.

• Creating and implementing of comprehensive, long-range plans as well as neighborhood, district, corridor, and other small-area plans.
• Proposing and adopting changes to zoning ordinances and associated codes.
• Participating in planning efforts led by other departments. Reviewing the capital budget.
• Preparing plans of work and assigning tasks and projects
• Preparing and administering scopes of work and contracts.
• Preparing reports and presenting findings to boards, commissions, and Council. Organizing and facilitating meetings and public engagement activities.
• Compiling and analyzing data to create charts, graphs, maps, and other visualizations with ArcGIS, SketchUp, and Excel.
• Creating publications, presentations, and content for website with Adobe Acrobat, InDesign, Illustrator, or Photoshop, or Microsoft PowerPoint or Publisher.
• Preparing, evaluating, and awarding requests for proposals.

• Thrive in a fast-paced, high-stakes, large and diverse political environment and adapt and improvise as conditions change.
• Think critically, using logic and reason to identify solutions.
• Communicate clearly and concisely, both in writing and speech.
• Facilitate discussion and debate and exhibit excellent interpersonal communication in order to resolve conflicts.
• Maintain composure in stressful situations.
• Provide superior customer service and manage unhappy clients.

• Bachelor's degree in urban planning, civil or environmental engineering, landscape architecture, or a related field
• Three years of experience or an equivalent amount of graduate level training.
• An equivalent combination of training and experience (as approved by the department) may be used to meet the minimum qualifications of the classification

• A Master's degree in urban planning, urban design, or landscape architecture
• Direct experience in the preparation of Small Area Plans and writing zoning ordinances
• Demonstrated experience working in current planning, zoning, and with boards and commissions
• Experience working in an urban environment, and engaging with diverse populations
• Excellent public presentation, leadership, time management and organizational skills
• Significant experience with code development, new urbanism and both downtown and neighborhood revitalization techniques
• Demonstrated experience in Arc-GIS, SketchUp, InDesign, Illustrator, and graphics packages
• Certified planner with AICP credentials.

Americans with Disabilities Act Requirements

Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable qualified individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions of the job. Prospective and current employees are invited to discuss accommodations.

ENVIRONMENTAL HAZARDS: Working conditions may include exposure to travel to other locations within the City of Richmond as well as outside of the City of Richmond; exposure to hazardous physical conditions such as mechanical parts, electrical currents, vibrations, etc.; atmospheric conditions such as fumes, odors, dusts, gases, and poor ventilation; inadequate lighting; intense noise; and environmental hazards such as disruptive people, imminent danger, and a threatening environment.

PHYSICAL REQUIREMENTS AND WORKING ENVIRONMENT: Due to the nature of work assignments, incumbents must be able to perform detailed work on multiple, concurrent tasks, with frequent interruptions and under time constraint. The essential duties of this classification may require the ability to regularly work with one's fingers, grasp, talk, hear, see, and use repetitive motions; frequently walk and reach; and occasionally stand, balance, stoop, kneel, crouch, reach, lift, push, and pull. In terms of the physical strength to perform the essential duties, this classification is considered to be light work, exerting up to 20 pounds of force occasionally, up to 10 pounds of force frequently, and a negligible amount of force constantly to move objects.

Equal Employment Opportunity Statement

The City of Richmond provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment and prohibits discrimination and harassment of any type without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability status, genetics, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state or local laws.

The City of Richmond is committed to the full inclusion of all qualified individuals. As part of this commitment, the City of Richmond will ensure that persons with disabilities are provided with reasonable accommodations. If you require reasonable accommodations under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) to participate in the job application and/or the interview process, please contact Jessica McKenzie, Human Resources Manager by email at Jessica.McKenzie@RVA.GOV.

This policy applies to all terms and conditions of employment, including recruitment, hiring, placement, promotion, termination, layoff, transfer, leaves of absence, compensation and training.

The City of Richmond Values Veterans. We are an official V3 Certified Company.

The City of Richmond is a proud partner with the US Army Partnership for Your Success PaYS Program.

With over 4,000 employees, the City of Richmond is an "Employer of Choice" among cities throughout the nation. The City strives to hire and retain employees who bring dedication and talent to the workforce. Offering a competitive, cost effective, and quality benefits package is one element of an "Employer of Choice".

The City offers a full range of benefit programs from initial hire through retirement. Please visit our Web site for details.