What are the responsibilities and job description for the Development Services Director position at COUNTY OF BLOUNT?
JOB SUMMARY
The Development Services Director performs administrative and highly technical professional work managing the county's unified development services department. This executive-level role consolidates long-range community planning, land-use zoning, building permit issuance, building code enforcement, and environmental stormwater compliance into a single point of authority. The Director ensures all public and private county development aligns with Tennessee Code Annotated (T.C.A.) regulations, local county zoning laws, state residential/commercial building codes, and TDEC environmental mandates. The position manages department personnel, administers budgets, and acts as the primary advisor to the County Mayor, County Planning Commission, Board of Zoning Appeals (BZA), and the Board of County Commissioners.
ESSENTIAL JOB FUNCTIONS
Planning and Zoning Administration
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Commission Liaison: Directs staff in preparing agendas, public legal advertisements, and technical reviews for the County Planning Commission and Board of Zoning Appeals (BZA).
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Development Review: Evaluates subdivision plats, commercial site plans, and zoning text or map amendments to guarantee alignment with the county's Master Comprehensive Growth Plan.
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Facilitates policy improvements as directed by the Planning Commission and County Commission.
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Prepares and maintains policy plans, land use plans, major road plans, and related plans;
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Prepares yearly report on implementation of plans and participates in other local and regional planning activities;
Building Permits and Codes Enforcement
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Permit Program Management: Oversees the intake, plan review, fee collection, and issuance of local residential and commercial building permits.
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Inspection Supervision: Manages the county’s certified building inspectors to verify field compliance with the International Code Council (ICC) standards as adopted by the State of Tennessee.
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Code Enforcement: Directs code enforcement actions to resolve structural safety violations, illegal dumping, and hazardous land conditions.
Stormwater Management and TDEC Compliance
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MS4 Permit Management: Serves as the county’s legally responsible official for the federal Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System (MS4) program, ensuring full enforcement of local illicit discharge and land disturbance rules.
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SWPPP Engineering Review: Reviews site-specific Stormwater Pollution Prevention Plans (SWPPPs) and issues county land disturbance permits before any earth-moving construction occurs.
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Erosion Control Oversight: Coordinates field inspections of active construction sites to check that sediment control barriers meet state standards and protect local watersheds from runoff pollution.
Executive Department Leadership
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Fiscal Operations: Prepares and presents the comprehensive departmental budget before the County Commission.
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Staff Management: Directly hires, trains, supervises, and evaluates a multi-disciplinary team of planners, permit technicians, building inspectors, and stormwater technicians.
MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS TO PERFORM WORK
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Education: A Bachelor’s degree from an accredited university in Urban Planning, Civil Engineering, Environmental Science, Public Administration, or a closely related field. A Master's degree is highly desirable.
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Experience: Five to seven years of public sector management experience spanning municipal/county planning, structural codes enforcement, or civil stormwater management.
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Certifications:
- American Institute of Certified Planners (AICP) certification is highly preferred.
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Valid certification or capability to obtain a Certified Professional in Erosion and Sediment Control (CPESC) or Tennessee Department of Environment & Conservation (TDEC) Level 1/2 certification within one year of hire.
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Valid Tennessee Driver's License.
KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS, ABILITIES
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Must be able to attend frequent evening public meetings and hearings.
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Must be able to promote and provide excellent customer service to the public.
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Ability to effectively present complex zoning information to public audiences and manage contentious community growth disputes.
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Physical capacity to perform occasional field reviews and site visits over uneven rural terrain.
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Knowledge of departmental practices and systems.
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Skilled in using computers for word processing and/or accounting purposes.
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Skilled in using highly technical computer applications, such as GIS or CAD.
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Ability to work in a dynamic environment that requires adaptation to changing goals, priorities, and needs.
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Ability to supervise, organize, and communicate effectively.
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Ability to maintain constructive and cooperative working relationships with others.
PHYSICAL DEMANDS
While performing the duties of this position, the employee is frequently required to sit, reach, and manipulate objects, tools and/or controls. The position requires mobility. Duties may involve moving materials weighing up to 10 pounds on a regular basis. Manual dexterity and coordination are required over 50% of the work period while operating equipment, such as computer keyboard, mouse, calculator and similar machines. The position requires hearing, mental acuity, speaking, and visual acuity.
WORK ENVIRONMENT
Most work is performed in a well-lighted, modern office setting with centrally controlled heating and air conditioning.
BENEFITS
Full-time benefits include medical, prescription, dental, vision, FSA, HSA, optional USAble, paid holidays, paid sick days, paid vacation, EAP, retirement planning, pension, employee clinic, employee discounts, and more.
All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, or protected veteran status and will not be discriminated against on the basis of disability.
To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform the essential job functions satisfactorily. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the primary job functions herein described. Since every duty associated with this position may not be described herein, employees may be required to perform duties not specifically spelled out in the job description, but which may be reasonably considered to be incidental in the performing of their duties just as though they were actually written out in this job description.
Blount County Government participates in E-Verify and will provide the federal government with your Form I-9 information to confirm that you are authorized to work in the U.S.
Salary : $119,000 - $140,000