Project Analyst

Why it's a great opportunity:

In this role with Development Services, you will support responsible growth, protect public safety, and ensure efficient, predictable permitting experiences for our community. As a project and process leader, you will coordinate complex permitting workflows, track review timelines, analyze operational patterns, forecast future permit and application demand, collaborate with internal teams on fee setting, and help review teams deliver consistent, high-quality outcomes.

Your work will regularly involve using data visualization and analytics tools such as Power BI, Power Query, and Workday to inform decisions and improve performance.

You will partner closely with planners, engineers, building and fire plans examiners, customer service staff, and technical specialists to keep permit reviews moving efficiently, ensure deadlines are met, identify risks early, and continuously pursue improvement opportunities. Through this cross-disciplinary coordination, you will help strengthen communication, maintain statutory and internal review expectations, and provide actionable insights that support issue resolution.

Overall, you will help drive innovation and operational excellence across our permitting systems, business processes, and project delivery efforts, advancing the mission of the Development Services teams and improving how Pierce County serves its residents, builders, and community partners.

PPW stewards a healthy and vibrant community by collaboratively planning and investing in our people, infrastructure, systems, and policies. PPW’s team has more than 800 members that collaborate, innovate and inspire in performing essential services to the community. The department is responsible for the County road and levee systems, sewer systems, airports, ferries, building permits, environmental review, sustainability, community planning, and code enforcement - just to name a few!

Learn more about Planning and Public Workshere.

Success in this role comes from supporting coordinated, efficient, and timely completion of permit reviews through strong project and workflow leadership. You will help review teams stay informed, aligned, and equipped to meet statutory and internal time frames. Using data-driven insights, you will identify trends, risks, and improvement opportunities that strengthen consistency and service delivery. Your ability to translate operational patterns into clear actions, whether through analytics, process mapping, forecasting, or recommending workflow improvements, will help teams resolve issues and maintain predictable, high-quality outcomes.

You will have access to robust professional development, including online learning, training workshops, and cross-departmental collaboration opportunities. This role builds a strong foundation in project leadership, analytics, and operational improvement—all skills that create multiple avenues for growth within Pierce County. As you gain experience, you will be well-positioned for future advancement across permitting, planning, operational management, or process improvement roles that directly shape how Pierce County serves its communities.

• Represent the Department and County at a wide variety of board meetings, committees, public hearings, and community meetings.
• Work closely with other divisions, departments and outside agencies on projects and program development.
• Facilitate planning committee meetings and public hearings/forums as appropriate.
• Participate in local and statewide work groups regarding planning and policy development.
• Manage the development and implementation of department-wide strategic plans, and performance and accountability assessments; and/or other administrative programs or functions.
• Provide leadership in the management, development and reporting of department activities through the department’s performance measures, monthly or quarterly information reports, annual summaries, and other reporting for the Department Director.
• Prepare or oversee the preparation of sensitive and complex special…