Associate Planner

Join a team that’s shaping the future of Los Altos! The City is seeking a motivated and detail-oriented Associate Planner to help guide thoughtful development, enhance community spaces, and support sustainable growth through collaboration and innovation.

The City of Los Altos is seeking a knowledgeable and motivated Associate Planner to join our Development Services department. This position plays a key role in reviewing development applications and providing exceptional customer service to residents, developers, and design professionals. The Associate Planner will manage projects from concept through completion, prepare reports and presentations for public meetings, and collaborate closely with other City departments to support high-quality, sustainable development throughout Los Altos.

The Development Services Department of the City of Los Altos serves as a unified center for planning, building, engineering, and inspection services dedicated to enhancing our community’s physical fabric and quality of life. Our team works proactively to guide private development and public improvements to ensure safe, sustainable, and attractive built environments. The Associate Planner will be part of a dynamic department that values professionalism, responsiveness, collaboration, and a customer‑centric approach to service delivery.

We are looking for a candidate who:

• Possesses three or more years of municipal planning experience and holds a bachelor’s degree in urban planning, architecture, or a closely related field.
• Demonstrates strong skills in permit review, code interpretation, and policy implementation.
• Exhibits excellent written and oral communication, including preparation of reports and presentations for public bodies.
• Thrives in a customer‑service oriented, fast‑paced public agency setting with a high level of professionalism, initiative, and integrity.

This position will remain open until filled with a first review of applications on January 19, 2026. This recruitment may be used to fill the current vacancy as well as future positions in this or other divisions. The selection process will consist of an evaluation of each applicant’s training and experience based on the application materials and responses to supplemental questions.

Candidates whose backgrounds best match the position requirements will be invited to participate in a virtual interview panel.

• Management reserves the right to add, modify, change, or rescind the work assignments of different positions and to make reasonable accommodations so that qualified employees can perform the essential functions of the job.
• Regularly confer with and advise architects, builders, attorneys, contractors, engineers, and the public regarding City development policies, procedures, and standards.
• Review development applications and building permits for conformance with appropriate regulations, policies, procedures, and standards.
• Conduct site inspections.
• Perform weekly shifts at the public counter, answering general inquiries in‑person, by phone, or email.
• Manage electronic application intake, distribution, and monitoring of planning applications and other permits reviewed by the division via the City’s software programs.
• Administers the City’s General Plan, Zoning Ordinance, and other adopted plans and guidelines.
• Prepare reports, correspondence, exhibits and presentations about the above and related functions.
• Assist other staff on complex development or policy planning projects, and other duties as assigned.

Follow this link to view the full job description for Associate Planner.

Any combination of training and experience that would provide the required knowledge, skills, and abilities is qualifying. A typical way to obtain the required qualifications would be:

• Minimum of three years of experience in municipal planning, or an equivalent combination of education and experience, with a master’s degree substituting for one year of the required experience.

• Graduation from an accredited college or university with an undergraduate or…