Principal Planner

the city of madison is hiring a principal planner

the city of madison seeks a qualified principal planner with excellent communication skills to be part of the leadership team for the planning division. This position is primarily responsible for the leadership of the neighborhood planning, preservation, and design (nppd) section within the planning division, while contributing to the overall leadership and success of the division. The nppd section engages with the community in long range planning and special projects that ensure madison is a vibrant and inclusive city as it changes over time, with a particular focus on physical design, placemaking and activation of public spaces.

The principal planner supervises a team of experienced professional staff in the creation and maintenance of a wide variety of forward‑looking citywide, area, and topic‑specific plans and special projects, often with a focus on downtown and established city neighborhoods. This work includes collaboration across the planning division to develop long‑range plans, leading the city’s historic preservation and arts and culture programs, and engaging in inter‑agency efforts to implement plans through public space design and city‑initiated redevelopment.

Successful administration of this section depends heavily on clear communication and collaboration with various city agencies, elected officials, community partners, and racially and culturally diverse residents. Working closely with others, this position will work to ensure that the city’s vision, goals related to land use, physical development, urban design, historic preservation, and public art are clear and measurable, and that the actions required to meet those goals are well communicated in adopted plans and related implementation strategies.

important: there are 2 supplemental essay questions on the job posting. You must attach your answers in the attachments section of your application.

(to view the questions, click on the supplemental question tab or view the bottom section of the job bulletin)

** applications received without attached essay responses will immediately be eliminated from consideration.**

employees may be eligible for loan forgiveness through the public service loan forgiveness program.

black, indigenous, people of color, women, trans, nonbinary, and individuals with disabilities are encouraged to apply. We value the unique blend of lived experiences and diverse perspectives that comes from non‑traditional education pathways and the variety of transferrable skills each candidate brings to the table. We value diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging. Even if every item on the job posting doesn’t match your experience perfectly, we encourage you to apply and share how your skills and experience can best serve our community.

• direct, lead and support staff members to ensure alignment with the city’s comprehensive plan and other adopted plans, and the vision, mission and values of the city, the organization, and residents.
• work with the planning division director to hire, train, on‑board, assign, supervise and evaluate the nppd staff team. Hold regular employee check‑ins and provide coaching and support for professional development.
• develop scopes of work and assign tasks and cross‑section project responsibilities to staff as part of the planning division work plan.
• review draft plans, reports, and communications and ensure consistent and high‑quality work products from the nppd staff team.
• stay up to date on any required supervisory trainings and monitor required trainings for nppd staff.

• co‑manage and/or coordinate staffing for the implementation of key development projects for which the city or community development authority is lead. This includes concept development with input from…