Senior Planner; COM Job Renton area,Washington USA,Government

Position: Senior Planner (COM 3)

Senior Planner (COM3)

The Department of Commerce is the one agency in state government that touches every aspect of community and economic development: planning, infrastructure, energy, public facilities, housing, public safety and crime victims, international trade, business services and more. We work with local governments, tribes, businesses and civic leaders throughout the state to strengthen communities so all residents may thrive and prosper.

The Local Government Division (LGD) partners with local governments, nonprofits, and others to strengthen the ability of all forms of local governments and community-based organizations to fund and develop critical services to their communities. The division provides leadership in local government finance and statewide infrastructure initiatives that help create and retain jobs. It also provides grants, loans, and planning and technical assistance to local governments for community development needs, infrastructure improvements, and economic development opportunities.

This position works within the Growth Management Services (GMS) Unit of LGD. This position provides technical assistance to counties and cities in Washington State through the review of comprehensive plans, critical areas ordinances, and development regulations on a statewide basis ensuring the GMS Plan Review system does not develop a backlog of review work. As such, this position requires a strong working knowledge of Washington State’s Growth Management Act (GMA), 36.70A RCW.

In addition, this position will assume a technical specialty role in one or more GMA topics (i.e. sections) and provide assistance related to the specialty to other GMS planners as well as counties and cities.

This position must be located within Western Washington and regular travel to meet with and assist assigned jurisdictions is required. Technical Assistance to Assigned Jurisdictions in the Western Region – Tasks include:

Review and analyze comprehensive plans, critical areas ordinances, and development regulations submitted to the state for review by assigned jurisdictions and provide technical assistance related to those submittals as needed.
Use independent, critical thinking to determine appropriate technical assistance and, as needed, provide plan review comments and prepare letters or other communication and feedback to local governments on items reviewed.
When requests for GMA-related technical assistance are received from assigned jurisdictions in the Western Region outside of a submittal to the state for review, then independently determine appropriate level of technical assistance and respond accordingly.
Determine existing need then communicate with supervisor about alleviating temporary plan review workflow and bottleneck issues as they arise.
Develop and maintain an ongoing professional relationships with staff in assigned jurisdictions such as scheduling phone calls and/or attending meetings.
Assist program coordinators in the coordination of GMA Short Courses, Planners’ Forums or conferences, meetings and training opportunities in assigned jurisdictions. Assistance may include but is not limited to presenting the content of the short course, identifying topics of interest and securing suitable speakers for planner forums.

Technical Specialty Assistance – Tasks include:

Serve as the GMS unit’s designated subject matter expert on one or more GMA-related topics. Examples of GMA technical specialty topics may include but are not limited to rural lands, transportation, critical areas, resource lands, urban growth areas, housing, capital facilities, climate change, economic development, buildable lands, and essential public facilities.
When requests for technical assistance related to the GMA…