Assistant Director of Planning – Midland, Texas

Assistant Director of Planning – Midland, Texas

City of Midland
Midland, Texas

Mackenzie Eason has been retained by the City of Midland to recruit its next Assistant Director of Planning, a senior leadership role created to help guide one of Texas’ fastest-growing metropolitan areas through a pivotal period of growth, policy modernization, and long-range visioning.

Reporting to the Planning & Development Officer, the Assistant Director of Planning will lead Planning initiatives and staff, providing strategic leadership for long-range planning, ordinance modernization, and consultant-led plan development, while mentoring a growing professional planning team. This newly elevated role is designed to shift Midland’s planning function from historically reactive development review to a proactive, policy-driven, and vision-oriented planning culture.

For many years, the City’s Planning Division has concentrated primarily on current planning functions, including zoning, platting, and application processing. The next phase requires a deliberate pivot toward long-range planning, ordinance modernization, and big-picture urban policy.

The Assistant Director of Planning will lead that shift.

This role will assume responsibility for major planning initiatives, including a citywide Comprehensive Plan update, the Northeast Master Plan, and targeted rewrites of key development ordinances related to parkland dedication, subdivision standards, and neighborhood quality.

In the next two to three years, the Assistant Director of Planning will be instrumental in:

• Standing up and directing the City’s Comprehensive Plan update.
• Leading a consultant-driven master planning and corridor studies.
• Modernizing outdated ordinances to better align development outcomes with community goals.
• Institutionalizing a long-range planning function within the organization.
• Elevating professional standards, tools, and training across a young and growing planning team.