Senior Planner - Community Development

Overview

Westminster's planning department works on a 4-10's schedule

Under general supervision, this role involves planning, organizing, overseeing, coordinating, and evaluating the work of professional, technical, and administrative staff engaged in complex tasks within a specific functional area of the Planning Division in the Community Development Department. Responsibilities may include current, long-range, and historic preservation planning. The role ensures the efficient use of the City's planning resources to enhance organizational productivity and customer service.

It provides expert support to the Community Development Director, Principal Planner, City Council, Planning Commission, Design Review Committee, and others. Duties include conducting and reviewing various studies, preparing and presenting staff reports, and performing related tasks.

Receives general supervision from the Principal Planner. Exercises technical and functional supervision and training to lower-level staff.

This is the highest level in the professional planning series responsible for supervising the functions of the advance planning, current planning, and/or special projects within the Planning Division. Responsibilities include performing diverse, specialized, and complex work involving significant accountability and decision-making responsibility. The incumbent organizes and oversees day-to-day current or advance planning activities and is responsible for providing professional-level support to the Principal Planner and Community Development Director in a variety of areas.

Successful performance of the work requires an extensive professional background as well as skill in coordinating departmental work with that of other City departments and public agencies. Responsibilities include performing and directing many of the department’s day-to-day administrative functions. This class is distinguished from Principal Planner in that the latter has overall management responsibility of larger and more complex functions of the Community Development Department.

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.

• Plans, organizes, assigns, supervises, and reviews the work of lower-level staff engaged in planning duties; trains staff in work procedures; provides policy guidance and interpretation to staff; evaluates employee performance and works with employees to correct deficiencies.
• Participates in the development and implementation of goals, objectives, policies, and priorities for the assigned function; recommends within departmental policy, appropriate service and staffing levels; recommends and administers policies and procedures.
• Develops and standardizes procedures and methods to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of assigned services, projects, and activities; assesses and monitors workload; identifies opportunities for improvement and recommends to the Director.
• Participates in the development and administration of and oversees assigned budgets.
• Participates in selection, trains, motivates, and evaluates assigned personnel; provides or coordinates staff training; works with employees on performance issues; reviews staff reports and other work products prepared by professional planning staff; assigns work and provides guidance and direction to staff regarding work plans and methods.
• Provides highly complex staff assistance to the Director and Principal Planner; develops and reviews staff reports related to assigned activities, projects, and services; under direction, presents reports to and advises the City Council, Planning Commission, Design Review Committee (DRC), Zoning Administrator, and other commissions, committees, and boards related to a wide variety of planning and zoning matters; participates in regional planning committee meetings and responds to issues via written correspondence or demographic data review;
  
  performs a variety of public relations and outreach related to assigned activities; leads public discussion forums and workshops; writes articles for the City’s quarterly newsletter.
• Manages, directs, and participates in highly complex planning projects and activities in the areas of General Plan and project specific plan updates and amendments, the preparation of ordinances, and other projects as assigned; designs and conducts studies to develop policies, plans, and codes; conducts field inspections of assigned planning and development projects to ensure compliance with Federal, State, and local laws, rules, and regulations, including the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), Subdivision Map Act, Public Resource Code, General Plan, Specific Plans, Design Specifications, and Local Guidelines and procedures.
• Provides input to the…