Senior Planner

Senior Planner

The Port of San Diego is an innovative, global seaport courageously supporting commerce, fisheries, recreation, navigation, community, and the environment. We are excited to offer an opportunity if you are interested in enriching the relationship people and business have with the dynamic waterfront of San Diego Bay, providing prosperity and a more remarkable way of life.

We are seeking a self-motivated Senior Planner to join the Planning Department, to help advance long-range planning initiatives that create and support a well-planned and integrated waterfront and help guide the development and management of the lands in and around San Diego Bay. Qualified candidates must be able to demonstrate excellence in customer service, transparency, and humility, while balancing development and protection of the environment. The Senior Planner position will be assigned long-range planning functions of moderate to high complexity/controversy, and must be able to adapt and remain versatile in a dynamic work environment. The candidate must have familiarity with the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), have excellent verbal and written communication skills, and be able to work effectively with internal and external stakeholders and the public. Familiarity with the California Coastal Act, as well as experience working directly with or for a public agency is a plus.

If this describes your talents and interests, and you are looking for a positive, innovative, and creative teamwork environment, this could be the job for you.

Hiring Range Negotiable Between: $91,062 - $111,096 DOE/DOQ*

Under general direction, serves as a team leader or project manager over specialized current planning or long-range planning projects or programs of significant District importance, visibility, and impact in a variety of disciplines; conducts research and performs a variety of specialized and complex planning studies, projects, programs, and assignments; develops and updates comprehensive and long-range plans and associated policies and programs; plans, organizes, oversees, and evaluates the work of professional and technical staff; provides policy advice and represents the department and the Port with federal, state, and local agencies; and performs related duties as assigned.

Receives general direction from assigned supervisory or management personnel. Exercises direct supervision over professional-level staff.

This is the advanced journey-level classification in the Planner series responsible for performing the most complex work assigned to the series. Incumbents regularly work on tasks which are varied and complex, requiring considerable discretion and independent judgment. Positions in the classification rely on experience and judgment to perform assigned duties. Assignments are given with general guidelines and incumbents are responsible for establishing objectives, timelines, and methods to complete assignments. Work is typically reviewed upon completion for soundness, appropriateness, and conformity to policy and requirements.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities

Management reserves the right to add, modify, change, or rescind the work assignments of different positions and to make reasonable accommodations so qualified employees can perform the essential functions of the job.

• Serves as a project manager, team leader, subject matter expert, and/or primary reviewer/analyst of tenant development projects and Port initiated projects to ensure compliance with the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), California Coastal Act (Coastal Act), California Health and Safety Code, San Diego County Air Pollution Control Port rules, and other relevant federal, state, and local laws, regulations, codes, and Port policies and procedures; oversees and prepares issuance of coastal development permits and other entitlements consistent with CEQA, Coastal Act, San Diego Unified District Port Act, and the Public Trust Doctrine.
• Assigns, directs, reviews, oversees, and monitors the work of professional and technical staff and consultants; acts as team leader for staff coordinating department and inter-departmental planning activities; regularly monitors performance of team members and consultants; trains and mentors professional and technical staff, facilitates acquisition of resources and training for team members, and ensures staff training needs are met; coaches staff for better performance; edits written work of staff and consultants for accuracy and readability of content; coordinates and balances workloads among team members and consultants; monitors schedules; evaluates and modifies procedures to improve service delivery; mediates conflict between team members; keeps statistics of team's work.
• Develops, designs, implements, and oversees Port, tenant, and inter-departmental planning programs to meet Port needs; administers complex Port policies and regulations; interprets and implements federal, state, and regional laws and regulations; interprets and integrates planning requirements into policy direction, plans, and management of department programs; determines the application of code and regulations in complex situations; writes and edits Port policy documents and regulations related to planning issues; researches, writes, and edits management plans; prepares amendments to the Port's Master Plan; analyzes amendment requests from the general public and other divisions; reviews and edits proposed amendments to Port policy documents to ensure clarity and consistency; develops strategies, policy document amendments, and other measures to carry out policies.

• Coordinates activities with Port staff, division management, and elected officials; makes recommendations and presents reports to the Board of Port Commissioners; keeps department management and Port Commissioners apprised of the status of department programs and the department's ability to meet regulatory requirements.
• Researches policy or planning issues and conditions; analyzes projects for conformance with relevant regulations; plans and manages processes to prepare detailed study designs that reflect outlined needs; prepares scopes of work; designs, conducts, and analyzes surveys, inventories, and evaluations, including data collection and interpretation, analysis, and evaluation of consequences of different courses of action; completes portions of environmental impact reports; issues coastal development permits.
• Briefs department staff on policy document changes and land-use recommendations; notifies Port employees on department programs; keeps team members updated on outcome of management decisions, interpretations, and new regulations.
• Acts as department spokesperson and liaison with other divisions and local, state and federal government agencies and provides planning expertise; represents the Port and participates on committees, subcommittees, advisory groups, councils, and boards that address local issues; organizes and hosts meetings and special events; presents programs and policies to community groups as needed; conducts and facilitates public meetings, workshops, and advisory committees; participates and serves on other division or agency technical advisory committees; convenes and leads team meetings and inter-department teams.
• Takes the lead in responding to questions from Port employees, developers, agency and industrial professionals, and the public on department programs, policies, and regulations; explains Port positions, policies, procedures, and regulations on planning matters.
• Recommends procedural and policy documents as appropriate to maintain function of policy documents and maps; prepares maps; analyzes and evaluates technical documents, drawings, plans, graphs, and charts for accuracy, completeness, and applicability to pertinent regulations.
• Develops budgets and manages consultant contracts; identifies candidates; prepares and distributes Requests for Proposals (RFPs); convenes interview panels and selects consultants; reviews work products and authorizes payments and invoices; monitors grant and funding opportunities; ensures compliance with contract terms addresses concerns with contractors as needed.
• Keeps informed of new regulations, pending legislation, and trends in planning that impact department programs and processes; develops and implements course of action to adapt to new regulations or policies; writes summaries of regulations and briefs staff on relevant regulations; performs and/or directs a course of action for tasks to ensure compliance with regulations; communicates and coordinates with regulatory agencies.
• Develops, manipulates, and maintains computerized databases, spreadsheets, progress monitoring systems, and filing systems.
• Conducts field work with operations staff to mitigate and take corrective action for issues and problems.
• Prepares complex reports, summaries, memos, agenda sheets, and correspondence.
• Performs assigned disaster service worker responsibilities, as directed.
• Observes and complies with all Port and mandated safety rules, regulations, and protocols.
• Performs related duties as assigned.

Qualifications

Knowledge of:

• Principles and practices of leadership.
• Principles of providing functional direction and training.
• Principles and techniques for working with groups and fostering effective team interaction to ensure teamwork is conducted smoothly.
• Advanced theories, principles, practices, and techniques of public administration, public financing, financial management, and redevelopment, as they apply to a Port and the disciplines of current and long-range land use planning, marine planning, environmental planning, natural resources management, environmental protection, air quality, environmental monitoring, and sustainability.
• Principles and practices of project planning and management, including managing multiple projects, project budgets, and schedules.
• Principles and techniques of workload management and coordination.
• Social, political, and environmental issues influencing planning program/project development and implementation.
• Principles, practices, tools, and techniques of purchasing and maintenance of public records.
• Research methods and analytical techniques for both quantitative and qualitative analysis.
• Principles and practices of sound business communication.
• Applicable federal, state, and local laws