Deputy Director of Development Services- Current Planning

Deputy Director of Development Services – Zoning & Design Review City of Fort Worth, Texas Fort Worth is a high-performance, full-service municipal organization operating at the center of one of America’s most dynamic growth regions. The City’s work is not theoretical; every decision has immediate consequences for neighborhoods, infrastructure, economic vitality, and the lived experience of residents and businesses. That reality has shaped a culture that values execution, measurable outcomes, transparency, and cross‑department collaboration. As Fort Worth continues to grow and evolve, the City is investing in leaders who can match pace with performance, leaders who can protect what works while advancing what’s next. The City’s Development Services Department sits directly in that equation, serving as both the operational gateway for development activity and a strategic platform for shaping Fort Worth’s long‑term community framework. This recruitment represents a rare opportunity: a senior leadership role inside a nationally recognized development services organization, now evolving from “exceptional at managing growth” to “exceptional at guiding it.” About the City of Fort Worth as an Organization The City of Fort Worth is a full-service municipal organization operating under a council–manager form of government. The Mayor and City Council set policy direction, and the City Manager Jay Chapa serves as the organization’s chief executive, responsible for implementing Council priorities and overseeing daily operations across the enterprise. Fort Worth delivers services through 27 departments and major offices, spanning public safety, infrastructure, community development, financial stewardship, and internal operations. The City’s scale is reflected in its workforce of approximately 7,200 employees, including roughly 4,500 civilian employees, 1,700+ police employees, and about 960 fire employees. Supporting this platform is a multi‑billion‑dollar operating structure; the City’s FY2026 operating budget is $3.09 billion, including a $1.11 billion General Fund. Together, this scope demands leaders who can drive performance in a complex environment, balancing customer expectations, transparency, risk management, and cross‑department coordination while delivering measurable outcomes. The Development Services Department: A performance‑driven organization with a five‑year blueprint Fort Worth has surged past a million residents and is still adding almost 20,000 new neighbors each year. That explosive growth keeps the Development Services Department (DSD) at the center of the City’s economic engine. A 240‑person team guides every plat, permit and inspection, and has been ranked #1 in Texas amongst 1,200 cities by Texas Businesses in verified reviews on the economic development platform Scout. Fort Worth ranked the highest in two categories: “Speed of Permitting” and “Speed of Zoning.” (4.0 of 5 for both). The only city to reach above 4 stars in these categories. DSD’s 2029 Strategic Plan is ambitious and outward‑facing. Among its headline initiatives: Delivery support for the $1.16 billion Panther Island flood control and riverfront redevelopment , coordinating entitlements across federal, regional and local partners. Launch of a next‑generation, AI‑enabled online permitting portal that improves both the customer experience as well as reduce staff time related to minor reviews and publish real‑time KPI dashboards that will aid in governmental transparency. Update to the Transportation Impact Fee (TrIF) program and 2028 study , opening the door to public‑private partnerships that keep new roadway capacity ahead of growth. Restoration of landmark civic spaces— including Heritage Park —and completion of the Historic Resource Survey that will guide preservation policy for the next decade. These projects will contribute to shaping how, and how fast, Fort Worth grows. The Deputy Director will help turn strategy into reality. Development Services is not a back‑office function in Fort Worth. It is a high‑volume, high‑accountability operation that influences how the City grows, how quickly projects move, and how consistently policies are applied. It supports the full development lifecycle, zoning, platting, entitlements, infrastructure coordination, building permits, plan review and inspections, complex project facilitation, customer service, and data‑enabled performance management. In FY2021, Development Services launched a five‑year Strategic Plan that is updated every year and reads like a modern operating system for a growth city, focused on customer experience, employee experience, and a set of priorities that are directly relevant to this Deputy Director role: 1) Customer experience as a service standard The Department emphasizes service excellence, predictability, and transparency- streamlining review and permitting processes, strengthening collaboration with internal “alliance partner” departments and external stakeholders, and using technology to make workflows more visible and user‑friendly. The Strategic Plan speaks directly to reducing friction, improving clarity, and solving the customer pain points that slow projects down or erode trust. 2) Employee experience as a capability strategy The Department is equally explicit about building the workforce needed for long‑term performance: developing leaders at every level, expanding training and cross‑training, supporting wellness and work‑life balance, and strengthening succession planning and institutional knowledge. In other words, this is a department that understands the operational truth: customer outcomes are only as strong as the talent system behind them. 3) A modern execution agenda: operational efficiency, smart growth, continuous improvement The Strategic Plan is structured around three priorities: Operational Efficiency: meeting service‑level expectations, using technology and workflow improvements to reduce review delays, improving transparency, and optimizing resources. Smart Growth: supporting compact and mixed‑use design, missing middle housing, conservation districts, form‑based codes, design overlays, and policies that reinforce character while accommodating growth. Continuous Improvement: investing in employee development (including Lean Six Sigma), leveraging analytics and dashboards, and standardizing workflows, documentation, and escalation paths. Department structure and scope: a coordinated development platform Development Services operates through multiple functional divisions that collectively deliver a coordinated development experience: Customer Care provides the front door for customers, helping with submittals, answering questions, managing CRM inquiries, and improving customer satisfaction through education, communications, and training resources. Development Coordination supports critical connective points: contract management, business support/financial management, facilitation for strategic projects, strategic operations/KPI tracking, and administration of programs such as transportation impact fees. This division emphasizes both customer navigation and internal accountability. Development Engineering delivers infrastructure‑related development review: engineering plan review, stormwater development #J-18808-Ljbffr Industrial Asset Management Council, Inc