Permit Technician

Permit Technician

Salary Schedule: $7,087 - $8,614 Final Filing Deadline: June 7, 2026, 11:59 p.m. The Town of Corte Madera's Community Development Department is hiring a Permit Technician to join their team.

The Town of Corte Madera is committed to enhancing the community's health, safety, and quality of life through proactive, responsive, and inclusive public service. Located in the heart of beautiful Marin County, Corte Madera is a vibrant community of just under 10,000 residents known for its small-town charm, strong sense of community, and exceptional quality of life.

Surrounded by natural beauty and conveniently located between San Francisco and the North Bay, Corte Madera offers the best of both worlds, scenic open spaces, waterfront views, and outdoor recreation alongside easy access to shopping, dining, transportation, and cultural amenities. The Town takes pride in preserving its rich history while thoughtfully planning for the future through sustainable development, community engagement, and high-quality municipal services.

Town employees play an important role in supporting a collaborative and service-oriented organization dedicated to maintaining Corte Madera as a welcoming, safe, and thriving community for residents, businesses, and visitors alike. To learn more about the Town, visit: The Town of Corte Madera.

The Community Development Department helps plan, build and enhance the quality of life for the Town of Corte Madera. The Department is tasked with land use planning including the implementation of the General Plan, maintenance of the Zoning Code, overseeing housing programs, economic development, facilitating the entitlement process, and protecting public safety, health and welfare through the effective administration and enforcement of local ordinances and building codes (structural, electrical, mechanical, plumbing, and energy efficiency).

The Community Development Department consists of the Building and Planning Divisions, whose central functions include providing service to members of the public, businesses, and the development community navigating the land use entitlement process, reviewing and processing applications for planning and building permits to ensure compliance with state and local codes; drafting new land use policies and regulations; implementing housing programs; conducting site inspections to ensure compliance with plans and applicable building codes; supporting resolution of code enforcement cases in partnership with Code Enforcement staff; and facilitating public discussion and comment related to land use matters. Staff also supports the Planning Commission and represents the Town in regional planning efforts.

Position Under general supervision, the Permit Technician provides technical, administrative, and customer service support for the Town's Community Development Department. This position serves as a primary point of contact for the public by assisting with planning and building permit applications, explaining permitting requirements and procedures, coordinating plan review activities, maintaining permit records, scheduling inspections, calculating fees, and supporting departmental operations. The role requires strong organizational skills, attention to detail, and the ability to interpret and apply building and zoning regulations while delivering responsive and professional public service.

The Town seeks a highly organized, detail-oriented professional with experience in building permitting processes and a strong commitment to delivering exceptional customer service. The ideal candidate is collaborative, dependable, and skilled at managing multiple priorities in a fast-paced public service environment.

Key qualities include:

• Technical Expertise: Experienced in reviewing building permit applications and plan submittals for completeness; able to accurately and consistently interpret building codes, zoning regulations, and permitting requirements.
• Customer Service: Courteous, patient, and professional when assisting customers at the public counter, by phone, and through electronic communications; skilled at assessing customer needs, explaining processes clearly, and guiding applicants through permitting procedures.
• Communication: Communicates clearly, professionally, and effectively with residents, contractors, consultants, and internal staff, both verbally and in writing.
• Organization and Attention to Detail: Adept at performing initial plan and document reviews, verifying contractor licenses and credentials, calculating permit fees, processing permits, and maintaining accurate records and databases.
• Coordination and Time Management: Comfortable tracking plan review timelines, coordinating with consultants and internal departments, and helping ensure timely permit issuance and inspection scheduling.
• Teamwork and Collaboration: Works effectively and cooperatively with Town departments, outside agencies, contractors, and the public to support efficient and responsive service delivery.

Our ideal candidate is proactive, solutions-oriented, and committed to providing high-quality public service while supporting the Town's development review and permitting operations with professionalism and accuracy.

Examples of Duties

• Assist the public at the front counter and on the phone; interview customers and determine their needs and assess the scope of their project; answer questions and provide information within specific guidelines or direct complex issues or inquiries to appropriate Town staff; provide forms, applications, and other materials; assist the public in completing application forms.
• Confer with and accurately advise members of the general public, property owners, architects, engineers, developers, other Town departments and others regarding Town policies, procedures and standards related to planning and building issues; provide and explain requirements of codes and ordinances.
• Assist contractors, engineers, architects, realtors, and homeowners in locating permit and parcel information, including zoning information; generate 300' radius labels using computer application and photocopy and mail public notices.
• Perform initial review of building applications, plans, and support documents for accuracy and completeness; interpret and apply applicable codes and procedures.
• Track and coordinate the plan review process to obtain approvals and/or corrections in a timely fashion; review, create and send correction letters; compile plans and documents for permit issuance, coordinate consultant plan review and inspection activities; process necessary paperwork; calculate and assess permit fees; issue permits; collect fees; record and file documents; enter inspection results, plan review and permit status records; prepare files for final inspections.
• Verify validity of contractors' state licenses, business licenses, workers' compensation insurance, liability insurance and property ownership.
• Participate in developing customer handouts and information packets related to construction, code and ordinance compliance; develop, write and maintain a comprehensive building procedures manual for permit processing.
• Perform general office duties; receive, compile, and organize information for the preparation of correspondence, documents, agendas, spreadsheets, and reports as assigned; post meeting agendas, reports and notices; photocopy and collate public hearing packets; maintain confidentiality of sensitive information and documents.
• Type technical correspondence, memoranda, labels, contracts, legal documents, and reports; format documents and check drafts for punctuation, spelling and grammar; make or suggest corrections to drafts; distribute copies of materials.
• Perform general clerical accounting duties; calculate fees and collect payments; input ledger information; prepare refund requests; prepare reports and graphs.
• Perform comprehensive reviews of file records for relevant construction histories for residential properties offered for sale; prepare and maintain records; enter and retrieve data; produce various documents, summaries and reports utilizing standard and advanced equipment and computer functions and programs, developing formats and manipulating data to achieve desired results.
• Maintain Department files; file copies of permits, letters, memoranda, reports, construction plans, and associated documents for microfilming in accordance with Town policies and procedures; ensure compliance with records retention system procedures.
• Schedule inspections; assist the Building Official and planning staff in locating files and permit information and resolving discrepancies with construction projects; assist with the gathering of data for inspection reports and investigations.
• Stay abreast of related trends, laws, and regulations; attend classes required for certification renewal.
• Gather, compile and summarize information from a variety of sources to prepare data reports, budget reports and routing reports.
• Maintain inventory and stock of office supplies for the assigned area.

Knowledge of:

• Modern office methods, procedures and equipment including a computer terminal; Windows-based computer operating system at an intermediate or greater level including but not limited to Microsoft Word, Excel, Outlook, and Internet Explorer.
• English usage, spelling, grammar and punctuation.
• Business letter writing and basic report preparation in a Windows-based computer office environment.
• Principles and procedures of record keeping, tracking and maintenance.
• Principles of basic mathematics.
• Principles and techniques used in dealing with the public.
• Procedures used in the building permit and planning processes.
• Basic plan checking principles to determine completeness of plan submittal applications for planning and building permits.
• Methods, practices, and materials used in building construction.
• State laws, codes and Town ordinances related to construction and zoning.

Skill to:

• Operate modern office equipment including computer equipment.

Ability to:

• Retrieve pertinent data from Internet websites including Assessor's parcel information, aerial photos and current applicable codes.
• Exercise independent judgment and initiative in the performance of general technical and clerical work while recognizing the limits of authority in referring complex matters to management; prioritize work and coordinate multiple activities.
• Understand and apply building codes, state and federal laws