The Bureau of Planning and Sustainability (BPS) is seeking to fill a City Planner II – Environmental position within the bureau's River, Environmental and Resilience Team. As the City of Portland's long-range planning bureau, BPS coordinates and leads complex multi-agency projects that shape Portland's built environment and the lives of its residents.
The City Planner II – Environmental participates in long range planning projects focused on the integration of natural resource functions into the built environment by incorporating green infrastructure, natural resource protection and restoration into plans and project designs. This requires analyzing issues in the context of complex existing or potential policies and code provisions and explaining the results and recommendations clearly and persuasively. This frequently results in the need for the City Planner II – Environmental to draft or amend policies and regulations. This position works within collaborative project teams and may serve as a project manager or coordinator. The successful candidate will work under the general direction of a Supervising Planner.
This position is on the River, Environmental and Resilience Team. This team both leads and collaborates with other City bureaus in developing plans for Portland's rivers and natural resources; updates to Portland's natural resource inventories, environmental and floodplain policies and regulations (e.g., environmental and greenway overlay zones); and plans to address natural hazards (extreme rain and flooding, extreme heat, wildfires and smoke, landslides) and other resiliency and climate change topics. This group provides technical assistance to BPS and other planning projects.
As a City Planner II – Environmental, you will:
Coordinate complex planning projects to develop policies, planning recommendations or develop solutions to long- and short-term problems; designs and coordinates projects by identifying problems, determining methodology, setting project goals and objectives and developing work plans and budgets.
Evaluate project proposals or plans for compliance/consistency with applicable codes, criteria, requirements, and regulations.
Research policy issues and conditions; collect information regarding study needs from other sources; conduct and analyze surveys, inventories, and evaluations.
Develop and implement public involvement and outreach processes, with a focus on engaging historically marginalized and underserved communities; prepare written and graphic materials and presentations for a range of audiences.
Facilitate public meetings and workshops; coordinate work with outside groups, inter-bureau representatives and co-workers to discuss issues and develop bureau policy.
Answer questions and provide information and assistance to the public in person, by telephone and in writing; document citizen feedback.
Develop and monitor the work program of technical and community advisory committees, professional service contractors, inter-bureau work groups, and ad-hoc project-specific teams; assist in drafting scope of work documents, requests for proposals, funding proposals, and budget-related documents.
Present project deliverables to the City Council and other decision-making bodies.
Manage professional service contracts and intergovernmental agreements; drafts requests for proposal, contracts, and scope of services; participate in consultant selection process; coordinate and review the work of consultants; monitor work programs and schedules to ensure terms of contract are met and project is completed in a timely manner.
Our ideal candidate is:
Collaborative and Independent: An outgoing professional who values partnership and stakeholder relationships. Someone who can both work independently and in a collaborative environment.
Strong Communicator: An effective communicator who listens intently, works to identify concerns, engages respectfully, relays information clearly, checks for understanding, and adapts their communication style to meet the needs of the audience.
Proficient Time Manager: Demonstrates exceptional planning skills, consistently meeting deadlines with precision. Responds promptly to inquiries from both internal teams and external stakeholders, showcasing efficient time allocation and prioritization.
Solutions Oriented: A problem solver who applies critical thinking to develop various approaches to tackle issues and opportunities.
Invested in Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI): Use DEI concepts to guide and inform work. Experience with inclusive, respectful, and culturally responsive practices.
Emotionally Intelligent: Motivated, passionate, team-oriented, and empathetic. Strong interpersonal skills.
The following minimum qualifications are required for this position:
Ability to engage with issues related to access, equity, diversity, displacement, inclusion, implicit bias, and institutional racism, as they relate to planning.
Experience evaluating, drafting, and explaining land use regulations and policies.
Experience interpreting and applying planning principles, regulations, and procedures to a variety of planning issues, including land use, environmental, and other related topics.
Experience planning projects that integrate environmental quality and climate resilience into the urban environment through development design, green infrastructure, and natural resource protection, enhancement, and restoration.
Experience managing large, complex, and politically sensitive planning projects or tasks.
Experience communicating effectively both verbally and in writing with a wide variety of audiences, including government agencies, the public, appointed or elected officials and decision-makers, businesspeople, non-governmental organizations, and people who speak different languages.
Although not required, you may have one or more of the following:
Knowledge of and experience with Oregon's Statewide Planning Goals and the state and local land use regulatory framework, including specialized knowledge of Oregon's Statewide Planning Goals 5 and 15.
Knowledge of and experience with federal, state and/or regional requirements, including the Endangered Species Act, FEMA National Flood Insurance Program floodplain management, the Metro Urban Growth Management Functional Plan, and others.
Advanced degree or professional certification in urban planning, environmental planning, natural resource management, public administration or related field.
Experience using Geographic Information Systems (GIS) to evaluate issues and inform policies and regulations.
Tagged as: Conservation
