Assistant Planner Jobs

The City of Redmond is a thriving, culturally diverse community that is home to over 72,000 residents as well an array of commerce, high technology, and industry. To be consistently recognized as one of the best cities to live in, it takes progressive thinking that balances environmental protection and improving our climate with connected neighborhoods, inclusive practices, and a vibrant economy.
That is why the Assistant Planner position is an exciting, entry-level opportunity for anyone who is interested in beginning a career in municipal government especially in planning and community development. As an Assistant Planner, you will work under the direction of the Planning Manager and other senior level Planners and assist with a variety of tasks such as quality control checking, processing projects such as doing mechanical plan reviews and single-family residential permits. With experience, you may be assigned short plat reviews, boundary, or lot line adjustments, and more if workload permits and you want to expand your knowledge and experience base
Before we talk more about the position and some of the key skills we’re looking for, we think it’s important you learn more about who we are and what we stand for in the Planning and Community Development department at the City of Redmond.
We work in service of the community. We are responsible not only to the citizens and businesses who call Redmond home today but to future generations. So, our team is unified by the spirit of this principle and apply it to our day-to-day work whether it is answering questions from the community or reviewing long-range plans and making decisions around land-use activities that will have far-reaching environmental, social, and economic impacts.
We believe in promoting and developing from within. In our team charter is the promise to our employees that we guarantee to train you to the best of our abilities to be competitive here or at other places so that you can meet your own professional goals.
We embrace and embody cultural humility. Our team is culturally diverse and so we know how the practice of understanding how our personal backgrounds and the backgrounds of others impact and inform our work, civic engagement, and the role of planning and community services.
We are professional multi-taskers. Our team, from the assistant planner to senior leaders, are constantly juggling multiple projects and priorities. We expect everyone to hit the ground running, but we’ll run together and make sure no one falls behind.

About You:
You have a “How Can I Help” attitude. Whether it’s helping our Planning team be successful with serving the needs of building developers, contractors, engineers, and private citizens, or being the person who greets people when they walk in to ask questions. You are naturally friendly, responsive, and timely in all of your communication and engagement with others, on the phone, in-person, or through email.
You are very well organized and love to keep track of all the details, deadlines, and paperwork. However, you are also able to pivot and change directions even with little information. In other words, you like to keep everything moving along as designed but don't get ruffled if something needs to change at the last minute.
You are at home in a fast-paced environment where every day is little different from the next. This means you know how to set and re-set priorities so that you can meet your deadlines. Your natural mode is “Go get ‘em!”
You have a genuine passion for the work of development and design. Not only do you speak enthusiastically about your past professional and educational experiences, but you may have also spent time volunteering or interning with organizations that support sustainable community development, environmental or natural resources protection, or parks and recreation. This field isn’t just a job, it’s part of a larger purpose for you.
About the Job:
If selected to join us, this position will give you a chance to learn and perform the following functions and more:

• Respond to the public regarding zoning questions and current developments
• Learn how to conduct planning research, studies and analysis related to urban planning, environment, transportation, and land use policy, program or regulation changes and updates.
• Learn professional written and verbal communication skills such as drafting and presenting reports including recommendations, with supporting documentation like graphs and maps.
• Learn development plan reviews including short plats, accessory dwelling units, telecommunication facility permits, minor modifications, components of larger projects, environmental impact for conformance with applicable codes, plans and regulations

Education and Experience

• Bachelor's degree in urban planning, urban design and development, architecture, landscape architecture, geography, environmental science, natural resources management, transportation planning, public policy, or related discipline
• Or any equivalent combination of education, experience and training that provides the required knowledge, skills, and abilities.

• Valid Washington State Driver's License and a driving record that meets city standards
• This position is currently covered by Redmond City Hall Employee's Association

The City of Redmond offers extremely competitive salaries and an excellent benefits package including:

• RETIREMENT PLANS - Department of Retirement Systems (DRS) PERS plus additional options that include Municipal Employees Benefit Trust (Social Security replacement plan) and MetLife 457 Plan
• VISION INSURANCE - For employees and their eligible dependents
• PRESCRIPTION DRUG INSURANCE - Included with each medical plan
• OTHER INSURANCE - Life, accidental death & dismemberment insurance, short and long-term disability, optional employee-paid voluntary life insurance
• EMPLOYEE ASSISTANCE PROGRAM (EAP)
• DENTAL INSURANCE - For employees and their eligible dependents
• Annual merit increases of up to 5%
• FLEXIBLE SPENDING ACCOUNTS - For tax savings on healthcare and dependent care expenses
• PAID VACATION & HOLIDAYS – with (13) paid holidays per year
• Annual COLA adjustments
• MEDICAL INSURANCE - Choice of two plans for employees and their eligible dependents: Premera or Kaiser Permanente, employee premiums paid for by the City.

• Top candidates will be contacted to participate in the next phase of selection process, which may include testing and/or an interview.
• The City is accepting applications from internal and external applicants. Please include a resume with your application. Please be sure to list or upload copies of all relevant training and certifications on your application.
• This will be a highly competitive process - you are encouraged to apply as early as possible.
• The City may review existing application pools to fill this position or use this pool to fill future vacancies.
• The first round of videoconference interviews are scheduled for May 2.