Transportation Planner III
- Summary
Are you an energized and experienced planner with a strategic mindset? Do you value collaboration, communication and high performance planning outcomes? Do you enjoy leading interdisciplinary teams to the finish line? Are you interested in managing a diverse portfolio of analytic, project and program responsibilities?
The King County Road Services Division of the Department of Local Services is recruiting for a Senior Planner to join its Planning, Policy, Grants and Real Property Unit. This is an outstanding opportunity for a high performing individual to join a collaborative team. Our group enjoys a diverse array of colleagues within and outside of King County government. The unit's diverse responsibilities include: Lean/performance management; business planning; operating the division's grant program; preparation of transportation planning products such as the county's Transportation Needs Report; division-wide coordination of activities that align with county-wide priorities including Best Run Government, King County's Strategic Climate Action Plan, and King County's Equity and Social Justice Plan; complex special project management; provision of real property services, and more.
This position will be responsible for planning, developing, and implementing programs and projects within the Roads Division. Our ideal candidate will possess superior research, analytic, facilitation and communication skills, as well as project and program management expertise to support a diverse array of activities: Green Building and sustainable design; active/non-motorized planning; Equity and Social Justice within capital project delivery; Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA) transition plan implementation; Lean/continuous improvement facilitation; capital planning; grant writing; performance management/measurement; and geographic information systems (GIS) mapping and analysis.
About our new Department: King County is the local service provider for the roughly quarter-million people who live in the unincorporated areas of the county; taken together, Unincorporated King County would be the second-largest city in the state. The new Department of Local Services includes a Director's Office with a Community Service Area group, and the Road Services and Permitting Divisions. Together, this department provides a single executive point of accountability for delivery of local services to all of the unincorporated areas.
About the Division: Road Services designs, builds, operates and maintains roads and bridges in unincorporated areas of King County. The division is a 24 hour per day, 7 day a week operation with work site locations in Renton, Downtown Seattle, and several remote field locations throughout King County. The division is responsible for 1,500 miles of road and 182 bridges, 5.7 million feet of drainage ditches, over 44,000 traffic control signs, 78 traffic signals, and 50 traffic cameras in unincorporated King County.
King County: As the only county in the United States named after Martin Luther King, Jr., King County is a vibrant community with residents that represent countries from around the world. It is a region with increasing diversity that cherishes the artistic and social traditions of many cultures. Together, we're changing the way government delivers service and winning national recognition as a model of excellence. We continue to build on an enduring legacy of shared values of equity and social justice, employee engagement, innovative thinking, and continuous improvement. With this commitment, King County has adopted a pro-equity agenda aimed at advancing regional change and is developing the systems and standards necessary to achieve better outcomes for all of our residents, regardless of their race or income. All of these qualities make King County one of the nation's best places to live, work, and play.- Job Duties
The successful candidate will demonstrate skill and ability at a minimum to:
- Coordinate, facilitate and inform green building, energy and sustainability reporting for the division.
- Research and analyze community and site scale information, policy, codes and contemporary transportation planning practices using a variety of online, GIS and other tools.
- Represent the division on interdepartmental green building, energy conservation, and other groups.
- Serve as a project manager or task lead for a variety of small and large scale transportation planning projects, such as: long-term capital planning; implementation of the King County Roads ADA Transition Plan, and pedestrian, cycling, transit and multi-modal transportation planning initiatives.
- Convene, facilitate and engage interdisciplinary groups, comprising staff from: engineering, maintenance/operations, permitting, real property, communications, GIS and other units within the division.
- Analyze transportation, asset management, socio-economic, natural resource and other information types to produce accurate reports and recommendations in support of policy decisions, budget proposals, grant proposals, proviso responses, capital project delivery and many other facets of the division.
- Convene and facilitate process improvement initiatives, incorporating principles of Lean and other strategic planning tools.
- Experience, Qualifications, Knowledge, Skills
Our Ideal Candidate Will Have:
- Demonstrated progressive responsibilities as a planner in a transportation agency or other infrastructure service provider organization.
- Experience working with GIS to perform simple geospatial data analysis and map production.
- Demonstrated ability to effectively contribute to a work environment that embraces and encourages diversity in its workforce and where differences are valued
- Experience demonstrating behaviors that include fairness, respect, and inclusiveness
- LEED certification or experience leading sustainability and green building initiatives, such as implementing King County's Strategic Climate Action Plan or tracking energy consumption and coordinated waste management activities across an organization.
- Experience analyzing and preparing policy, code, regulations and other technical planning documents.
- Experience preparing accurate technical reports, memoranda and other written materials.
- Demonstrated skills preparing accurate presentations and meeting materials for a variety of audiences including: elected officials, regional transportation authorities, senior county management, transportation constituency groups, and internal staff and management.
- Demonstrated ability to serve as a coach to staff across the organization.
- Demonstrated ability to lead, facilitate or support Lean/process improvement initiatives associated with planning-related functions and programs.
- Planning experience within an operational, asset management agency
- Demonstrated ability to build and maintain systems to visually communicate the status of projects and programs.
- Experience serving as a positive member of a team, role modeling to encourage and support the growth of other team members.
- Demonstrated ability to support a culture of cooperation, superior customer service and teamwork.
- Communication skills that reflect well upon King County, the County Executive, the department, and the incumbent.
The Most Competitive Candidate Will Also Have:
- A Bachelor's Degree in transportation or urban/environmental planning, public administration, or a related field, or equivalent combination of experience and education. Masters' Degree is preferred.
- Professional certifications, including AICP and/or LEED
- Demonstrated progressively responsible experience in the field of transportation, land use or environmental planning, with demonstrated experience with multi-modal transportation planning and program implementation.
- Demonstrated success managing projects and project teams in a highly operational setting.
- Experience conducting technical analyses using Excel, geographic information systems, and other data driven methods
- Experience analyzing the effects of proposed policies, code revisions, annexations and other proposals on transportation infrastructure.
- Experience drafting policies and legislation.
- Experience working diplomatically with citizens, constituency groups, committees and networking with jurisdictions and governmental agencies.
- Demonstrated ability to prepare and deliver oral presentations to a variety of technical and non-technical audiences.
- Demonstrated ability to prepare clear, concise written materials such as reports, plans, briefing papers and correspondence for a variety of audiences.
- Demonstrated ability to prepare and communicate using simple visual approaches, i.e. compelling maps, conceptual diagrams, visual boards, online media, and other visual tools.
- Completed training in Lean or similar process improvement framework.
- Supplemental Information
Interviews are anticipated to be scheduled during the week of June 3, 2019
WHO MAY APPLY: This position is open to all qualified candidates.
King County values diverse perspectives, life experiences, and differences. The Department of Transportation encourages people of all backgrounds to apply, including people of color, immigrants, refugees, women, LGBTQ, people with disabilities, and veterans. We are committed to being equitable and fair in providing equal access to opportunities for all.
WORK SCHEDULE: This position normally works 8:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m., Monday through Friday. Work may be required in the evenings and on weekends and holidays. This position is FLSA exempt and is not eligible for overtime. This position may be required to work after hours, weekends, and holidays depending on the workload.
APPLICATION PROCESS: To apply for this career opportunity, please provide the following application components: 1) your resume; 2) a cover letter describing how your experience meets the qualifications of this position; 3) a completed King County application, which is available online.
SELECTION PROCESS: Applications will be screened for clarity, completeness and qualifications. The most competitive candidates may be invited to participate in an interview. Reference checks will be conducted.
UNION REPRESENTATION: This position is represented by the local union PROTEC17.
QUESTIONS: Contact Madeline Canning-Kaplan at Madeline.Canning-Kaplan@kingcounty.gov or (206) 477-3721.
King County offers a highly-competitive compensation and benefits package designed to meet the diverse needs of our employees and support our employees' health and well-being. Eligible positions receive the following benefits and have access to the following programs:
- Medical, dental, and vision coverage: King County pays 100% of the premiums for eligible employees and family members
- Life and disability insurance: employees are provided basic coverage and given the opportunity to purchase additional insurance for both the employee and eligible dependents
- Retirement: King County employees are eligible to participate in a pension plan through the Washington State Department of Retirement Systems and a 457(b) deferred-compensation plan
- Transportation program and ORCA transit pass
- 10 paid holidays each year (plus 2 personal holidays)
- Generous vacation and paid sick leave
- Paid parental leave, family and medical leaves, and volunteer leave
- Flexible Spending Account
- Wellness programs
- Onsite gyms and activity centers
- Employee giving program
- Employee assistance programs
- Flexible schedules and telecommuting options, depending on position
- Training and career development programs
This is a general description of the benefits offered to eligible King County employees, and every effort has been made to ensure its accuracy. If any information on this document conflicts with the provisions of a collective bargaining agreement (CBA), the CBA prevails. Also, in the event of any incorrect information in this document, applicable laws, policies, rules, CBAs, or official plan documents will prevail.
NOTE: Benefits for Term Limited Temporary (TLT) or Short Term Temporary (STT) positions, including leave eligibility and/or participation in the pension plan through the Washington State Department of Retirement Systems, will vary based upon the terms and details of the position. Short Term Temporary positions are not eligible for an ORCA transit pass.
For inquiries about the specifics of this position, please contact the recruiter identified on this job posting.