Job Description
About Our Job
With competitive pay, great benefits, and endless opportunities, working for the City and County of Denver means seeing yourself working with purpose — for you, and those who benefit from your passion, skills and expertise. Join our diverse, inclusive and talented workforce of more than 11,000 team members who are at the heart of what makes Denver, Denver.
Application Deadline and Required Materials
This position is expected to stay open until 11:59PM on Sunday, February 23. Please submit your application as soon as possible and no later than 11:59PM on Sunday, February 23.
Please include a resume
and cover letter with your application materials.
What We Offer
The City and County of Denver offers a competitive salary commensurate with education and experience. The hiring salary range for this position is $78,337 - $100,000/year. We also offer generous benefits for full-time employees which include, but are not limited to:
- A guaranteed life-long monthly pension, once vested after 5 years of service
- 457B Retirement Plan
- 140 hours of PTO earned within first year + 11 paid holidays, 1 personal holiday and 1 volunteer day per year
- Competitive medical, dental and vision plans effective within 1 month of start date
More information about the perks and benefits we provide to full-time employees to allow them to find balance, thrive, and build a mile high career can be found on our website.
Location
The City and County of Denver supports a hybrid workplace model. Employees work where needed, at a job site several days a week and off-site as needed. Employees must work within the state of Colorado on their off-site days. In this position, you can expect to work on-site at the Denver Post Building (101 West Colfax Avenue, Denver) 3 days per week.
About Us And What You'll Do As stewards of Denver’s legacy park system, the City and County of Denver’s Department of Parks and Recreation (DPR) is committed to delivering exceptional customer service and improving the health of our residents and environment. Through innovative programs and the creation of safe, beautiful, and sustainable spaces, DPR manages a dynamic system of 30 recreation centers and nearly 20,000 acres of urban and mountain parkland, including off-street trails, parkways, and natural areas. This work is made possible by a dedicated team of professionals who design, promote, and preserve these world-class spaces for generations to come.
Denver Parks and Recreation’s Planning, Design and Construction Division's Urban Ecology and Trails Team is excited to promote the opportunity to join this incredible workforce as a
Senior Urban Ecology Planner .
This crucial position will be responsible for planning, managing, coordinating, and monitoring departmental projects from inception to completion, ensuring parks projects make Denver a more livable, resilient, and inclusive city. This position will focus primarily on projects that support Denver Park’s resilience and natural resource restoration goals including landscape transformations, water conservation, waterway restoration, and ecosystem restoration while balancing human access to nature and recreation.
As a Senior Planner with the Urban Ecology Team, you will act on: Planning and Urban Ecology Subject Matter Expertise : The Senior Planner advances the mission, vision, and values of DPR’s strategic plan by leading and developing long-range and short-term strategic plans, initiatives, goals, and policies including:
- Lead and coordinate complex parks planning projects including citywide plans, the “Nearby Nature” initiative, Landscape Typology, park-specific and ecology focused vision plans and concept designs.
- Ensure planning criteria, goals and standards are met while coordinating with stakeholders and government agencies providing planning approval.
- Support the Parks Planning Team as a subject matter expert for other parks plans of all scales.
- Coordinate with other divisions, departments, and agencies as a subject matter expert on other planning initiatives across the city and region initiatives including Large Development Review, Neighborhood Planning, Green Infrastructure Planning, and Rules and Regulations.
Capital Planning : The Senior Planner will lead Urban Ecology Program’s annual Capital Improvement Planning (CIP) budget recommendations. This will include:
- Building relationships across Denver Parks and Recreation divisions to solicit project ideas and using a variety of data sources (including Landscape Typology, The Turfgrass Policy, Pollinator Research, and the Urban Habitat Connectivity Study) to prioritize landscape transformation and restoration projects to meet water conservation, pollinator and habitat goals.
- Continuously update the Urban Ecology Program’s 5 year plan and track metrics toward the Game Plan for a Healthy City and Legacy Fund 5-year action plans.
- Assist in grant writing, reporting, and compliance for local, state, and federal grants.
Partnerships: DPR’s goal is for Denver to become a highly resilient City through the application of DPR and city-wide policies. The Senior Planner will:
- Build strong relationships with a variety of internal and external partners.
- Identify and cultivate potential new partnerships.
- Collaborate with the Mile High Flood District and Denver Department of Transportation and Infrastructure to identify, plan and design resilient projects along Denver's waterways and greenways.
- Facilitate meetings and presentations to interested partners and stakeholders to discuss proposed planning initiatives, project designs, and urban ecology program goals and policies.
- Refine best practices driven by innovation and the input of experts inside and outside the City.
Communications : The Senior Planner will successfully collaborate in the exchange of information between city staff, consultants, stakeholders, and the public, through clear and effective written, graphic, and verbal communication. The Senior Planner will:
- Build consensus and support for DPR efforts and participate in outreach with diverse neighborhood residents, neighborhood groups, stakeholders, partner agencies, and city leadership.
- Balance a variety of interests to successfully complete projects.
- Cultivate and contribute to positive public relations for the Department.
- Support Marketing and Communications Teams on city-wide Urban Ecology focused programs and outreach.
- Attend occasional weekend and after-hours community events and board meetings.
What You'll Bring
We are looking for an accomplished professional with a passion for parks and open space projects that positively impact communities. Our ideal candidate will have strong technical knowledge of best practices for planning and design, demonstrated communication and collaboration skills, and the ability to work independently and as part of a team under time constrained and highly visible situations. We are looking for someone with good writing skills, particularly in planning documents, scope of work documents and contracts, public communications, and correspondence.
Additionally, our ideal candidate will possess a combination of the following :
- Master’s Degree in Urban or Regional Planning, Environmental Planning, Natural Resources Management or a related degree.
- Professional experience with parks, open space, waterway, ecosystem restoration, or natural resources planning and design.
- Experience with capital projects prioritization, funding, and budget management
- Experience with the oversight and management of multidisciplinary consultant teams
- Technical knowledge and experience with consultant procurement, planning methods, and project administration
- Knowledge of ecological planning and design principles, working understanding of irrigation systems, and a strong understanding of landscape transformation from bluegrass to native shortgrass prairie in the arid west.
- Bilingual skills (Spanish) preferred, but not required
- Proficiency with Adobe Creative Suite, Microsoft Office, and ArcGIS
- Strong communication skills, both oral and written, to achieve positive outcomes in working with diverse groups
Required Minimum Qualifications - Education requirement: Bachelor’s Degree in City or Regional Planning, Architecture, Landscape Architecture, Historic Preservation, Engineering, or a related degree.
- Experience Requirement: Five (5) years of professional planning experience.
- Education/Experience Equivalency: One (1) year of the appropriate type and level of experience may be substituted for each required year of post-high school education. Additional appropriate education may be substituted for the minimum experience requirements.
- Licensure/Certifications: Requires a valid Driver's License at the time of application. Licenses and certifications must be kept current as a condition of employment.
About Everything Else Job Profile CE0429 City Planner Senior
To view the full job profile including position specifications, physical demands, and probationary period, click here.
Position Type Unlimited
Position Salary Range $78,337.00 - $129,256.00
Starting Pay $78,337 - $100,000/year, based on experience
Agency Parks and Recreation
The City and County of Denver provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment without regard to race, color, religion, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, genetic information, age, or any other status protected under federal, state, and/or local law. It is your right to access oral or written language assistance, sign language interpretation, real-time captioning via CART, or disability-related accommodations. To request any of these services at no cost to you, please contact Jobs@Denvergov.org with three business days’ notice. Applicants for employment with the City and County of Denver must have valid work authorization that does not require sponsorship of a visa for employment authorization in the U.S. For information about right to work, click here for English or here for Spanish.
Job Tags
Holiday work, Full time, Temporary work, Local area, Sunday, 3 days per week,