Baird + Driskell Community Planning is seeking a motivated project manager to assist with policy and planning projects in California and beyond. You will be an integral team member working on leading-edge housing policy initiatives to advance greater affordability, equity, and sustainability. Common projects include developing materials and programs to promote Accessory Dwelling Units, creating housing plans and strategies, and facilitating the creation of affordable housing through community engagement, land use policies and programs.

You are a skilled project manager who is self-directed, highly communicative, and proactive, able to manage complex projects with multiple tasks, deliverables, team members, and deadlines. You are unflappable, good humored and enjoy being part of a high performing team. You are proud of your work, responsive to feedback and committed to maintaining excellent client relations.

As a project manager you will have a high degree of responsibility and autonomy to manage projects from the signing of the contract to the delivery of final products. As a planning firm committed to equity, most of our projects involve public outreach, often in multiple languages. Typical products include public facing materials like guidebooks, websites, videos, and handouts; written reports summarizing best practices, recent laws, analyses, and recommendations; and community engagement plans and activities including facilitating meetings, summarizing what we heard, surveys, and outreach materials. We collaborate intensively with clients, who are mostly local, regional, and state jurisdictions. We like to say we operate as an extension of their staff, so being hyper-responsive and organized will be very important.

Generally, we do not work more than 40 hours per week, but occasionally there are deadlines that require pushes. You will primarily work remotely until it is safe to come to the office, though telecommuting will still be permitted a few days a week. Your work schedule will be flexible to the extent that team and clients’ needs continue to be met; you will be able to schedule some work time as you see fit (some evening work is fine). This position is based in our Berkeley, CA office.

Required Skills:
● 2-5 years demonstrated experience as a project manager with increasing responsibility
● Strong writing skills with the ability to convey technical concepts and policies in a clear, accessible, and easy-to-understand way to both community members and decision-makers
● Experience managing complex, multi-month projects and setting/meeting internal and external deadlines
● Experience managing blended teams of collaborators, sub-consultants, and colleagues
● Strong communication and interpersonal skills, including staying on top of all requests and emails, and being hyper-responsive and communicating clearly and kindly with clients as well as colleagues
● Strong day-to-day organizational and team management skills to keep deliverables, to-dos, timelines, and client communication on track
● Comfort facilitating and leading weekly client and public meetings (both virtual and in-person)
● Comfort collecting, analyzing and writing about basic data (demographics, housing statistics, etc.)
● Ability to use Word, Excel, and PowerPoint to present information in an attractive, easy-to-read way
● Bachelor’s degree required; Master’s degree, or equivalent experience, preferred

Desired skills:
● Graphic design sense and familiarity with Adobe Design Suite (Photoshop, InDesign)
● Knowledge of housing planning and policy
● Spanish proficiency
● Knowledge of website development and/or coding

About Baird + Driskell: Baird + Driskell Community Planning is a small practice specializing in housing policy, public participation, strategic planning, equitable development, and land use and sustainability planning. We work closely with our clients, and in many cases serve as an extension of their staff to best tailor our products for their use. We also work closely with each other, passing products back and forth, and counting on each other to deliver. More information is available at www.bdplanning.com.

Compensation: We are open to hiring someone on an hourly or salaried basis. Please let us know your preference. The compensation for full time is $115,000-140,000 (depending on experience) plus benefits. Most years we offer a bonus averaging around 10% of salary.

Expected Schedule: April 29th Final deadline to apply
Week of May 9th Interviews
Week of May 16th Hiring decision (w/ start date of approx. May 23rd)

How to Apply: Email a cover letter, resume and writing sample, saved as pdfs, to jobs@bdplanning.com. No calls please. This position is based in our Berkeley, CA office.