Please note, this posting will remain open until July 19, 2022 with the first application review taking place on July 5, 2022. Interested applicants are strongly encouraged to apply prior to that date. We anticipate interviews for this position will be held in five weeks.

The Southern California Association of Governments (SCAG) is seeking a Senior Regional Planner to support SCAG’s Economic Empowerment program. This position will be responsible for the development and oversight of programs in the newly formed Economic Empowerment program. The Economic Empowerment program seeks to identify and rectify the impacts of racially discriminatory policies in environmental justice communities throughout the SCAG region. The program will implement SCAG’s adopted Equity Early Action Plan through regional planning policy and support for local programs that promote economic empowerment, civic engagement, public health, resilience and other core issues identified by SCAG’s leadership, Regional Council and stakeholders.

The current Economic Empowerment program includes implementation of the Sustainable Communities Program (SCP) Call for Projects #4, a technical assistance program that supports cities and counties working in partnership with non-profit and community-based organizations to implement activities focused on civic engagement and equity-focused land-use and transportation planning and programs in the region’s environmental justice communities. Other current work includes a technical assistance platform centered on active transportation planning in designated environmental justice communities and a public health fellows program. Beyond these current programs, the selected candidate will work closely with the Manager of Housing and Economic Empowerment as well as the Deputy Director of Planning (Land Use) to identify new partnerships and resources to expand the Economic Empowerment program. Finally, the Senior Regional Planner will bring their specific technical knowledge and expertise into the update and development of the various technical elements of the Regional Transportation Plan and Sustainable Communities Strategy (RTP/SCS), which is conducted on a four-year cycle, with an emphasis on ensuring that economic empowerment and restorative justice themes, policies and related data are incorporated.
As a mission-driven organization, SCAG is committed to attracting and retaining talent who embody SCAG’s values. SCAG's workforce is passionate and committed to innovation that improves the quality of life for all Southern Californians. When you join SCAG, you can expect a culture where collaboration and teamwork is fostered.

SCAG operates as a hybrid organization because we recognize that work can be successfully performed in various locations. Designing a work environment and culture where SCAG’s mission, effectiveness, and collaboration can be more flexibly served demonstrates our commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) by supporting work-life balance for our employees, retaining our existing dedicated staff, and increasing access to new talent pools.

As part of our Work@SCAG hybrid approach, employees eligibility in the three work models (office, hybrid, remote) will depend on the department, position, responsibilities, and duties. All work models require employees to work from a location based within the SCAG region.

In this role you can expect to:
Identify and develop future planning work programs and projects in their subject area.
Lead and perform research on planning practices and regulations, analyze policy for the purposes of staff reports or internal memos, identify creative solutions, and propose recommendations and policies.
Manage consultants and direct their work effectively and efficiently to ensure timely and high-quality deliverables.
Support the development of project scopes and schedules; and may support the department's work plan and budgets.
Draft and finalize project reports, staff reports, memos, grant applications, and communications.
Lead and support staff and colleagues in the preparation of high-quality, user-friendly public-facing presentations and engagement materials.
Present material to SCAG’s technical working groups, ad hoc committees, and regional council policy committees.
Provide subject matter expertise in the development of SCAG’s core regional transportation, land use and sustainability plans by analyzing data, creating templates, sharing resources and direct guidance.
Prepare and administrate grant proposals for state, federal and other targeted funds, and work closely with the finance division to prepare MOUs and solve grant administration, budgeting, procurement, and accounting issues as they arise.
Work with elected representatives, stakeholder agency representatives, private sector stakeholders, non-profit and community-based organizations, special interest groups and others in acquiring data/information, coordinating on regional planning matters and engaging stakeholders in planning processes.
Represent the agency at meetings and provide technical expertise on regional planning issues to the public and member agencies. Communicate the impact of plans and programs to local agencies, community groups, businesses and others.
Provide staff support for SCAG's committees/task forces as assigned by the Department Manager.
Independently handle a broad range of technically complex assignments.
Monitor and conduct research focused on emerging regional planning issues and trends related to economic empowerment, civic engagement, public health, resilience and other issues focused on the impacts of racially discriminatory policies within land use planning and present findings to the Regional Council, policy committees, task forces, and advisory/steering committees.
Lead program implementation activities, including managing outreach to stakeholders, leading a call for projects and managing selection process, and managing a technical assistance program.
Identify opportunities for new partnerships and funding for the Economic Empowerment program

You'll be a good fit if you have these must-haves:
EDUCATION: Equivalent to a Bachelor’s degree from an accredited college or university with a major in urban planning, transportation planning, environmental studies or a related field.

EXPERIENCE: Four years of professional urban or regional planning experience.

You will hit the ground running in this role if you also have:

Experience with project management best practices including the development of project scopes, schedules and budgets; monitoring of work and adherence to milestones; reviewing and performing QA/QC on work products; and conducting project close-out.
Experience identifying and pursuing public and private sector grants to support your work plan
Strong communication skills, both orally and in writing including public presentation skills.
Adaptability to multiple tasks and/or project schedules in a dynamic planning environment and ability to plan and coordinate multi-disciplinary projects;
Be politically astute and have experience in working with local elected officials and knowledge of regional challenges and opportunities related to transportation.
Knowledge of current trends, and familiarity with the organizations engaged in federal, state and local land use planning in relation to the subject areas.
Experience performing difficult and complex technical research and analysis of regional planning issues or problems, evaluating alternatives and recommending or adopting effective courses of action.
A commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion, and deep two-way community engagement.
Specific experience in applying planning knowledge to economic empowerment, civic engagement, public health, resilience and other issues focused on the impacts of racially discriminatory policies within land use planning.

Click on link below to apply:
https://www.governmentjobs.com/careers/scag/jobs/3613909/senior-regional-planner-economic-empowerment