Urban Planning Partners (UPP) seeks a full-time Planning and Housing Policy Project Manager to join our team. Depending on experience and expertise, this role may be filled at a Senior or Principal Planner level in our Oakland office.

Salary Range: $100,000 to $165,000 depending on experience

Urban Planning Partners continues to grow our housing policy practice and has a significant amount of housing and planning policy, and community and stakeholder engagement work. We are looking for someone to help lead this work. Our team is amazing, and we have great clients too! Come join the UPP team.

At UPP, we try to support a diverse mix of work as we believe that makes us better planners and we also like to avoid silos. This position will primarily focus on housing and planning policy with opportunity to work on other projects too as described below:

Housing Policy Strategy for numerous agencies. Some specifics of UPP’s current and recent work include:
• Working with ABAG/MTC’s to lead their Housing Policy Technical Assistance for Local Governments for 2023. This work will entail supporting ABAG-MTC staff in gathering information about housing policy adoption by Bay Area local governments, establishing frameworks for identifying regional policy priorities and evaluating local housing policies, and developing technical assistance for local governments.
• Helping jurisdictions develop and adopt policies and processes to become pro-housing and comply with new housing legislation (e.g., objective standards, residential zoning, ADU ordinances, and improved processes to support construction innovation).
• Preparing housing elements for several Bay Area communities and the Town of Paradise.
• Serving as the Planning Collaborative Coordinator for Alameda County and its local jurisdictions. The Planning Collaborative is an inaugural initiative initiated and funded by MTC to help all Alameda County jurisdictions achieve HCD certification on their housing elements, build a culture of collaboration across the region, and cultivate innovative housing policy implementation that can make a difference.

We also are well positioned for more interesting housing work focused on implementation strategies in the coming months.

Community Engagement around housing policy and transportation planning with a strong equity lens. UPP is serving as the East Bay Community Liaison Manager for Link21 that includes a new transbay passenger rail crossing between Oakland and San Francisco.

Resilience and Planning Policy preparing Safety Elements and environmental justice policies in tandem with our Housing Elements. Our work also includes several Specific Plan, including the Downtown Oakland Plan, the Downtown Brentwood Specific Plan, and the Truckee Railyard Plan.

REQUIREMENTS
• Planner with a solid foundation of education and experience, a passion for housing policy and working with communities.
• A collaborator who enjoys working with others and who will also serve as a mentor to more junior staff.
• Ideally 6-10 years of planning policy experience with housing and engagement expertise, project management and leadership experience with increasing responsibilities. A minimum of 4 years of planning experience and some project management experience with increasing responsibility throughout career.
• Bachelor or master’s degree, preferably from an accredited planning program. Alternatively, a degree focused on city/urban planning, policy, community development, environmental studies, or related field.
• Demonstrated ability to: manage multiple projects (including client communication and contract and budget management), ensure quality control, and meet deadlines, facilitate project meetings with a diverse group of attendees; present at and moderate public meetings.
• A solid understanding of zoning and other planning policies and regulations and processes.
• Other critical skills: excellent writing/editing, research and analysis (qualitative and quantitative), and communication skills; flexible and detail-oriented with excellent time management and organizational skills; and ability to take initiative, be a problem solver, and work in a fast-paced and professional environment.
• Legal eligibility to work in the U.S. and a current driver’s license.

EXTRAS
• Experience/Expertise with any of the following: equity, urban design (we have several objective design standards projects and specific plan and currently use subconsultants for our urban design work), Adobe CS and/or GIS, formal training around community engagement and meeting facilitation.
• Active membership in a professional organization and AICP.
• Desire for significant growth opportunities including company leadership and ownership shares.

LOCATION
This position will ideally be a hybrid remote/in-office position based in Oakland.


WHY URBAN PLANNING PARTNERS?

At UPP, we help create better places in partnership with our clients and the communities where we work. We credit the success of our projects and the satisfaction of clients to our amazing staff and commitment to our core values: we care, collaborate, and reach, and we are real. UPP has become – and remains – a vital and respected firm, despite our comparatively small size (staff of 15). Come join our team!

UPP offers excellent benefits (vacation, sick, and holiday pay; medical, dental, group life, and long-term disability insurance plans); transit cost reimbursement; monthly wellness stipend; 401k with 3% company contribution; profit sharing; charitable donation matching; and employee referral bonus program.

UPP is an equal opportunity employer. To apply and be considered, please email a cover letter and resume to contact@up-partners.com with “Housing Planner Application” in the subject line. Please attach a single PDF file that includes both your cover letter and resume. In your cover letter, express what position you are applying for and why you are interested in UPP and are a great fit for this position. Thanks, and we look forward to considering you for this key position!