Career Center

Are you passionate about developing a safe, efficient, and sustainable regional transportation system? Do you have experience leading complex transportation planning projects and coordinating with a variety of stakeholders? If so, the Boulder County Community Planning & Permitting Department has an exciting opportunity for a Principal or Senior Transportation Planner to join our team!

As part of our Transportation Planning Division, you will have the opportunity to work on a wide range of planning activities implementing the County’s Transportation Master Plan, including multimodal corridor studies, bus rapid transit projects, bicycle and pedestrian planning, and Vision Zero initiatives. You will serve as the project manager for complex and sensitive projects, coordinating related activities across several Boulder County departments and working with external partners such as CDOT, RTD, and local municipalities.
In this role, you will use your strong technical knowledge, judgment, and professional experience to lead the development of innovative and sustainable transportation solutions.

The Principal classification is a supervisory position, with responsibility for overseeing one to three junior transportation planning staff. This would require the successful candidate to have strong leadership skills, including the ability to motivate and develop staff, set goals and priorities, and communicate effectively with others.
The ideal candidate:
• Thrives and flexes easily in a changing environment
• Values working in collaboration with staff, co-workers, elected officials, and community partners
• Proactively looks for solutions to problems; decisively takes initiative and action
• Values and upholds the diversity of others’ cultures, identities, experiences, backgrounds, and perspectives
• Has the ability to develop and sustain long term partnerships with diverse stakeholders and independently represent the organization in a variety of contexts
• Is highly organized, detail-oriented, and able to multi-task
• Has a growth mindset and is passionate about learning 

Boulder County requires its employees to reside in the state of Colorado as of the first day of work.  

This is a full-time, benefited position.  This position will work 40 hours per week Monday – Friday with flexibility, with the potential for occasional evening and weekend hours to facilitate or support public meetings and/or attend outreach events. This position will work both remotely (3 days per week) and in-person (2 days per week).  Under FLSA guidelines this position is exempt.

Examples of Duties

The primary responsibilities of the Principal or Senior Planner are as follows, with the Principal Planner performing these functions with a higher degree of independence and for more complex or sensitive projects than the Senior Planner:

1. Models and upholds Boulder County’s Guiding Values of Inclusion, Stewardship, Service, Engagement, Sustainability, Innovation and Resilience
2. Develops and implements work plans to achieve the goals of the Boulder County Transportation Master Plan, including strategies for transportation, environmental sustainability, safety, economic vitality, equity, and county identity and character.
3. Facilitates and leads community engagement efforts for transportation planning projects, including outreach to historically marginalized and hard-to-reach populations, to ensure that all voices are heard and considered in the planning process.
4. Manages complex multimodal transportation planning projects, such as regional corridor studies, transit feasibility studies, Planning & Environmental Linkages studies, and bicycle and pedestrian planning efforts, ensuring compliance with Title VI regulations and Environmental Justice considerations.
5. Leads all aspects of project development and implementation, including developing scopes of work, purchasing and procurement, establishing and tracking budgets, approving contractor payments, grant management and requests for reimbursement, monitoring work progress and ensuring completion of quality work products.
6. Represents the Transportation Planning Division and Boulder County in inter-agency planning and programmatic efforts, serving on technical committees and as a staff liaison for advisory boards, and providing guidance and recommendations to policy makers, and communicating with the public and other stakeholders.
7. Collaborates with other departments and agencies to plan, design, and implement capital projects that enhance multimodal transportation and community livability.
8. Serves as a division lead for development review, including analyzing and evaluating site and architectural plans to ensure alignment with the Transportation Master Plan goals.
9. Plans and leads internal and public meetings, including off-site meetings and field visits.
10. Performs other duties as required to support Boulder County objectives.
11. May be reassigned in emergency situations.
12. Additional Example Duties for the Principal Planner
13. Supervises and supports junior transportation planning staff, including conducting performance appraisals, counselling employees concerning performance, recommending personnel actions in the area of hiring, discipline, and termination, participating in internal racial equity work and fostering a culture of continuous learning and improvement. 

Required Qualifications

PLEASE NOTE: When completing your application describe all relevant education and experience, as applications are assessed based on the required qualifications listed. Resumes and other attachments are not accepted in lieu of completed applications and will not be reviewed in the initial screening process. Any personally identifiable information (PII) such as name and address will be redacted from applications that meet the minimum screening requirements and are forwarded to the hiring manager. If the hiring manager selects you to advance in the hiring process, your attachments will then be shared with the hiring team.
 
EDUCATION AND EXPERIENCE:
Boulder County is looking for well qualified candidates to fill our positions. Any combination of relevant education and experience is encouraged. 

Principal Planner:
In this position we are looking for a bachelor's degree in planning, Engineering, Landscape Architecture, Design, Public Policy or Administration, Community Development, Geography, Public Health, Sustainability, Environmental Science or Studies or a related field.  Experience needs to include seven years of professional experience in urban, rural, regional, transportation, parks or community planning or other related field, including at least two years in a supervisory capacity. Additional related education may count towards required experience.

Senior Planner:
In this position we are looking for a bachelor's degree in Planning Engineering, Landscape Architecture, Design, Public Policy or Administration, Community Development, Geography, Public Health, Sustainability, Environmental Science or Studies or a related field.  Experience needs to include five years of professional experience in urban, rural, regional, transportation, parks or community planning, or other related field, including at least two years in a project management capacity.  Additional related education may count toward required experience.  

CRIMINAL BACKGROUND CHECK:

• Applicants must pass a criminal background check

DRIVER'S LICENSE:

• Applicants must have a current driver's license

Supplemental Information

KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS AND ABILITIES:
• Thorough knowledge of the factors that influence transportation and land use and the legal and social aspects of transportation planning.
• Excellent written and oral communication skills, including the ability to make effective public presentations and represent the organization in a professional manner.
• Ability to work effectively and build relationships with other employees, community partners, and the public while demonstrating integrity, collaboration, and respect for everyone’s identities.
• Ability to multi-task, problem-solve and anticipate situations.
• Experience in and commitment to supporting and empowering disadvantaged and underrepresented populations in transportation planning.
• Ability to effectively plan and implement projects, including developing scopes, budgets and schedules and managing grants.
• Experience with qualitative and quantitative data collection and analysis.
• Ability to learn and communicate departmental regulations, policies, and procedures.
• Thorough knowledge of Microsoft Office (Outlook, Word, Excel, & Teams) and other remote work software (Zoom).
• Relatable lived experience that can be applied to the roles, responsibilities, or the job description.
• Working knowledge of ArcGIS
• Working knowledge of Adobe Creative Suite, including Illustrator, InDesign, and Photoshop