Western Planning Director

Seattle, WA, United States

Toole Design Group is looking to hire a full-time Planning Director for our Western Region. Do you have a strong background in multimodal transportation planning? Are you passionate about improving communities and providing excellent client service? Do you have a proven track record of project management and delivering high-quality work? Do activities like mentoring/training staff and supporting internal operations and coordination sound rewarding? If so, please consider joining our Western team. This position can be located at any of our Western offices including Denver, Los Angeles, Oakland, Portland, or Seattle.

The Western Planning Director will focus on keeping our Western planning practice thriving. You will earn a competitive salary and great benefits, including medical, dental, vision, life insurance, disability, retirement, paid parental leave, a health savings account (HSA), a flexible spending account (FSA), and PTO starting at 22 days. We practice what we preach and ensure that our employees also have access to transportation by providing them with financial incentives to bike, walk, or use transit for a better quality of life.

About Toole Design

Toole Design is the leading planning, engineering, and landscape architecture firm specializing in multimodal transportation. From our start in 2003 as a single office in Maryland, we have expanded throughout the United States. Our talented team of planners, landscape architects, and engineers are committed to delivering quality work that advances the lives of all people, regardless of age, ability, race, or gender. We have been named a "best firm to work for" and have one of the lowest staff turnover rates in the industry.

Every project our employees deliver directly and positively affects our communities. We are industry-leading experts, and we work hard to foster collaboration between offices and disciplines to achieve the best outcomes.

Our projects are at all different scales, from national pedestrian and bicycle research and design guidance for the Federal Highway Administration to plans and studies for states, MPOs, cities, and counties. We work on multimodal corridor studies, Vision Zero projects, transit plans and studies, Safe Routes to School plans and programs, active transportation plans, new mobility and curbside management, trails and greenways, Complete Streets, design guidelines, and more. We push ourselves and our clients to proactively think about equity every step of the way.

A Day in the Life of a Regional Planning Director

As a Regional Planning Director, you will help keep our western planning practice thriving, working closely with senior leadership including Office Directors, the Regional Operations Director, Planning Directors in other regions, and the North American Planning Director. This position has three areas of focus: project delivery, internal operations and capacity building, and business development.

Your project duties will vary by project and may include Principal-in-Charge, Project Manager, and Advisory/Quality Control roles. As Principal-In Charge or Project Manager on large/complex projects, you will tap into your technical expertise in multimodal planning to troubleshoot and coach team members on client and project management challenges. You will help guide project teams with expert Quality Control and strategic advice.

To support internal operations, you will regularly convene with local planning leaders in the West to assess project needs, pursuit needs, and staff availability to align with regional goals and targets such as utilization. You will be responsible for the Western Planning team's utilization target and for maintaining balanced workloads for all planners in the region. You will have a pulse on the 25-30 planners in the West, understanding strengths and needed areas of growth. To ensure our projects are of the highest quality, you will also ensure quality control procedures on multimodal transportation projects throughout the Western region. You'll help recruit staff in consultation with Directors and senior leadership and help establish and maintain company culture that creates a desirable and inclusive place to work.

You will work closely with the Regional Operations Director to help oversee business development initiatives, support proposals, and strategy/negotiations, while keeping abreast of new methods, developments, and opportunities that emerge in the industry.

We are targeting a salary of $120,000 to $140,000 for this position. Candidates with more years of experience or exceptional qualifications may fall into a different pay range.

Qualifications of a Planning Director :

Bachelor's or master's degree in urban planning, landscape architecture, urban design, or a related field; AICP preferred

A minimum of 10 years of experience in transportation and an understanding of professional services consulting

A minimum of 5 years of experience in a consulting firm or similar, managing and delivering projects for public sector clients and pursuing and winning work

Experience managing and mentoring a team, recruiting staff

Experience building and nurturing genuine relationships with other transportation professionals within and outside your organization

A strong interest in multimodal and active transportation planning and design

You'll be great here if:

You are excited about projects that transform communities into healthier and more vibrant places to live, work, and play

You have a strong sense of loyalty, commitment, and ownership of your work

You have strong leadership skills and enjoy collaborating across offices and disciplines

You excel at motivating and mentoring people and teams with diverse life experiences and expertise

You can build relationships, bring enthusiasm to projects, and are detail-oriented with strong problem-solving skills

You know how to get your message across when speaking, in writing, and visually

You deliver high-quality work on time and on-budget, and know how to inspire this in others

Work Schedule for a Planning Director :

This full-time position typically works a hybrid schedule with 3 or more days in the office. Our team enjoys working together in the office on planned days, including Wednesdays. We also provide employees with the flexibility and necessary equipment to work from home 2 days per week. This position is regional and will require regular coordination across offices and two time zones. The selected candidate can be located in any of our Western offices: Denver, Los Angeles, Oakland, Portland, or Seattle. All of our offices are located in the heart of their respective cities and are easily accessed on foot, by bicycle, and via transit.

Ready to Join our Western Team in Denver, Los Angeles, Oakland, Portland, or Seattle?

We understand your time is valuable, so we have a quick and easy application process. If you feel that you would be right for this Planning Director position, please fill out our application by clicking on the link on this page. We will be accepting applications until the position is filled.

At Toole Design, diversity is a necessity, not a nice-to-have. We have a collaborative culture where people of all backgrounds come together to share ideas and build better, more inclusive communities. We encourage those from underrepresented communities-women, people of color, LGBTQIA+, immigrants, those with disabilities, and people at all the intersections in between-to apply. Even if you don't think your skill set checks every box, but this role seems to align with your strengths, we want to hear from you.

We're proud that about half our managers are women and we are committed to achieving racial diversity in our leadership as well. Toole Design is a woman-owned business and an equal opportunity employer (EO/AA/VEV/Disabled employer).

Individuals may request accommodations or assistance with the application process by contacting 301-927-1900 and asking for Human Resources or emailing .

For more information about Toole Design, visit our and follow us on , , or .

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