Deputy Director of Planning Support

THE AGENCY
The Department of City Planning (DCP) plans for the strategic growth and development of the City through ground-up planning with communities, the development of land use policies and zoning regulations applicable citywide and sharing its perspectives on growth and community needs with sister agencies in collaboration with the Office of Management and Budget (OMB).

The New York City Department of City Planning is a great place to work – cultivating intellectual inspiration, professional development and creativity. Visit our website to learn more about the Department, our Strategic Objectives, and other employment opportunities.

THE DIVISION
Planning Support facilitates more informed planning and decision making through the delivery of transformative process improvements as well as planning tools and insights that advance the Department’s strategic objectives. This tight-knit and motivated team works closely with the agency’s Executive leadership and across all divisions to further enhanced coordination, equity and inclusion, infrastructure, and capital planning initiatives citywide.

Primary workstreams:
- Empower informed public participation in planning and budgeting decisions by stewarding the annual Statements of Community District Needs (CD Needs) and Community Board Budget Requests (CBBR) and providing insightful data analysis, reports, and stakeholder engagement in collaboration with OMB, numerous City agencies, and all 59 NYC Community Boards. Learn more about the CD Needs process.

- Advance the goal of responsive land use application reviews through the simplification of application standards, shortened processes, automated tools to assist with analysis and the preparation of materials, and the hiring and training of new personnel. Learn more about this work and the Building and Land Use Approval Streamlining Taskforce (BLAST) Get Stuff Built (GSB) initiatives.

- Expand access to planning information, mapping, and data resources to other government agencies and the public, through innovations in technology such as our Community District Profiles and many other data products and tools.

THE ROLE
Reporting to the Director of Planning Support, and with wide latitude for judgement and program development, monitoring, implementation, and management of staff, the Deputy Director will work across all of the team’s current and future workstreams to continue to improve DCP’s application review processes through GSB initiatives and related enhancements, expand the team’s portfolio of tools and data products, and further improve public participation and decision making.

The person in this role must be adept at fostering interagency collaboration, excels at change management, and has a strong interest in advancing data-driven planning analyses to better inform decision-making. This candidate should have exposure to land use and environmental review practices and requirements, the development and management of data products and tools, and ideally has prior experience working with multiple government agencies in the City of New York.

The Deputy Director of Planning Support will be passionate about city planning, improving the quality of life in all New York City neighborhoods, and advancing the adoption of new processes and technologies in city planning and government. The candidate will have a proven track record of influencing interdisciplinary teams and will demonstrate extensive experience in building lasting partnerships inside and outside the Department to extend the team’s reach.

Over the next 12 months, in collaboration with the Director, the successful candidate should expect to:
- Develop and guide the division in both land use and environmental review process improvements, designing, implementing, and managing rollout of GSB initiatives and related work.
- Engage with internal and external stakeholders, including the Mayor’s Office and other agencies, to continually assess current issues and needs and develop new improvements to follow up on GSB initiatives.
- Design effective evaluation tools and methods related to project completion, division, capacity, and project impacts.
- Lead collaboration DCP’s Capital Planning Division and other planning teams to ensure community needs and budget priorities are incorporated in equity considerations of investments associated with the Citywide Statement of Needs, the agency’s coordinated neighborhood planning activities, and the NYC SEED fund.
- Lead ongoing dialogue with external stakeholders to create partnerships and enhance our ability to receive feedback on challenges and opportunities within DCP’s broad planning practices.
- Develop and implement innovative special projects related to agency change management, training, performance measures and metrics, and digital tools and product development across all DCP teams, partner agencies, and applicants, and identify new opportunities to support the broader DCP work program and planning priorities across City agencies.
- Assess Department and division priorities and assign team resources as warranted.

1. A baccalaureate degree from an accredited college and four (4) years of full-time experience in city planning, at least eighteen (18) months of which must have been in a managerial capacity; or

2. Education and/or experience which is equivalent to "1" above. However, a baccalaureate degree and eighteen (18) months of managerial experience in city planning is required of all candidates. Graduate work leading to an advance degree in city planning or related field may be substituted for up to two (2) years of the non-managerial experience on a year-for-year basis. Graduation from an accredited United States Law School may be substituted for two (2) years of non-managerial
experience."

The City of New York is an inclusive equal opportunity employer committed to recruiting and retaining a diverse workforce and providing a work environment that is free from discrimination and harassment based upon any legally protected status or protected characteristic, including but not limited to an individual's sex, race, color, ethnicity, national origin, age, religion, disability, sexual orientation, veteran status, gender identity, or pregnancy.