Senior Planner, Land Use

The Senior Planner, Land Use at NYC Economic Development Corporation will lead urban planning projects, focusing on zoning regulations, environmental reviews, and navigating complex regulatory processes. Responsibilities include managing project portfolios, supporting interdisciplinary teams, communicating with stakeholders, and ensuring timely project delivery. Candidates should have 3 years of urban planning experience and a Master's degree or equivalent experience, with familiarity in NYC zoning and environmental regulations.
Position Overview: Situated within NYCEDC's Planning Division, the Land Use Department is a team of urban planners focused on making NYCEDC's planning priorities a reality. Land Use supports NYCEDC project teams with technical expertise to navigate complex regulatory processes, secure project approvals, and mitigate risk. Within the Land Use team, the Senior Planner leads projects through processes for discretionary approvals, including but not limited to analyzing zoning regulations, and managing environmental review and the City's Uniform Land Use Review Procedure (ULURP). The Senior Planner's portfolio could include projects from anywhere in the 5 boroughs with diverse project goals such as providing quality job opportunities, building climate change resiliency, affordable housing, public open space or transportation improvements. Recent projects supported by Land Use include the Science Park and Research Campus (SPARC) Kips Bay, Willets Point, the Manhattan Waterfront Greenway, the New York City Ferry system, and various initiatives and projects related to offshore wind, the Hunts Point Food Distribution Center, and Brooklyn Army Terminal.

Essential Duties & Responsibilities:
• With supervision, manage a portfolio of projects, preparing and reviewing technical applications and documents related to zoning, environmental review, waterfront permitting and other land use regulations, and contributing to problem solving and strategy.
• With supervision, support interdisciplinary NYCEDC project teams by defining land use issues and implementing approvals strategies for a range of projects involving local, state and federal actions including land use approvals, environmental reviews, waterfront and other required permits. Provide project teams with technical expertise from project formulation through public approvals to implementation.
• Proactively manage critical milestones of long-term timelines to ensure complex projects are delivered on-time, and anticipate and flag issues for senior staff.
• With supervision, create and deliver internal and external communications (including presentations, memos, etc.) to effectively communicate project recommendations, decision points, and/or findings to various audiences (e.g., senior NYCEDC staff, partner agencies, external stakeholders).
• With supervision, interface with development partners and public agencies, working to build consensus-based solutions to land use issues and maintain working trust-based relationships with external agency regulators.
• Manage consultant work, ensuring quality products are delivered on-schedule and on budget.
• Attend public meetings and hearings on NYCEDC projects and report back to the team on status.
• Other projects and tasks as assigned.

Requirements:
• 3 years of professional experience in urban planning, preferable including regulatory approvals, zoning, or environmental review.
• Master's degree in Planning or a related field, or 2 additional years of experience.
• Familiarity with New York City zoning and planning, as well as local, state, and federal environmental regulations and review procedures.
• Familiarity with waterfront permitting preferred.
• Experience managing complex projects involving multiple internal and external stakeholders.
• Demonstrates effective communication, including written and verbal, and experience creating and delivering presentations to internal and external stakeholders with a flexible and adaptable communication style.
• Ability to manage competing priorities in a fast-paced environment.
• Demonstrates agile and results-focused approach, ability to work independently as well as collaboratively with a team.
• Ability to travel as needed (across the five boroughs of New York City) and attend evening and occasional weekend meetings.
• Experience using spreadsheets and presentation applications such as Excel and PowerPoint; GIS/AutoCAD a plus.
• New York City residence is required within 180 days of hire.