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  • Senior Planner Current Planning

    Palo Alto, California United States City of Palo Alto Full Time $133,224.00 - $163,134.40 Annually Oct 29, 2025
    City of Palo Alto Employer:

    City of Palo Alto

    The Community The birthplace of Silicon Valley, Palo Alto, is a community of approximately 68,000 residents and nearly 100,000 jobs. Located on the mid-Peninsula between San Francisco and San Jose, Palo Alto is recognized worldwide as a leader in cutting-edge technology, medicine, and green innovation. The community's treelined streets and historic buildings reflect its California heritage, and, at the same time, many world-class businesses maintain or started offices here, such as Stanford Health Care and Lucile Packard Children's Hospital, Amazon, Broadcom, Hewlett-Packard, Houzz, Rivian, SAP and SAP Ariba, Tesla, and Varian Medical Systems. Numerous start-ups are also at home in Palo Alto, arguably making it the start-up capital of the world. Stanford University is foundational to the history and prestige of Palo Alto, reflected in the community's dedication to lifelong learning. Stanford's cultural and educational offerings are integral to the vibrancy and charm of Palo Alto, while the City's exceptional K-12 school district ranks among the top public-school systems in the country. With more than 50% of adult residents holding a graduate degree or higher, Palo Alto is frequently listed as one of the most educated cities in the nation. Palo Alto boasts a genuine sense of community and an active citizenry with strong environmental values. Beautiful neighborhoods are complemented by vibrant commercial corridors and a bustling economy featuring premium shopping and dining options. Excellent healthcare facilities, performing arts, and diverse recreational opportunities are some of the community's incredibly desirable and cherished amenities. To learn more, visit https://www.paloalto.gov/Departments/City-Manager/Latest-News City Government Palo Alto is a full-service charter city with a council-manager form of government. The seven-member City Council is elected at large, and the City Council annually selects the Mayor and Vice Mayor from among its members. The Mayor and City Council appoint the City Manager, City Attorney, City Clerk, and City Auditor. The City Manager is responsible for the strategic direction and day-to-day operations of the City. Palo Alto is organized into 15 departments/offices with 1,093.10 authorized positions in FY 2025. There is also a FY 2025 capital budget of $316.2 million. Palo Alto owns and operates its own utilities, including electricity (carbon-neutral), gas, water, wastewater, and an expanding fiber network. This dynamic municipal environment ensures an ever-engaging platform for unique problem-solving and advances new initiatives, including sustainability, broadband, and effective service delivery. Community assets also include five libraries, 36 parks, five community centers, a museum and zoo, youth centers, a general aviation airport, an 18-hole golf course, a regional water treatment plant, and wildland open space preserves at the San Francisco Bay and in the foothills of the Santa Cruz Mountains offering 41 miles of walking/biking trails in addition to its police, fire, and ambulance services. Palo Alto has long been a leader in sustainability, and the City's ambitious greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reduction goals are part of what sets it apart. Since the City's first Climate Protection Plan was passed in 2007, Palo Alto has set goals that exceed State and Federal targets. Today, the City's goal to reduce emissions 80% below 1990 levels by 2030 (the "80x30" goal) and achieve carbon neutrality by 2030 guides sustainability efforts. An award-winning City, Palo Alto is recognized nationally as innovative and well-managed. City services and performance also receive impressive marks from community members in the Palo Alto Community Survey. Many of those ratings put City programs and services in the highest percentiles among the hundreds of benchmark cities. Palo Alto makes decisions through comprehensive processes and proactively seeks to involve its extremely informed, educated, and engaged residents. Projects are naturally a cooperative effort among the City Council, Boards, Commissions, Committees, engaged residents, neighborhoods, businesses, property owners, and staff. Join an Award Winning Team  Palo Alto is an award-winning City recognized nationwide as innovative and well-managed. Palo Alto is one of a small number of California cities with a AAA bond rating. Recently, Palo Alto became one of the most livable cities in the U.S. by Livability.com. It's the only city to receive the Platinum Beacon Award in sustainability best practices by California’s Institute for Local Government. We offer a variety of career paths that relate to building and improving communities. The City has fourteen departments employing 1,000 full-time staff. Police officers, fire fighters, paramedics, and building inspectors keep us safe. Engineers and public works staff build and re-build the physical infrastructure. City planners help envision and shape future community growth. Recreation, arts and library professionals enhance community life. Utilities provides electric, gas, water, sewer and other services. Internal services departments help manage, staff, and protect the City. Want to learn more about our benefits? Learn more by reviewing our "Benefits at a Glance Booklet." Contact Us Phone: 650-329-2376    Email: Recruit@paloalto.gov    Location: City Hall, 1st Floor | 250 Hamilton Ave 94301 | View Map

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    Job Description

    Description

    The City of Palo Alto is seeking an experienced city planner who enjoys working in a dynamic and growing community. Located in the heart of Silicon Valley, Palo Alto is a vibrant community and home to many tech companies. In this unique opportunity, the City is looking for a Senior Planner for our Current Planning team.

    PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT SERVICES DEPARTMENT

    The Palo Alto Planning and Development Services Department provides the City Council and community with creative guidance and effective implementation of land use development, planning, housing and environmental policies and programs in order to maintain and enhance the City’s safety, vitality, and attractiveness.

    For more information on the Planning and Development Services Department, click HERE.

    SENIOR PLANNER

    The successful candidate will be a well-seasoned implementation planner serving in the Current Planning team at the senior level. The Current Planning team processes entitlement applications and ensures conformance with applicable code and regulations. This position is represented by SEIU.

    IDEAL CANDIDATE

    Ideal candidates for this position will have a strong customer service focus and superior interpersonal skills. They will be able to establish and maintain effective relationships with a variety of stakeholders, including co-workers, management, elected officials, community members, and representatives of public and regulatory agencies.

    The ideal candidates will have the following skills and experience:
      ◦ Ability to write clearly and communicate effectively, both in writing and in person.
      ◦ Ability to handle a variety of assignments and adapt quickly to changing priorities.
      ◦ Strong experience managing complex projects and competing priorities.
      ◦ Strong technical skills, experience analyzing architectural and landscape plans, and familiarity with Microsoft Office Suite, GIS, graphics/presentation programs, database management programs and other comparable programs.
      ◦ Experience presenting before Planning Commission or other Boards.
      ◦ 5 years of experience implementing the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) including EIRs and MNDs.
      ◦ Knowledge of accepted practices of local and State laws and regulations relating to California municipal planning and zoning.
      ◦ 2 years of experience processing major housing applications, including the implementation of State density bonus, Housing Accountability Act, SB330, and similar State legislation.
      ◦ Experience serving as liaison to a board or commission.is desirable.
      ◦ American Institute of Certified Planners (AICP) certification is desirable.


    Essential Duties

    Essential and other important responsibilities and duties may include, but are not limited to, the following:
      ◦ Supervises preparation of environmental impact reports on projects submitted for City approval.
      ◦ Evaluates the design of large, complex projects submitted for Architectural Review Board (ARB) and/or Planning & Transportation Commission review.
      ◦ Prepares reports, including coordinating the work of other staff members, on special planning or transportation studies for the Architectural Review Board, Historic Resources Board, Planning & Transportation Commission, City Council, appointed committees and other City staff.
      ◦ Makes public presentations before appointed boards, commissions, committees, and the City Council.
      ◦ Performs related duties and responsibilities as required.

    The full job description for Senior Planner can be found HERE

    Minimum Qualifications

    Sufficient education, training and/or work experience to demonstrate possession of the following knowledge, skills, and abilities which would typically be acquired through:
      ◦ Bachelor's degree in Urban Planning, Architecture, Historic Preservation or a directly related field from an accredited college or university. An advanced degree is highly desirable; and
      ◦ Five years of suitable professional experience in urban, historic or environmental planning. Master’s degree in planning or a related field can be counted as two years of experience.

    Special requirement:
      ◦ Possession of a valid California Driver’s license


    Supplemental Information

    Compensation (SEIU): Comprehensive compensation plan, to learn more click HERE.

    Benefits: Fantastic benefits package. To learn more, click HERE .

    Schedule: Flexible/Hybrid (depending upon position and subject to change)

    *More than one position may be filled from this posting.*
    Management has the flexibility to move positions from one team to another
    If you encounter problems applying online, please contact NeoGov's Live Applicant Support at (855) 524-5627between 6:00 AM and 5:00 PM Pacific Time, Monday - Friday.

    The City of Palo Alto is an Equal Opportunity Employer. In compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act, the City will provide reasonable accommodation to qualified individuals with disabilities and encourages both prospective and current employees to discuss potential accommodations with the employer.

    See our Benefits at a Glance Bookletfor more details.
    Learn more about our Memorandum of Agreements (MOAs) between the City and its bargaining units, by clicking HERE.

    Closing Date/Time: 11/18/2025 11:59 PM Pacific
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    Please mention you found this employment opportunity on the CareersInGovernment.com job board.

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