Senior Planning & Development Specialist

Human Services, a department of the City of Seattle, funds and operates programs and services that meet the basic needs of the most vulnerable people our community – families and individuals with low incomes, children, domestic violence and sexual assault victims, homeless people, seniors, and persons with disabilities. We invest in programs that help people gain independence and success.

The Planning & Development Specialist will support this mission by providing assistance in planning, implementing and evaluating the key strategies related to HSD’s homelessness investments including but not limited to the City of Seattle’s funding of the King County Regional Homelessness Authority and the Homelessness Prevention program area. This position will participate in a variety of planning and monitoring activities to shape, inform, and ensure continued adherence to, the City’s investments and key outcomes related to ending homelessness. Activities supported include conducting needs assessments and related research; property research and planning; reviewing and analyzing best practices in the field; monitoring and evaluation of performance and progress of programs/projects, among others. This position will report to HSD’s Homelessness Policy Advisor.

• Bring a race and social justice lens to all settings;

• Develop presentations, reports and other materials for internal and external stakeholders that communicate the impact of the City’s investments in homelessness, analyze the effectiveness of current programs and impacts of prospective programs and policy changes;

• Facilitate community conversations about Seattle-based investments on topics such as homelessness prevention, emergency shelter siting and programming, and severe weather sheltering.

• Provide technical planning advice to other departments and community groups regarding homelessness and partnership with the King County Regional Homelessness Authority

• Review and analyze emerging best practices related to homelessness services, along with local, regional and national policies, to offer insight and recommendations;

• Participate in strategic planning and stakeholder engagement processes related to the City’s homelessness investments (e.g. homelessness prevention, emergence shelter, outreach, and others);

• Participates in inter-department & inter-governmental teams to align portfolios and maximize public stewardship to best serve Seattle communities;

• Analyze and prepare budget requests as needed;

• Conduct data analysis utilizing various data sources to develop reports and presentations to various stakeholders including – Mayor’s Office, City Council, Community partners, etc.;

• Participates in monitoring and evaluation activities related to the City of Seattle’s homelessness investments;

• Represents the department at public meetings with representatives from contracted partners, community groups, the King County Regional Homelessness Authority, and others.

Minimum Qualifications:

Three years of experience in planning and research related to land use, urban economics, human services, environmental issues, or other work directly related to City planning and development work; and a baccalaureate degree in planning, urban design, environmental studies, public administration, or related field (or a combination of education, training and/or experience which provides an equivalent background required to perform the work of the class).

Desired Qualifications:

• Experience in public policy, planning, human services, public health or other public services.

• Strong written, oral, and interpersonal communication skills with the ability to effectively communicate with peers, external partners, and those in leadership positions.

• Strong analytical skills.

• Knowledge of race and social justice principles and their application to this body of work (experience working with KCRHA or other similar human services agencies).

• Experience working with vulnerable populations including, but not limited to, communities of color and low-income communities.

• Experience staffing and/or facilitating small and large community meetings.

• Proven track record of providing customer service to a diverse set of stakeholders.

• Proven track record of data review, analysis, and evaluation.

• Experience working with complex government programs, or multi-layered private sector programs.

The full salary range for this position is: $54.28 - $63.26 Hourly 

Your application will not be reviewed if these items are missing or incomplete.

Hiring Process