Principal Planner

St. Johns County Board of County Commissioners is seeking a Principal Planner for the Growth Management Department, located within beautiful St. Johns County, Florida.  

St. Johns County residents enjoy a healthy quality of life with many perks including a top rated public school system in the State of Florida, miles of beach shoreline, peaceful estuary scenery of the St. Johns River and Intracoastal Waterway, and the Guana Tolomato Matanzas National Research Reserve.  St. Johns County is geographically diverse and offers long established agriculture areas, along with fast-growing residential, economic and commercial areas provided through many well-planned communities.  For the Principal Planner, St. Johns County provides many opportunities and challenges as the County continues to grow, enabling the Principal Planner the ability to expand their skills. 

The Principal Planner is considered a high-level position and is expected to provide support to the Planning Division and others divisions within the department.  The Principal Planner will supervise Senior Planners and Planners.  The planning team is collaborative and work together in assisting our citizens, property owners, developers, as well as the elected and appointed officials.  

The ideal Principal Planner must possess St. Johns County’s core values of compassion, innovation, and trustworthiness and must work well in a collaborative team environment.  The candidate in this position works closely with their Planning Manager.  

Some of the specific tasks include but are not limited to: 

• Trains, assigns, manages, supervises, evaluates, disciplines personnel from an assigned team. 
• Reviews development applications for compliance with the Comprehensive Plan, Land Development Code, applicable State Statutes, and other development ordinances.
• Provides guidance and input through the web-based application tracking system WATS. 
• Schedules applications for public hearings, including, but not limited to, advertising and noticing, and assures quality control for noticing.  
• Prepares staff reports for public hearings and review boards.
• Presents staff presentations to boards when needed
• Interprets land development regulations in order to render professional opinions on planning, land use, and growth management issues, and provide technical assistance and guidance to elected and appointed officials, county personnel, and members of the general public. 
• Reviews, edits, and evaluates staff reports, studies, data analysis, and research documents for compliance, consistency and appropriateness.  
• Assists in the preparation of Comprehensive Plan amendments and Land Development Code amendments, submitted by property owners or administratively by St. Johns County. 
• Assists staff, developers, attorneys, and the general public with development questions.
• Coordinates information and data gathering among the Growth Management Department, and other County Departments, as needed.
• Serves as liaison for complex projects, coordinating with stakeholders to advise stakeholders of economic and growth management concerns.  
• Performs or directs research and drafts ordinances in consultation with the Planning Manager. 
• Assists in grant writing, if needed.
• Conducts site visits, posts public hearing notice signage, and may perform architectural investigations and site inspections as needed. 

• Reviews clearance sheets for compliance with codes, ordinances, final orders, commercial construction, and subdivision construction plans.
• Assists with the front counter customer service operations, as needed. 
• Maintains a full-time presence on the job.
• Performs other duties as assigned. 

• Bachelor's Degree from an accredited college or university in a related course of study to the occupational field.
• Experience sufficient to thoroughly understand the work of subordinate positions to be able to answer questions and resolve problems, usually associated with three to five years of progressively responsible experience.
• Must be able to possess and maintain AICP certification within one year of hire.
• Must possess and maintain a valid Florida driver’s license and any other endorsements necessary to legally operate vehicles used while assigned to this position.
• Must possess good interpersonal and communication skills in order to serve others.
• Must be able to comprehend, speak and write the English language.
• Must be able to operate a computer.

NOTE TO APPLICANTS:  

St. Johns County Board of County Commissioners is a drug free workplace and equal opportunity employer. 

All employment actions are taken without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, age, handicap, disability, marital status, national origin, veteran status, or genetic information. 

Salary : $70,229 - $89,975