POSITION SUMMARY:
The Atlanta Regional Commission (ARC) is the regional planning and intergovernmental coordination agency that focuses on issues critical to the region’s success, including growth and development, transportation, water resources, services for older adults and workforce solutions. ARC is dedicated to unifying the region’s collective resources to prepare the metropolitan area for a prosperous future. This is done through professional planning initiatives, the provision of objective information and the involvement of the community in collaborative partnerships. ARC functions as the Atlanta region’s federally designated Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO). The Senior Planner will provide professional planning support to initiatives in a variety of planning practice areas, including community engagement, transportation equity, strategic infrastructure investment, climate resiliency, transit-oriented development, micro-mobility and transit, transportation technology and electrification, freight and logistics, and land use and transportation coordination.
The Senior Planner will serve as a team member in the Community Engagement section within the Transportation Planning Department. This individual will be responsible for supporting the MPO’s core products, specifically the long-range metropolitan transportation plan, transportation improvement program, and participation plan. This position involves working with internal and external stakeholders on public-facing community engagement activities, such as the ARC website, community events, stakeholder meetings, and collection/analysis/reporting of public input received. The Senior Planner will assist with identifying and using appropriate community engagement tools, assuring that meetings and documents comply with ARC’s Title VI and Limited English Proficiency (LEP) Plan. This individual will also be a key member of the agency’s equity team, which is focused on scaling new federal environmental justice principles and tools to the regional level.
The ideal candidate will be a professional with skills and experience in both planning and public involvement. They will be a team-oriented individual with strong interest in transportation planning, diversity, equity and inclusion, and regional/local transportation.
Please note that some meetings are outside of the normal hours of business operations. This can at times include evening and weekend meetings.
ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES:
• Conducts day-to-day community engagement activities, including using innovative public engagement tools, techniques and practices that focus on equity and inclusion;
• Coordinates required community engagement processes for MPO Participation Plan, United Planning Work Program (UPWP), Metropolitan Transportation Plan (MTP) and Transportation Improvement Plan (TIP) Amendments to ensure compliance with federal rules;
• Assists with public comment activities for ARC Transportation Planning Department, including collection, review and documentation of public comments received;
• Places public meeting notices in legal organs, as required, and ensure public comment efforts are accessible to a wide variety of audiences;
• Assists with the use of any technology or software platforms used to compile and/or organize public comments;
• Provides support for website content development, which may include drafting fact sheets, newsletters, and other communication collateral pieces for transportation planning, programs and projects;
• Coordinate with transportation planning team to execute community engagement activities on a variety of projects;
• Represent ARC as requested with the public, local, state, and regional stakeholders, or community groups;
• Assists with document preparation for federally required items, such as the MPO Participation Plan and draft narrative for plan-specific participation strategies and plans;
• Performs other duties as assigned to support agency goals and objectives.
REQUIRED KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS, ABILITIES AND COMPETENCIES:
• Knowledge of federal laws, regulations, policies and procedures that govern MPO transportation planning processes;
• Ability to work independently as well as in a collaborative environment;
• Ability to participate and assist with management and facilitation of meetings, including in-person and virtual meetings;
• Ability to present to a variety of audiences, from small groups of internal technical staff to larger groups of external public and private stakeholders;
• Good professional judgment when working with diverse groups of stakeholders, for example, elected officials, senior staffers, special interest advocates, and the public;
• Very strong communication skills, both written and verbal;
• Knowledge of community engagement and digital communication tools, techniques and practices;
• Ability to multi-task and meet assigned deadlines;
• Strong problem-solving, and verbal and written communication skills;
• Strong interpersonal, analytical and organization skills;
• Proficiency with Microsoft Office software suite (Word, Excel, Access, and Project).
MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS:
• Bachelor’s degree in urban or regional planning, economics, architecture, landscape architecture or related field
• Two (2) years of professional urban planning experience
OR
An equivalent combination of education and experience sufficient to successfully perform the essential duties of the job such as those listed above, unless otherwise subject to any other requirements set forth in law or regulation.
PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS:
• Master’s degree in transportation planning, urban or regional planning, public administration, public policy or administration, or related field
• Two (2) years professional planning experience in transportation and public involvement.
ANNUAL SALARY RANGE: $57,058 – $96,997 (no SS deductions except for Medicare portion, approx. 1.45% of salary)
ARC is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, age, religion or disability in employment or the provision of services.
Link to Job Posting and to Apply for Job: Click Here
