Chief of Planning Strategy

ABOUT THE COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT:

The Community Development Department (CDD) is the planning agency for the City of Cambridge. Our mission is to foster a livable, sustainable, just, and equitable community. CDD has three programmatic divisions -- Community Planning & Design, Economic Opportunity & Development, and Zoning & Development - and also encompasses the Housing Department and the Cambridge Arts Department. Together, we engage and collaborate with community partners, other government agencies, businesses, and residents to make Cambridge a desirable place to live, work, learn, play, and innovate.

DUTIES & RESPONSIBILITIES:

The Chief of Planning Strategy is a senior leadership position, reporting directly to the Assistant City Manager for Community Development. The ideal candidate will be data and evidence driven, deeply knowledgeable about urban planning, focused on equitable community engagement, and able to represent the department at public meetings related to CDD’s ongoing work in all disciplines within the department’s purview. The Chief of Planning Strategy is responsible for the following enterprise functions to support CDD’s program areas:

• Support the Assistant City Manager in leading CDD’s strategic planning. This includes formalizing and communicating the departmental strategic planning process, focusing both on annual workplans and long-term strategic goals. Communicate broader planning strategies to staff at all levels.
• Develop a framework that allows the department to advance long-term strategic goals while remaining nimble and responsive to City Council goals and priorities. Work with department leadership to ensure alignment of goals.
• Oversee key strategic initiatives across the department, working in partnership with the Chief of Administration and the directors of programmatic divisions.
• Develop strong relationships with other City departments and the City’s strategy team
• Develop and oversee systems to coordinate the work of project teams within the department and CDD’s full portfolio of projects and programs.
• Connect and guide project teams as they monitor and implement recommendations from citywide and area-specific planning projects e.g. Envision Cambridge, the City’s comprehensive plan.
• Oversee CDD’s community engagement and outreach efforts. Supervise the Community Engagement Manager and guide the work of Community Engagement Team at CDD to accomplish equitable outreach and engagement to Cambridge’s diverse community, with special focus on underheard, undervalued, and historically excluded communities.
• Oversee CDD’s planning information and research team, including data analysis, demographics, and GIS. Advance data-driven approaches throughout the department.
• Serve as the connector between the department’s different programmatic divisions on key multidisciplinary projects.
• Represent the Assistant City Manager on City or other committees and public events, as required.
• Perform other related duties, as assigned.
• Direct reports include the Community Engagement Manager, Senior Manager for Data Services, and other staff, as required.

MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS:

Education and Experience:

• Seven years of experience managing complex planning functions in a municipal or similar setting, including five years in a supervisory role.
• Master’s degree in urban planning or related field.
• Demonstrated experience managing direct reports and teams in comprehensive assignment.
• Experience in project management, including the ability to navigate complex relationships and to identify, develop, and deploy resources across multiple initiatives.
• Track record of driving effective solution execution to complex problems and mediating alignment across stakeholders.
• Experience managing and supervising staff effectively and fairly.
• Prior experience and demonstrated success working in a diverse community.

Knowledge, Skills, And Abilities:

The successful candidate must be innovative and eager to take initiative to tackle issues and enhance organizational excellence. They must possess:

• Demonstrated ability to lead and develop leadership in others.
• Strong strategic planning, community engagement, communication, and public presentation skills.
• Ability to build collaborative relationships with senior leaders, subject matter experts, public, staff, and elected and appointed officials.
• Excellent analytical skills with high attention to detail.
• Deep sense of humility, curiosity, and learning-orientation.
• Good judgement, high ethical standards, and personal integrity.
• Ability to navigate a highly public and political environment.
• The City of Cambridge's workforce, like the community it serves, is diverse. Applicants must have the ability to work and interact effectively with individuals and groups with a variety of identities, cultures, backgrounds, and ideologies.
• Highly organized and prepared to manage multiple demands across many planning areas.
• Ability to handle a dynamic workload with constantly changing priorities.
• Background in the public sector in a local or regional setting, with demonstrated ability to understand and integrate multiple facets of local issues.
• Knowledge of the Cambridge community preferred.

PHYSICAL DEMANDS: Ability to access, input and retrieve information from a computer. Must read and analyze large quantities of information. Must have sufficient mobility to get back and forth from office to off-site meetings. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

WORK ENVIRONMENT: Standard office environment, which includes fluorescent lighting and air conditioning. Moderate noise level, which can elevate with phone calls and walk in members of the public. Busy office work environment characterized by multiple work demands from department staff, a great deal of customer interaction, and heavy email and call volume. This position may be eligible for hybrid work under the City's Telework Policy depending on operational needs.