Assistant Planner

Location Type: On-site

 

Salary: $32.79 – $43.95 Hourly
Location : City Hall – The Beaverton Building, OR
Job Type: Full time
Job Number: FY24/25-01083
Department: Community Development Department
Division: CDD Planning Division
Opening Date: 05/14/2025
Closing Date: 6/1/2025 11:59 PM Pacific

The Position
The City of Beaverton is hiring an entry-level Assistant Planner to join the city’s Current Planning team. The team’s work focuses on applying land use regulations to proposed development projects and ensuring that the city’s land use permitting processes run efficiently.
The Assistant Planner will provide excellent customer service to residents, developers, consultants, architects, and other collaborators regarding planning and land use in Beaverton. This position is the first point of contact for inquiries about land use regulations in person, over the phone, and via email. Additional duties include reviewing and processing land use applications, researching questions related to land use and other technical topics, developing administrative procedures, and collaborating with others on a variety of projects, reports, and work plans.
The ideal candidate:

• Enjoys providing friendly, helpful customer service to the Beaverton community.
• Communicates clearly and thoughtfully, both verbally and in writing.
• Is detail-oriented, with experience understanding and applying regulations and procedures.
• Has recent knowledge and experience with the principles and practices of city planning and development permitting.
• Is well-organized and self-motivated.
• Embraces opportunities to solve problems and improve processes for the benefit of colleagues and stakeholders.
• Adopts new technologies with enthusiasm and can incorporate them into process improvements.
• Enjoys working at a fast pace with deadlines for tasks.
• Is capable and enthusiastic about working with a wide variety of people, including historically underrepresented communities.
• Speaks Spanish or another of the city’s priority languages.

This is a full-time, non-exempt, SEIU classified position. This position requires regular evening work up to four times each month. A hybrid work schedule may be available upon successful completion of probation. There is one vacancy.
Please click APPLY to submit your application via the City of Beaverton’s online portal. You will need to fill out your work history and respond to several supplemental questions. Your education, skills, and experience will be evaluated using the main application form and supplemental questions; a resume and cover letter are not required and do not substitute for a complete application and work history.
Responsibilities

• Serve as the first point of contact to the public regarding planning, development, regulatory topics.
• Provide customer service in person at the Planning Counter and via email, video meeting, and phone. Direct public to the appropriate staff members. Create a positive experience for customers through professional and courteous behavior and creative problem resolution.
• Review and process land use applications according to established procedures. Prepare written reports and recommendations on a variety of less complex land use applications.
• Review Building and Site Development permit applications for compliance with Development Code and existing land use decisions.
• Attend and provide support for evening meetings such as Planning Commission.
• Participate in business process improvement efforts, including documenting existing business processes and development and implementation of new processes.
• Additional duties are outlined in the class specification.

Qualifications
Minimum qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree in planning, geography, public administration, landscape architecture, or a related field, and
• One year of experience in urban planning, or
• An equivalent combination of education and experience enabling the incumbent to perform the essential functions of the position.

The City of Beaverton is committed to supporting a culture of accountability, equity and inclusion for all, especially marginalized groups. We pledge to continue the ongoing, difficult and essential work needed to address institutional racism and historical inequities in all forms.
Beaverton is a diverse city, boasting a large population of qualified persons, including women, veterans, Black, Indigenous and People of Color, persons with disabilities, generational groups, persons who speak many languages and are of diverse national origins.
Studies have shown that many candidates, especially women, are less likely to apply for a job if they do not believe they meet 100% of the hiring criteria. The city’s talent acquisition goals include hiring the candidate who is best able to meet the performance objectives of the role. We therefore encourage persons with non-traditional skill sets and experiences to apply, even if you believe you do not meet 100% of the qualifications and hiring criteria described.

Compensation
Wage range: $32.79 – $43.95 hourly

The City of Beaverton determines starting wage based on the years of experience on the job application that are directly related to the job description and posting. Placement at Step 1 corresponds to meeting the minimum required years of directly-related experience. Additional years of related experience may result in placement at a higher step within the posted salary range.
Total compensation package and benefits

In addition to competitive pay, the city offers a wide variety of benefits to regular employees which make up an exceptional total compensation package.
The city pays the full retirement contribution to PERS including the employee portion; provides employees with an opportunity to participate in a deferred compensation retirement plan; makes available a public service loan forgiveness program and tuition reimbursement program; and offers excellent health, dental, vision and life .
Additional benefits include excellent , PTO cash out options, wellness programs and incentives, a Health Reimbursement Account (HRA) VEBA with 3% employer contributions, an Employee Assistance Program (EAP) and bilingual pay premiums.
City of Beaverton Compensation Break DownGross cash compensationStarting stepStep 1Step 4Step 7Yearly salary$68,199.72$78,957.24$91,406.88
Estimated benefits paid by the city – non-cash compensationPublic Employees Retirement System fully paid contributions for employee $3,580.49$4,145.26$4,798.86Medical & Dental – Max city contributions for employee +1 (dollar value)$29,819.04$29,819.04$29,819.04Health Reimbursement Account (HRA) VEBA; 3% contribution$2,045.99$2,368.72$2,742.21No-cost Tri-Met public transportation pass (dollar value)$1,200.00$1,200.00$1,200.00Total estimated non-cash compensation/benefits$36,645.52$37,533.01$38,560.11
Total salary and estimated non-cash compensation value$104,845.24$116,490.25$129,966.99

Annual amounts in the table are shown for comparison purposes only and may vary slightly from actual salaries due to rounding calculations in the payroll system.
The City of Beaverton provides a generous benefit package, including excellent medical, dental, vision, and life insurance coverage; and employer-paid PERS retirement. Learn more about your options and employee-based benefits by clicking the link below.
01

What is your highest level of education?

• High School Diploma or GED
• Some College
• Associate’s Degree
• Bachelor’s Degree
• Master’s Degree or higher
• None of the above

02

How many years of experience do you have working in urban planning or development permitting?

• Less than 1 year
• 1-2 years
• 2-5 years
• More than 5 years
• None of the above

03

Do you possess full professional proficiency to read, write and speak one or more of the city’s priority languages (Spanish, Chinese, Vietnamese, Korean, Arabic, Japanese, Russian)?

• Yes
• No

04

If you answered yes to the question about languages, which of the City of Beaverton’s priority languages do you speak, read, and write fluently?

• Spanish
• Arabic
• Korean
• Vietnamese
• Chinese
• Russian
• Japanese
• None of these

05

Please write a specific and unique response to each of the following questions. Do not state “see resume” or “see cover letter” in lieu of responding to these questions.

• I understand this requirement.

06

Please share why you’re interested in this position and how your life or work experiences have prepared you for this role.
07

Describe your experience explaining rules or regulations to people who aren’t technical experts.
08

Describe your experience reviewing permit applications. What did you find to be challenging about the work, and what was rewarding?
09

The wage range for this position is $32.79 – $43.95 hourly. What salary would be willing to accept? This information will not be used for application screening.
Required Question