Principal Housing Planner

Principal Housing Planner (COM 4)
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The Local Government Division (LGD) partners with local governments, nonprofits, and others to strengthen the ability of all forms of local government and community-based organizations to fund and develop critical services to their citizens. The division provides leadership in local government finance and statewide infrastructure initiatives that help create and retain jobs. We also provide grants, loans, and planning and technical assistance to local governments for community development needs, infrastructure improvements, and economic development opportunities.

Located in the housing policy section of the Growth Management Services unit within the Local Government Division (LGD), this position provides advanced expert level program administration, technical assistance, and policy and regulatory guidance on housing policy, plans and regulations for the new state Housing Accountability Act (HAA) program. This position serves as the state's technical expert on the HAA program strengthening accountability for local housing planning by administering the state's new program to approve local government housing plans and regulations. This position is responsible for establishing procedures to implement the HAA program, track consistency of all local housing plans with state requirements, provide in-depth technical assistance on housing policies and regulations, and work directly with local government staff and appointed and elected officials to adopt and amend plans and regulations for consistency with state requirements. This position also develops database(s) and data collection system(s) for the new Housing Accountability Act plan certification work, determines jurisdictions who must be considered for HAA selected review, and is a subject matter expert on housing affordability data and indicators.

Leads the state's new compliance review program for housing plans and regulations.
Tasks include:

• Develops and leads the implementation of the procedures and policies for the new statewide Housing Accountability Act (HAA) program adopted with SB
• Serves as the state technical expert on housing element and associated housing development regulation compliance with the Growth Management Act (GMA) and HAA specifically.
• Conducts, leads and supports the completion of the in-depth analysis and review of local housing components of comprehensive plans, and for the HAA program oversees the communication of recommended changes to local governments to ensure consistency with GMA requirements.
• Provides high-level consultative assistance to local officials to direct local comprehensive plans and development regulations towards consistency with the GMA.
• Advises local government staff and elected officials on revisions to plans and regulations needed to correct previously adopted material under the new HAA selected review program.
• Reviews local government draft and adopted development regulation amendments to ensure the implementation of required zoning changes identified in comprehensive plans is consistent with RCW 36.70A.115 and RCW 36.70A.835.
• Develops, maintains and updates a system for monitoring the consistency of local housing plans and regulations with state requirements to determine selection for selected review jurisdictions.
• Collects issues where implementation of state legislation requires consultation with Assistant Attorney General (AAG) to determine accurate direction and recommendations are provided to local governments.
• Provides support to AAG when Commerce HAA approval is appealed to the Growth Management Hearings Board.
• Provides technical assistance and guidance to GMS regional planners on housing planning and implementation to ensure consistent knowledge and application of statutes.
• Develops and presents customized technical expert level housing and land use recommendations to local government planning, elected officials and internal agency staff.
• Researches and presents new statewide requirements at webinars and to local government planning and elected officials, providing training and technical consultation.
• Coordinates with other states who have developed housing review and accountability systems to inform best practices for Washington State program.

Leads data collection on housing accountability and affordability metrics
Tasks include:

• Monitors best available data and trends for housing affordability and production to inform agency work to track housing trends, planning practices, investment priorities, and policy implementation.
• Develops and maintains data systems and tools to track housing production and housing element compliance in every jurisdiction across the state for which there is data for the HAA program.
• Accurately reports progress indicators to leadership to inform the selection of jurisdictions for new high-profile Housing Accountability Act selected review program.
• Creates a database of housing need allocations by income level used in comprehensive plans in coordination with each county in the state, using housing numbers adopted by each county's local planning process.
• Advises the Washington Center for Real Estate Research in implementation of SB , which tracks the affordability of housing produced against housing need targets for every county in Washington, and aligns university research with the GMA, Commerce policy, and data.
• Coordinates with the Office of Financial Management to incorporate OFM's data within the HAA program and provides support to jurisdictions on planning for housing.

Develops and maintains the policies, procedures and guidance for implementing the "builders remedy" section of RCW 36.70A and oversees technical assistance to jurisdictions who are required to implement this program and developers who wish to utilize this program.
Tasks include:

• Serves as state technical expert on the new builder's remedy program (RCW 36.70A within Washington state.
• Develops and maintains the new "builders remedy" program within RCW 36.70A , determining the legal limits, procedures, policy, and allowances for the permitting of affordable and moderate-income housing in non-compliant HAA jurisdictions in coordination with the AAG.
• Determines the regulatory guidance, models and ordinances needed to inform local government implementation of the builder's remedy and develops them in coordination with consultants, Commerce and Washington state agency representatives, and stakeholders.
• Mediates between affordable housing developers and local governments who are subject to the builder's remedy in RCW 36.70A

Writes and maintains program administrative rules for the new Housing Accountability Act (SB 5148)
Tasks include:

• Drafts rule amendments related to Housing Accountability Act criteria, process, selection, technical assistance, and enforcement.
• Gathers stakeholder and public feedback on rulemaking for Housing Accountability Act, refines draft rules, and provides expert level responses to public and official rulemaking comments.
• Presents draft and final rules at webinars, answers technical questions during rulemaking process, and shepherds rules into final adoption.

Other duties as assigned Tasks may include:

• Travels to local governments to provide personal technical assistance as needed or requested.
• Reviews draft legislative bills, including identifying the administrative impact of the bill and concerns that may require leadership's coordination with legislative staff.
• Additional duties as defined by the Legislature regarding new state law on housing planning data and the Housing Accountability Act.

Required Position Qualifications:

Eight (8) years of combined experience and/or education as described below: Experience working in community, trade, or economic development with a focus on local or regional planning in two or more of the following areas:

• Writing and/or administering zoning code or development regulations
• Coordination and consultation with public officials and departments
• Conducing data collection and analysis
• Analyzing and reviewing policies, rules and laws

Education involves land use planning, urban planning, public administration, public policy or related field. Qualifying education post High School or equivalent may be substituted year for year for experience.

Examples of how to qualify:

• 8 years of experience
• 7 years of experience and one year of education
• 6 years of experience and two years of education
• 5 years of experience and three years of education
• 4 years of experience and four years of education
• 3 years of experience and five years of education
• 2 years of experience and six years of education

Preferred/Desired Qualifications:

• Familiarity with the Growth Management Act.
• Familiarity with local governance structures, including experience working with elected officials and staff at the local government level.
• Experience working with a wide variety of data sources to compile data for a large number of entities, synthesize data, and understand trends and outliers.
• Master's degree in urban planning or related field.
• Knowledge of local housing policy solutions and regulatory tools to implement housing policies.
• Knowledge and experience with local planning practices, and comprehensive plan and development regulation adoption processes.

Required Position Competencies:

• Ability to review material against criteria consistently and communicate changes needed in clear, concise language.
• Intermediate skill level in the Microsoft Office suite products including Teams, Excel, Word, and Outlook.
• Strong problem-solving skills, highly organized and detail oriented.
• Strong interpersonal skills with demonstrated ability to understand and appropriately respond to community, partner and stakeholder interests and needs.
• Demonstrated ability to exercise sound judgment and discernment, and the ability to understand the "big picture."
• Strong anticipatory skills to see opportunities and needs.

To be considered for this position, the following are needed:

• A complete and detailed online application.
• A cover letter (enter online).
• At least three professional references (enter online).

For questions about this recruitment, please contact our recruitment team via email: - please reference the job number in your message.

Work from Anywhere in Washington State
This position may be located anywhere within Washington State though occasional travel to a Commerce office building or in-state travel to attend events or meetings may be required. If selected, you will need to travel to pick up equipment and receive instruction. Many Commerce employees work remotely or have a hybrid schedule.

This recruitment may be used to fill future vacancies over the next 60 days.

Technical support is provided by NEOGOV, can't log in, password or email issues, error messages). DES job seeker support may answer general questions regarding the recruiting system at

Our Commitment to Equal Opportunity
The Washington State Department of Commerce is an equal opportunity employer. We strive to create a working environment that includes and respects cultural, racial, ethnic, sexual orientation and gender identity diversity. Women, racial and ethnic minorities, persons of disability, persons over 40 years of age, veterans or people with military status, and people of all sexual orientations and gender identities are encouraged to apply. Persons needing accommodation in the application, testing, or interview process or this job announcement in an alternative format may email Human Resources at Applicants who are deaf or hard of hearing may call through the Washington Relay Service by dialing 7-1-1 or

Department of Commerce also offers a competitive benefits package including: medical and dental insurance benefits, retirement and deferred compensation plans, 11 paid holidays each year, 14-25 vacation days per year (depending on length of employment), 8 hours of sick leave per month (if full time employed), bereavement leave, an employee assistance program, as well as other benefits. Please see the Benefits Tab for more details.