Principal City Planner

About Our Job

Note:

This is a limited, HUD funded position for a 3.5 year period from start date. With competitive pay, great benefits, and endless opportunities, working for the City and County of Denver (CCD) means seeing yourself working with purpose — for you, and those who benefit from your passion, skills and expertise. Join our diverse, inclusive and talented workforce of more than 11,000 team members who are at the heart of what makes Denver, Denver.  

to find out about all the amazing benefits and reasons to work for CCD!

What We Offer

The City and County of Denver offers a competitive salary commensurate with education and experience. The salary range for this position is $93,/year. New hires are typically brought into the organization between $93,/year. We also offer generous benefits for full-time employees which include but are not limited to:

• Five (5) Medical Plans, Dental, Vision Insurance (effective within 1 month of start date)
• Pension Plan for Life (Employee contributes 8.45%, Employer matches %)
• 457 (b) Retirement Plan (no early withdrawal fee!)
• PTO (over 3 weeks in your first year) and 14 paid holidays
• Merit Increases
• STD, LTD, HSA, FSA, Life Insurance
• CARE Bank, Family Leave Benefits
• Employee Assistance Program, Employee Volunteer Program
• Tuition Reimbursement (up to $2000/year), We Qualify for Student Loan Forgiveness Program
• Learning and Development Opportunities;
  Courses and Career Development Resources
• Eco Pass (unlimited free RTD bus/train rides)

Location & Schedule

This position is located at the Wellington Webb Building, 201 W Colfax Ave, Denver, CO 80202. The City and County of Denver supports a hybrid workplace model. Employees’ physical work location is based upon the position’s job duties and requirements, customer service and responsiveness, team and individual performance, and business needs. Our current practice requires in-office work for all employees for a minimum of three days per week.

Business needs and onboarding may require additional days in the office.

Please note:

Downtown parking expenses are the responsibility of the employee. We offer a flexible spending account option specifically for parking; we also offer an RTD “eco pass” to all City employees.

Who We Are & What You’ll Do

BUILDING COMMUNITY:
Denver Community Planning and Development is responsible for visionary city planning and ensuring safe, responsible, sustainable building. CPD regulates planning, zoning, development and maintenance of private property in Denver. We’re working to make Denver a great place to live, work and play. Visit Denver Gov.org/CPD.

Community Planning and Development (CPD) is seeking a highly organized, and collaborative expert to serve as the Principal City Planner to implement improvements to the Denver Zoning Code and Urban Design Standards and Guidelines. These improvements, identified by a regulatory diagnostic conducted in 2025, are intended to streamline regulations to increase housing affordability and enhance design outcomes. This role will also oversee a comprehensive analysis and review of all development regulations and processes that impact entitlements for all development, with a focus on affordable housing across all city agencies, and advance identified regulatory and procedural changes.

This position is integral to fulfilling grant activities funded by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), specifically related to PRO Housing Grant Activity 1:
Regulatory and Process Reform.

You will lead collaboration with various city departments and external stakeholders to ensure that comprehensive changes identified and implemented during the grant performance period. This role will be critical to delivering more housing, and more affordable housing in Denver.

Key responsibilities

• Lead Complex Planning Projects:
  Oversee multi-disciplinary and multi-agency planning and regulatory projects, including scoping, scheduling, budgeting, and guiding work completed by staff and consultants. Specifically, this position will lead and manage the HUD PRO Housing Activity 1.
• Regulatory & Technical Expertise:
  Conduct assessments of zoning, other development regulations, and…