Planning Associate

and the job listing Expires on January 22, 2026

The Olmsted Center for Landscape Preservation, a program of the National Park Service, is eagerly seeking a Planning Associate to support the National Cemetery Investment Initiative, a multi-year effort to preserve, restore and steward national cemeteries managed by the National Park Service. Do you have education and/or experience in landscape architecture, historic preservation, or horticulture? An interest in public historic site management?

In this role you will work side by side with National Park Service staff supporting the development of multifaceted preservation plans for four national cemeteries in the northeastern United States dating to the Civil War, including on Gettysburg Battlefield. You’ll receive on the job training in cultural landscape management and National Park Service operations, and you’ll contribute skills in technical writing, design development, field inventory, horticultural best practices, and document layout using Adobe InDesign.

• Archival research with Olmsted Center staff to study the physical history of the landscape
• Fieldwork at parks in Virginia and Pennsylvania (travel entirely supported by program) alongside the NPS landscape architects and planners to inventory and field check existing conditions maps (GIS) and make recommendations for improvements
• Production of design development details and cost estimates
• Technical writing and editing
• Creation of graphics and maps to provide technical guidance
• Document layout of 150+ page reports using an Adobe InDesign template
• Position is part of the National Park Service’s Historic Preservation Training Center’s (HPTC) Build-Up Program, which will offer further learning and networking opportunities