Senior Planner (Hazard Mitigation) - City of Birmingham

TARGET CLOSE DATE:

12/31/2025

PAY GRADE:

Grade 26

TYPE:

Full time

JOB SUMMARY:

The City of Birmingham is actively seeking to hire Senior Planners. This position focuses on reviewing submission documents such as drawings, maps, surveys, and applications related to development projects to ensure compliance with City and department requirements and ordinances. Individuals in this job class also act as liaisons for the department to various committees, commissions, and citizens to communicate activities taking place, and to provide information related to project development within the community.

COMPENSATION & BENEFITS:

The City of Birmingham provides competitive pay and comprehensive benefits packages to include medical and dental insurance, employer-sponsored retirement plan (pension), generous paid holidays, sick and vacation leave, and more. The pay range for this job is listed below:


Birmingham $59,862 - $92,872 USD Salary

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS:

The following are job-related qualifications that are required for employment consideration for this position:

OPTION A:

• Driver's license.

• Experience writing, developing, or preparing hazard mitigation plans and/or long-range planning elements, such as land-use planning, environmental planning, transportation planning, economic development, and demographics.

• Experience collecting and analyzing data (e.g., demographic, land-use survey, market, census) in preparation for a planning study and presenting to a Board or Commission.

• Experience writing, developing, preparing, and interpreting current planning functions or development regulations, including zoning and subdivision regulations.

• Experience implementing long-range and short-range plans and/or hazard mitigation plans and developing appropriate regulations to specific situations.

• Experience developing and delivering presentations to the public, public bodies, and other stakeholders (e.g., civic and business organizations, neighborhood associations, public hearings).

OPTION B:

• Driver's license.

• Bachelor's degree in Planning, Urban Planning, Transportation Planning, Urban Studies, Public Administration, Environmental Management, or a related degree.

• Experience writing, developing, or preparing hazard mitigation plans and/or long-range planning elements, such as land-use planning, environmental planning, transportation planning, economic development, and demographics.

• Experience developing and delivering presentations to the public, public bodies and other stakeholders (e.g., civic and business organizations, neighborhood associations, public hearings).

PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS:

The following are job-related qualifications deemed desirable by Merit System agencies. These qualifications may be considered by a hiring agency when reviewing applications and inviting candidates to participate in subsequent steps in the selection processes.

• AICP Certified.

• Experience writing grants to fund public programs or projects.

• Certified Floodplain Manager.

• Experience writing hazard mitigation grants (e.g., FEMA, ADEM, EPA).

• Knowledge of how to read Hydrologic & Hydraulic reports.

​TYPICAL JOB DUTIES:

• Reviews drawings, maps, surveys, applications to ensure compliance with departmental requirements and ordinances.

• Communicates with various individuals (e.g., contractors, realtors, engineers, developers, general public, etc.) in order to answer questions and explain ordinances relating to flood plain, zoning, signage, subdivision, etc.

• Processes cases or projects by conducting research, analysis and findings of cases.

• Acts as a staff liaison to various committees/commissions (e.g., Planning and Zoning Commission, Zoning Board of Adjustment, Subdivision Committee, Zoning Advisory Committee, Historic Preservation, Planning and Zoning, Design Review Board, etc.).

• Manages Federal and State project-based grants to include defining and managing the project scope and deliverables, troubleshooting problem areas, and overseeing project budgets, timelines and contingency plans.

• Manages hazard mitigation/disaster recovery programs and watershed/floodplain planning programs, including developing management plans, protocols, and procedures.

• Researches and analyzes (or assists in researching and analyzing) various data (e.g., demographic reports, neighborhood revitalization plans) for strategic and long-range planning or ordinance revisions.

• Researches other adopted city or county long-range plans to ensure the site development plans/projects are consistent with the stated goals of the long-range plan.

• Reviews site and development plans for adherence to development regulations required through the Zoning Ordinance and, when appropriate, approves them.

• Conducts or participates in neighborhood or public involvement meetings to inform citizens about projects in their community and to obtain feedback.

• Interprets codes and ordinances to ensure compliance with applicable federal regulations and programs.

PHYSICAL DEMANDS:

Job is primarily sedentary involving sitting for long periods of time, but may involve occasional walking or standing for brief periods. May involve occasional light lifting of items or objects weighing up to 25 lbs.

WORK ENVIRONMENT:

Work is conducted mostly indoors in an office setting, with periodic field visits to external indoor or outdoor locations. Work involves use of standard office equipment, such as computer, phone, copier, etc.

EEO STATEMENT:

The Personnel Board of Jefferson County provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment and prohibits discrimination and harassment of any type without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability status, genetics, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state or local laws. This policy applies to all terms and conditions of employment with the Personnel Board of Jefferson County, including recruiting, hiring, placement, promotion, termination, layoff, recall, transfer, leaves of absence, compensation and training.  Each Merit System member city/agency operate its own equal employment opportunity policies available on the individual city/agency website.

ACCOMMODATION:

NOTE:

This job posting may close before, or be extended beyond, the listed Target Close Date based on the employment needs of the Merit System. More detail regarding this job is available by clicking Apply.

DISCLAIMER:

This job posting is not meant to be an all-inclusive list of the job duties, responsibilities, or skills and abilities required to do the job and may be changed at the discretion of the Personnel Board at any time.