Summary

Description

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. Click here 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 $93,566-154,384/year. New hires are typically brought into the organization between $93,566-119,000/year. We also offer generous benefits for full-time employees which include but is 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 at 17.95%)

• 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

• EcoPass (unlimited free RTD bus/train rides)

Location & Schedule 

This position is located at the Wellington Webb Building, located at 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 and requirements. Our current practice requires in-office work for all employees for a minimum of three days per week. Business needs and initial 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; if you elect this option, you can use pre tax dollars for parking. We also offer an RTD ‘eco pass’ to all City employees– allowing the use of public transportation for free as a City Employee.

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 hard to make Denver a great place to live, work and play! Visit DenverGov.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 in an effort 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 will include:

• 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 related review processes. Identify solutions and lead or support the implementation of code amendments and procedural improvements. 

• Interagency Communication & Coordination 
  Ensure alignment across departments, facilitate effective communication, and maintain positive working relationships with internal and external stakeholders. 

• Support Additional Grant Activities 
  Provide guidance and oversight to other PRO Housing grant activities as needed to ensure consistency with citywide plans and HUD requirements. 

• Compliance & Alignment with Citywide Goals 
  Coordinate closely with HUD and internal partners to ensure compliance with the grant agreement and alignment with adopted plans and policies. 

What You’ll Bring

We value diversity of ethnicity, race, socioeconomic status, sexual identity, gender, religion, language, ability, and experience and exemplify this through the makeup of our team at all levels. You'll be right at home here if you cultivate strong relationships and push yourself, your work, the people around you and Denver to the next level.

Our ideal candidate has some or all the following experience, skills, and characteristics:​

• Experience drafting or amending land use and regulatory codes, ideally with an understanding of housing policy and housing markets.

• Proven ability to lead complex regulatory or planning initiatives across departments or agencies with competing priorities.

• Strong organizational skills, including the ability to set priorities, manage resources, and deliver timely outcomes.

• Experience engaging diverse stakeholders—including city agencies, elected officials, and the public—and navigating politically sensitive discussions.

• Excellent communication skills, both written and verbal, with the ability to convey complex concepts to varied audiences.

Required Minimum Qualifications

• Education requirement: Bachelor’s Degree in City or Regional Planning, Architecture, Landscape Architecture, Historic Preservation, Engineering, or a related degree.

• Experience Requirement: Six (6) years of professional planning experience.
  Education/Experience Equivalency: One (1) year of the appropriate type and level of experience may be substituted for each required year of post-high school education.

• Additional appropriate education may be substituted for the minimum experience requirements.

• License/Certifications: By position, requires a valid Driver's License at the time of application.

• Licenses and certifications must be kept current as a condition of employment.

Application Deadline

To be considered for this position, you must include the following on your job application (upload the attachment(s) to the Resume/CV section on the My Experience tab):

• Cover Letter

• Work Samples (such as project management plan, deliverables, memo’s, or presentation materials)

Please submit your application as soon as possible and no later than Wednesday, February 4th, 2026, at 11:59pm to ensure consideration.

About Everything Else

Job Profile

CE2159 City Planner Principal

To view the full job profile including position specifications, physical demands, and probationary period, click here.

Position Type

Limited (Fixed Term)

Position Salary Range

$93,566.00 – $154,384.00

Target Pay

$93,566-154,384/year, based on experience and education

Agency

Community Planning & Development

Redeployment during Citywide Emergencies

City and County of Denver employees may be re-deployed to work in other capacities in their own agencies or in other city agencies to support core functions of the city during a citywide emergency declared by the Mayor.

The City and County of Denver provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment without regard to race, color, religion, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, genetic information, age, or any other status protected under federal, state, and/or local law. 

It is your right to access oral or written language assistance, sign language interpretation, real-time captioning via CART, or disability-related accommodations. To request any of these services at no cost to you, please contact Jobs@Denvergov.org with three business days’ notice.

Applicants for employment with the City and County of Denver must have valid work authorization that does not require sponsorship of a visa for employment authorization in the U.S.