Planning Manager, SW Wisc. Regional Planning Commission

Southwestern Wisconsin Regional Planning Commission
Serving the Counties of Grant, Green, Iowa, Lafayette and Richland
Helping Communities Reach Their Goals
One University Plaza . 719 Pioneer Tower . Platteville, WI 53818
Phone: (608) 342-1214 . Fax: (608) 342-1220
Email: support@swwrpc.org
Posted on 09/25/12
Position Opening
Planning Manager

Southwestern Wisconsin Regional Planning Commission (SWWRPC) seeks a qualified candidate to assist
our staff of seven meet a wide range of planning goals. As a local government unit, SWWRPC serves the
five counties of Southwestern Wisconsin (Grant, Green, Iowa, Lafayette, and Richland) in land use,
transportation and economic development planning. The Planning Manager manages four staff and
reports to the Executive Director.

SWWRPC is one of 45 regions in the nation awarded a Sustainable Communities Planning grant in 2010
from the US Department of Housing and Urban Development. This exciting opportunity builds upon our
experience in Comprehensive (“smart growth”) Planning. In the last seven years, SWWRPC developed
133 Comprehensive Plans for our 154 municipalities, making our region the most compliant with Wis.
Statute 66.1001 in the State. SWWRPC staff work extensively in plan development and have a strong
rapport with our local municipalities.

This position is responsible for the day‐to‐day management of the Planning Program. The ideal
candidate will possess extensive experience in generating program revenue, managing a flexible budget,
and supervising staff. Because we are a small organization, the ideal candidate will also enjoy being a
generalist and be able to manage a wide‐range of planning projects, including, but not limited to,
sustainability planning; transit and transportation planning; Safe Routes to School planning; economic
analysis and market development planning; farmland preservation planning; local food planning; flood
mitigation planning; and hazard mitigation planning.

This position offers an excellent opportunity for the individual who enjoys a diverse work load, a flexible
schedule, and the opportunity to make a difference in a growing and changing rural region. We will
strive to work with the qualified candidate to further develop and encourage use of the candidate’s
personal interests and talents.

ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS:
- Master’s degree in Urban and Regional Planning or closely‐related field
- Experience in supervision and grant management
- Proven ability to generate program revenue;
- Budget management, accounting, and grant reporting experience;
- Ability to comfortably lead meetings with local government officials and community organizations;
- Flexible schedule, ability to attend night meetings, ability to work longer hours on certain weeks to
meet deadlines;
- Excellent written and verbal communication skills, comfortable communicating with a wide range
of audiences from diverse backgrounds;
- Excellent attention to detail and ability to retrieve, organize, and analyze data;
- Strong work ethic, self‐motivated, ability to work on several projects at once, ability to work
independently and motivate a team around common goals.

PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS
- Familiarity with Southwestern Wisconsin or similar rural region;
- Successful experience in writing state and federal grants;
- High level of proficiency in ArcGIS 10.x; experience with GIS modeling programs used in Planning;
- Experience with Adobe programs (InDesign, Illustrator, Photoshop), html, WordPress, SPSS, and
Google Apps a plus;
- AICP Certification.

The qualified candidate must be willing to relocate to one of our five member counties for this position.
A small relocation stipend is available. While our organization allows some opportunity for
telecommuting, the qualified candidate is expected to work primarily from our offices on the University
of Wisconsin‐Platteville campus, in Platteville Wisconsin.

AVAILABILITY: This full‐time position will start as soon as possible and is a limited term position based
upon the success of the individuals’ ability to generate revenue.

COMPENSATION: SWWRPC offers a competitive salary and benefits package.
Those interested should submit an electronic cover letter, resume, three professional references and a
completed SWWRPC Application (available at http://www.swwrpc.org/employment) to
jobs@swwrpc.org . Only electronic applications will be reviewed. The position will remain open until
filled; applications will be accepted no later than Oct. 15th, 2012.

SWWRPC is fully committed to attracting, retaining, developing and promoting the most qualified
employees without regard to their race, gender, color, religion, sexual orientation, national origin, age,
physical or mental disability, citizenship status, veteran status, or any other characteristic prohibited by
state or local law. We are dedicated to providing a work environment free from discrimination and
harassment and where employees are treated with respect and dignity.