PLANNING JOBS

Position: Community Planner
Organization: PlanIt North
Location: Yellowknife, Northwest Territories

About the Opportunity

PlanIt North is searching for two highly motivated Planners to work with us in our Yellowknife office. We are looking to complement our team with both an intermediate and senior candidate with diverse experience.

We work closely with NWT community, regional and Indigenous governments and co-management boards to assist in collective and complex decision-making.

Our planning, project management and administrative projects are diverse. In recent years we have collaborated with our clients to:

• Support community-driven planning processes, including planning for housing, strategic organizational development, land use, community economic development, and human resources.
• Participate in regulatory processes, including land and water permitting and environmental assessments. In these situations, our client typically holds Indigenous rights and title to affected land and is responding to a proponent’s application.
• Provide services in proposal writing, project planning, implementation, management and reporting.
• Facilitate program development, such as the development of Indigenous Guardian and/or related monitoring and stewardship programs.
• Communicate technical research and monitoring results in plain language, and facilitate dialogue to interpret research results cross-culturally.

Job Description

The successful candidate will take on a planning role in our firm, mentoring under other staff and senior sub-contractors, or mentoring other team members depending on level of experience. We work collaboratively within teams. Responsibilities will be diverse, as the Planner will be expected to respond and adapt to project and community-specific needs. In a general sense, the Planner’s role will include the following responsibilities:

• Securing projects by developing detailed project plans, and proposals.
• Collaborating in project teams, which may include a mix of internal PlanIt North team members as well as external partners with strong content expertise.
• Providing coordination to a variety of planning and related projects, including senior review of other team members’ contributions.
• Ensuring projects are delivered to high quality, within agreed upon scope and on-time.
• Working closely with our clients to develop and implement projects that meet their specific objectives. Typically, this will require adopting creative and highly collaborative approaches that ensure in-depth community engagement and, when possible, project implementation alongside an actively involved community lead.

Though our projects are diverse, the successful applicant will initially be working on projects with clients to develop and implement housing programs, develop community adaptation plans, and review applications for resource and land use.

About You

You hold a graduate degree from an accredited planning program or related field, including, but not limited to Natural Resource Management, Forestry, Environmental Sciences, Business Administration, etc.

You possess experience working in a professional setting, in which you demonstrated reliability and excellent work quality.

You can describe substantial cross-cultural professional experience, which may include, but not necessarily be limited to, experience working with Indigenous communities in Canada.

You are independent and highly motivated, approaching your work with dedication, energy and enthusiasm. You are creative and innovative in your approach, able to take responsibility for your work and see it through to finished products with little oversight. Experience as a consultant is an asset.

You demonstrate and can articulate an understanding of the public interest. You are aware of and can articulate elements of Canada’s colonial history and understand the continuing effects of on-going intergenerational trauma as well as systemic inequities.

You are flexible and adaptable and possess a sense of adventure and curiosity. Since many of our clients are based in NWT’s smaller communities, our team members typically travel frequently and are comfortable with long drives and /or traveling on small planes. Our team members are also adaptable, willing to share rooms (rarely) when required because of limited accommodations in communities, or willing to stay in billeted homes (also rarely) or more informal BnB style accommodations (frequently).

Finally, you possess a number of the following process and content skills. As planning is a diverse field, you need not hold all of these skills but please ensure that your application and cv highlights which areas most strongly meet your own work experience and strengths.

Process and general strengths

• Excellent writing skills. An ability to write succinctly and clearly. Demonstrated ability to structure complex ideas into clear narratives. Writing samples will be requested and short-listed candidates will be asked to participate in a writing exercise as part of the application process.
• Strong Facilitation skills. Experience facilitating a diversity of groups, preferably in cross-cultural environments.
• Oral communication. You have a proven ability to share complex ideas in plain language terms, avoiding jargon.
• Time Management. Ability to juggle multiple projects and deadlines, triaging according to relevant criteria and delegating as necessary. You handle pressure well and rise to a fast-paced work environment.
• Strong computer skills. Highly proficient in all Microsoft Office programs with highly proficient typing skills. Ability to independently troubleshoot basic software issues.
• Exceptional research skills. Proven experience in qualitative and/or quantitative research with a demonstrated ability to apply research skills to a variety of topics.
• Exceptional interpersonal skills. You are at ease with people and, in turn, able to make others feel at ease. You work well with others and foster and maintain effective working relationships. You are an active listener and work with humility.
• Financial management. Experience developing and reporting on complex budgets. You will be able to not only manage projects internally but also help clients work within available funding pots.

Content expertise

• Strong content expertise in at least one of the following areas (a mix of content expertise will be preferred):
  • Energy planning
  • Housing planning
  • Land use planning and urban design
  • Natural resource management and planning
  • Healthcare planning
  • Tourism planning
  • Environmental or natural sciences
  • Business planning and community economic development
• Familiarity with environmental regulatory processes and/or resource management processes (if not in NWT then elsewhere in Canada)
• Additional software expertise: graphic programs, urban design programs, ArcGis and/or other mapping programs (asset, not required)

Additional qualifications

• Current and good standing full member of the Canadian Institute of Planners (MCIP) or ability and willingness to meet eligibility and enrol as a candidate Planner (if you do not hold other professional accreditation).
• Class five drivers license (preferred, or willingness to work to secure this)

About Us

PlanIt North is a Yellowknife-based firm that works primarily with clients in the Northwest Territories to build healthy, vibrant communities. We are a values-based company and we strive to create enabling work environments that both meet direct project objectives, and also support meaningful involvement of those who will be implementing plans in the long-term.

We are also committed to ensuring a positive and supportive work environment. We are a small team that works collaboratively and openly. PlanIt North provides substantial flexibility to ensure working environments that are healthy for individuals and families and we provide a comprehensive benefits package and support for continued professional development. We ensure that our staff are constantly challenged and supported in their working environments by partnering with several independent northern consultants as well as firms elsewhere in Canada to create strong and supportive teams.

As PlanIt North is a small and relatively new company, you will have substantial opportunity to lead and benefit from the company’s development over time.

For applicants considering this opportunity from away, Yellowknife is a remarkable city - it is a culturally diverse, artistically active, young community with all the amenities of a capital city and unique access to wilderness. Those who appreciate nature and the outdoors, and particularly those who know how to make the most of a winter city, are likely to thrive here (though much can be said for our sunny, dry summers with 24 hour light!).

How to Apply

Please visit our website, http://www.planitnorth.ca for more information and submit your resume and cover letter as a single pdf document to: amanda@planitnorth.ca .

Please indicate you saw this posting at GoodWork.

Deadline for applications: Applications will be reviewed as they are submitted, so applicants are encouraged to apply early. Applications will be accepted until Monday, February 8th, 2021 or until the positions are filled with appropriate candidates.

Preference will be given to candidates with Indigenous heritage.

Salary and benefits to be reviewed based on experience. Approximate salary ranges are:

Approximate starting salary ranges, plus benefits package:
Planner (Intermediate): $38.00 / hr - $48.00 / hr ($74,000 - $94,000 / yr)
Planner (Senior): $48.00 - $66.50 / hr ($94,000 - $130,000 / yr)