Streetscape and Public Space Planner

Somerville is a city that upholds progressive principles for both employees and residents alike. If you are looking for a culture that embraces innovation, empowerment, and collaborative involvement, Somerville not only embraces these talents but encourages them. Creative, hands-on collaboration with passionate dedication are at the core of the City’s workplace culture.  Challenging and fast-paced, Somerville also offers a generous benefits package that embodies a strong work-life balance. Not only is it a “Model City”, as termed by The Boston Globe, but it is also a model employer.

Statement of Duties

The Streetscape and Public Space Planner performs technical work and advises senior staff on urban design and landscape architecture to ensure that public and private investment advance the City’s goal of becoming the most walkable, bikeable, transit-oriented city in the nation. Candidate will demonstrate capacity for field work, desk-based design tasks, technical quantitative analyses, public engagement and interdisciplinary coordination  consistent with the City’s adopted Comprehensive Plan and adopted Open Space and Recreation Plan, as well as ongoing initiatives including the City’s Public Space and Public Life planning, Vision Zero planning, Urban Forestry planning and other related initiatives.

Essential Functions:

• Perform urban design and landscape architecture work in one or more functional areas such as streetscape reconstruction, park and playground rehabilitation, schoolyard upgrades, public plaza planning, riparian zone enhancement and campus planning.
• Review and critique public space design submittals from City consultants, public agency partners and private developers for consistency with City goals, policies and standards including the new proposed Somerville Zoning Ordinance overhaul.
• Evaluate seating, lighting, planting, circulation and accessibility plans for street, sidewalk, park and plaza projects.
• Facilitate public engagement in physical planning processes.
• Produce design concepts for planning and discussion purposes via hand sketching, computer-assisted drafting (CAD), perspective rendering and photo simulation.
• Collaborate around visioning, planning, execution and evaluation of tactical urbanism installations and other temporary pilot projects.
• Assist in project scoping for City procurement of design services.
• Perform quantitative analyses related to urban and landscape design, and communicate complex data findings to a variety of audience types.

Recommended Minimum Qualifications                                      

Education and Experience: Bachelor’s Degree in engineering, landscape architecture, planning or a closely-related field and three (3) years’ experience; or any equivalent combination of education, training and experience which provides the required knowledge, skills and abilities to perform the essential functions of the job.

Knowledge, Abilities and Skill

Knowledge:  Knowledge of basic principles and practices of urban design, conservation, landscape architecture, horticulture, project management and/or planning theory is required; knowledge of applicable State and Federal regulations; strong knowledge of Microsoft Office Suite and proficient in the full range of traditional and digital communications methods.

Abilities: Ability to communicate effectively orally and in writing with state and federal agencies, architects, contractors, developers, owners, supervisors, employees, and the general public; ability to effectively read, understand and utilize technical drawings, site plans, and other similar documents; ability to establish and maintain strong working relations with peers; ability to interpret and apply complex regulatory code; ability to travel to multiple City locations within the workday; ability to maintain, manage, and organize records; ability to coordinate and run public meetings and/or presentations.

Skill: Skill in facilitating public presentations; demonstrated organizational skills managing multiple tasks and deadlines; excellent customer service and public speaking skills.  Bi-lingual or multilingual ability in Spanish, Portuguese, and/or Haitian-Creole is preferred but not required.

Work Environment                                                                           

The work environment involves everyday discomforts typical of offices, with occasional exposure to outside elements.  Noise or physical surroundings may be distracting, but conditions are generally not unpleasant.  Employee may be required to work beyond normal business hours in response to attend evening meetings or complete work assignments.  When in the field or attending meetings, the work environment can be at construction sites and outdoors.

Physical and Mental Requirements

The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the position’s essential functions.

Physical Skills
Minimal physical demands are required to perform the work. Work effort principally involves sitting to perform work tasks, with intermittent periods of stooping, walking, and standing. Work requires some agility such as moving in or about construction sites or over rough terrain. There may also be some occasional lifting of objects such as office equipment or photocopy paper (up to 30lbs.).  When in the field, more physical skill may be required to accomplish the duties required.

Motor Skills
Duties are largely mental rather than physical, but the job may occasionally require minimal motor skills for activities such as moving objects, operating a telephone, personal computer and/or most other office equipment including word processing, filing and sorting of papers.

Visual Skills
Visual demands require constantly reading documents for general understanding and analytical purposes.

Send your resume and cover letter by April 9, 2018 to:

City Hall Personnel Office
93 Highland Avenue
Somerville MA 02143
Fax: 617-666-4426
TTY: 1-866-808-4851
Email: employment_opportunities@somervillema.gov

City of Somerville residents are especially encouraged to apply.

The City of Somerville is an affirmative action/equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, sex, religion, age, national origin, disability or any other protected category. Women, minorities, veterans, and persons with disabilities are encouraged to apply. Auxiliary aids and services, written materials in alternative formats, and reasonable modifications in policies and procedures will be provided to qualified individuals with disabilities free of charge, upon request.

Individuals with disabilities who need auxiliary aids and services for effective communication, written materials in alternative formats, or reasonable modifications in policies and procedures, in order to access the programs and activities of the City of Somerville or to attend meetings, should contact the City’s ADA Coordinator, Nency Salamoun, at 617-625-6600 x2323 or NSalamoun@somervillema.gov.