Smart Growth America is seeking a Senior Program Manager with 5-7 years of experience to lead and manage technical assistance projects and work in direct collaboration with the Director of Land Use and Development to advance SGA’s zoning reform and housing attainability portfolios. The Senior Program Manager will report to the Director of Land Use and Development while also closely working with the full Land Use & Development team across a number of projects.
About Smart Growth America
Smart Growth America is a leading national non-profit organization advocating for equitable, sustainable land use, development, housing, and transportation, in short Smart Growth. We empower communities through technical assistance, advocacy, and thought leadership to realize this vision of livable places, healthy people, and shared prosperity. Programmatic priorities for SGA include advancing racial equity, addressing the climate crisis, and improving the health of communities.
About the Land Use and Development (LUD) team
The Land Use and Development (LUD) team at Smart Growth America is focused on how land use, development, and real estate can advance SGA’s mission and vision for equitable, sustainable development. LUD’s topic areas include real estate development, planning, zoning, development finance, climate adaptation, and brownfield redevelopment.
Position Overview
This role involves program planning and management, stakeholder engagement, and ensuring that all technical assistance initiatives meet project goals and partner expectations. Key projects will include but are not limited to:
- Design and management of technical assistance projects focusing on supporting Community Based Organizations in becoming empowered in advocating for zoning reform at the local level.
- Supporting the advocacy, research and coalition activities of the Form-Based Codes Institute, SGA’s program for zoning innovation.
- Supporting the Director in developing a national land use advocacy strategy via policy research.
Land use, zoning, housing, and the interconnectivity between the three topics will be a key topic of focus throughout the work. This person will manage projects with long-term timelines and complex sets of tasks, including engagement with partner organizations like local governments and community-based organizations. Focus areas include why and how to promote equity in housing and land use, how to deliver affordable housing near transit, and how to advance land use reform and more.
This position will also manage day-to-day operations and policy agenda for the Form-Based Codes Institute (FBCI). FBCI is a non-partisan coalition of Form-Based Codes practitioners, interest organizations, and academics who develop and advocate for policies and practices that support the advancement of form-based codes and other zoning solutions to develop communities where everybody can find a place that is prosperous, healthy, and resilient. This will include (but is not be limited to) managing legislative research, outreach and membership, and identifying connectivity with SGA’s broader portfolio of work including work of other coalitions within the larger Land Use and Development team such as LOCUS and the National Brownfields Coalition.
Responsibilities
The position provides many opportunities to manage and grow projects on a variety of topics and scales. Responsibilities will include but not be limited to the following (please note that information is provided to illustrate the types of work the Senior Program Manager will be responsible for and that this list is not exhaustive and is subject to change):
Technical Assistance
- Manage technical assistance programs of work related to equitable land use, housing, and development relevant to community-based organizations, practitioners, and local governments
- Deliver high quality deliverables that captures the key takeaways of the technical assistance engagements.
- Create project team work plans and manage team collaboration, meetings and the production of on-time deliverables.
- Manage partnerships with community organizations, external project contributors and funders.
- Facilitate governance, such as work with the Technical Assistance cohort members, in partnership with the Director of Land Use and Development.
- Design and manage convenings centered around sourcing real time findings from supporting community-based organizations as well as local governments.
- Create project team work plans and manage team collaboration, meetings and the production of on-time deliverables.
- Successfully manage public events or outreach, with responsibilities to include working with the project sponsor on strategy, managing stakeholder invitation lists, developing agendas, sourcing speakers, developing language for outreach, managing event logistics and budget, etc.
Coalitions Management
- Manage the Form-Based Codes Institute’s activities including outreach and communications.
- Facilitate governance, such as work with the Steering Committee, in partnership with the Director of Land Use and Development.
- Solicit, coordinate, and manage day-to-day operations of the FBCI’s education program. This includes managing presentation and exercise materials, site logistics, and providing class materials to attendees, handling reimbursements to instructors, analyzing participant feedback, and assisting in curriculum development.
- Design and manage day-to-day operations of the annual Form-Based Codes Award program.
Thought Leadership
- Manage future zoning and/or housing signature reports.
- Conduct research on urban planning, housing attainability, zoning reform, and other trends, policies, and best practices to inform program and policy development.
- Develop and execute communications for the FBCI for relevant social media, website, and other communications portals. This could look like regularly monitoring existing social media platforms to track trends, develop communications materials such as LinkedIn posts, and respond to Instagram Threads.
- Draft newsletters, blog posts and other thought leadership materials on the topics of zoning reform, housing attainability, equity, the interdisciplinary connectivity of land use, transportation, and housing.
- Facilitate governance, such as work with the Steering Committee, in partnership with the Director of Land Use and Development.
- Solicit, coordinate, and manage day-to-day operations of the FBCI’s education program, which currently includes an in-person three-class curriculum and a new FBC 101 Virtual Edition, currently in development which include but is not limited to managing the presentation and exercise materials, manage site logistics, provide class materials to attendees, handle reimbursements to instructors, analyze participant feedback, and assist in curriculum development.
- Design, and manage day-to-day operations of the annual Form-Based Codes Award.
General
- Manage and contribute to grant or project reporting on a project/program basis.
- Provide high-level support in decision-making processes, including the preparation of reports, presentations, and briefing materials.
- Contribute to administrative and team project management processes.
Knowledge and skills
Required
- Commitment to SGA’s north star, with a demonstrated commitment to equitable development outcomes and advancing racial equity.
- 5-7 years of progressively responsible experience working in, and knowledge of a smart-growth related field, such as land use and urban and regional planning, housing, equitable development, public administration, or a closely related field.
- Specific technical knowledge of urban planning principles, policies, and regulations.
- Excellent writing and communication skills with the ability to influence and engage stakeholders at all levels.
- Exceptional project management skills, with the ability to manage multiple priorities and meet deadlines from inception to completion, ideally within land use/urban planning, housing, and/or zoning; examples include but are not limited to the ability to closely manage projects including timelines, work plans, reporting, partner communications and production of deliverables.
- Knowledge of and/or passion for the interdisciplinary nature of housing, planning/land use, transportation, and equity.
- Strategic thinker with strong analytical and problem-solving abilities.
- High motivation for accuracy and attention to detail.
- Demonstrated ability working with cross-functional teams, foster collaboration, and manage stakeholder expectations effectively;
- Experience as an organizational ambassador in external settings such as conferences, workshops, and partnerships.
- Bachelor’s degree in Urban Planning, Housing, Public Administration, or a related field required.
- Master’s degree in Urban Planning, Public Administration, or a related field preferred.
Preferred
- Knowledge of key local, state, and federal, HUD, and private-sector affordable housing and homeless services programs, regulations, policies and compliance requirements.
- Advocacy or legislative experience or exposure at the local, state or federal level.
- Experience with coalitions such as communications, outreach and member recruitment.
- Working knowledge of quantitative, design and spatial programs, such as ESRI’s ArcGIS, Tableau and/or design programs such as Canva, InDesign, Illustrator or Photoshop.
- Working knowledge of MS Excel for moderate to advanced data analysis (pivot tables, macros, moderate-to-advanced Excel functions).
Compensation
Salary is commensurate with applicable experience with a range of $70,000- $85,000. The successful candidate would need to have at least 5-6 years of experience, most of the preferred and quantitative skills, project management experience, and mission alignment to be considered for a salary at the top of the range.
SGA offers a generous employee benefits package featuring a fully paid medical plan, optional dental and vision coverage, 401k with a strong company contribution, company-paid life and disability insurance, transportation stipend, three weeks’ vacation in the first year and 12 paid holidays.
Office Schedule & COVID Protocols
This position is based in Washington, DC. SGA staff work in the office at 1350 Eye St. NW, Tuesdays-Thursdays. No relocation assistance is offered at this time. SGA requires employees to be vaccinated for COVID-19 and boosted.
How to apply
Please send the following materials [email protected] with “LUD Senior Program Manager Job Posting Inquiry” in the subject line:
- Cover letter one page maximum
- In your cover letter, please indicate the following
- How your learned about this opportunity
- How your experience aligns with the requirements of the job description
- How your experience will contribute to advancing SGA’s North Star
- In your cover letter, please indicate the following
- A writing sample of past work (do not prepare a new writing sample for this application)
- Resume as a PDF
Incomplete applications will not be considered. Only applications submitted via email to the [email protected] account will be considered. Applications will be reviewed as received on a rolling basis. We look forward to hearing from candidates soon!