General Manager, Planning

City of Coquitlam

General Manager, Planning & Development

Regular Full Time (Exempt)
About Us
One of BC’s Top Employers, the City of Coquitlam offers meaningful career opportunities to make a difference within the local community. As one of British Columbia’s largest and most dynamic municipalities, Coquitlam is home to a diverse and rapidly evolving community of more than 170,000 residents.
Located in the heart of Metro Vancouver, Coquitlam combines established neighbourhoods, emerging urban centres, rapid-transit connectivity and significant new community development with extensive parks, trails and natural areas. The City is experiencing substantial growth and transformation while continuing to focus on thoughtful city building, sustainable service delivery and an exceptional quality of life.
Our brand is built on managing our resources in a responsible and sustainable manner while supporting a vibrant, growing regional urban centre. We envision a bright future in Coquitlam that we hope includes you.

About You / What We Are Looking For
The City of Coquitlam is seeking an accomplished and forward-looking executive to join our leadership team as General Manager, Planning & Development.
Reporting to the Chief Administrative Officer and serving as a member of the City’s executive leadership team, the General Manager will provide strategic leadership to one of Coquitlam’s largest and most significant portfolios. The role will help define and deliver the City’s approach to growth, housing, land use and development at a time of significant legislative, economic and community change.
This is a distinctive city-building opportunity. Coquitlam is simultaneously managing significant transit-oriented densification, the evolution of established neighborhoods, major mixed-use and master-planned developments, substantial housing demand and the creation of entirely new communities. Northwest Burke, Coquitlam’s last large undeveloped greenfield area, provides a particularly rare opportunity within Metro Vancouver to help shape the next generation of neighborhoods while also guiding continued densification within an established urban city.
We are looking for a strategic and systems-oriented leader who understands that planning and development is about more than regulation and approvals. You understand the connections between housing, land use, infrastructure, transportation, community amenities, finance, economic development and long-term community priorities — and can translate that complexity into clear strategies, decisions and results.
Equally important will be your ability to lead change. The next General Manager will build on the strengths of an experienced department while continuing to advance process improvement, modernization, service enhancement and better alignment of people, process and technology.
For an accomplished leader motivated by growth, transformation and the opportunity to leave a lasting impact, this is a chance to help shape what Coquitlam becomes next.

Main Responsibilities

• Provide strategic leadership and direction for the Planning & Development Department, creating alignment across planning, development services, building regulation and business improvement functions.
• Serve as a trusted senior advisor to the Chief Administrative Officer and Council on complex land-use, housing, development, regulatory and city-building matters, providing balanced and evidence-based advice in an increasingly complex public-policy environment.
• Lead implementation of the City’s growth and housing objectives, including responding to evolving provincial requirements while maintaining a strong focus on complete, sustainable and livable communities.
• Guide major planning and development initiatives, including transit-oriented intensification, master-planned development, neighborhood evolution and the future planning of Northwest Burke.
• Champion continued modernization of planning, development and permitting services through process improvement, digital transformation, performance measurement and approaches that improve clarity, predictability and service.
• Build productive relationships with the development industry, other levels of government, Indigenous communities, regional partners, residents and other interested parties while maintaining the integrity of the City’s regulatory and public-interest responsibilities.
• Work collaboratively across the organization to align growth with infrastructure, transportation, community