City of Littleton - Community Development Director

The City of Littleton is looking for a dynamic and strategic Community Development Director to lead the department and serve as a member of the city’s executive leadership team.

The Community Development Director is responsible for leading, directing, and managing the department including its personnel, budget, and resources. In collaboration with all departments, the Director is responsible for thinking strategically, utilizing tools to guide department decisions, meeting best practices for development services, current and long range planning, building safety, permitting, inspections, city zoning, code compliance, historic preservation, and neighborhood services.

Responsibilities include: developing and deploying a strong collaboration with economic development and public works; making recommendations to the Council and City Management; developing and implementing policy initiatives and process improvements; ensuring compliance with statutory responsibilities and directives; and, providing for a multi-jurisdictional, regional, collaborative approach. The ideal candidate will be skilled and enthusiastic about taking the Community Development Department to the next level! Experienced leaders who are energetic and committed to strengthening the organization through service and collaborative teamwork will thrive.

The ideal candidate is a strategic thinker with development services experience and vision for the future in delivering extraordinary services to the public. Those with strong project management skills, high emotional intelligence, and someone who actively works with the executive team and city management to accomplish the Council’s goals and objectives is desired. The selected candidate will have the opportunity to make an impact on the community’s future for quality planning and development. The ideal candidate will have the ability to establish and maintain excellent working relationships based on thoughtfulness, diplomacy, and leadership rather than authority; develop, implement, and direct a variety of concurrent planning, redevelopment, building, and development/housing improvement programs and projects. This leader will be a strong advocate for the department collectively, as well as caring for the health, success, and development of each team member individually. They will be skilled at active listening in order to gain understanding and demonstrate empathy.

The selected candidate will have a unique opportunity to lead the organization through a number of staff-led development services process improvement recommendations with a goal of becoming a high performing organization with a focus on people and process.

In addition, this candidate will position the department as the city’s voice for citywide planning initiatives. This candidate will be decisive and have a record of success implementing changes. They will be an inclusive leader who is fully engaged themselves, readily accessible to the team, and capable of building a culture of belonging. In addition, there is an immediate opportunity to refresh the Code Compliance program with a staff excited to embrace innovative and systematic methods to service that will support a consistent interpretation and application of the code.

Planning continues to update the 2021 Unified Land Use Code provisions on an annual basis. The selected candidate should be experienced in planning and other areas of community development with in-depth technical knowledge and expertise. They will have an opportunity to influence the code update process and provide recommendations to improve internal and external communication of adopted and proposed code changes. They will be effective at productively engaging staff and community members in this process.

The City of Littleton is a vibrant community south of Denver and is consistently voted as one of America’s Best Small Cities, and one of Colorado’s top five places to Raise a Family. Home to a vibrant and historic downtown, and a variety of shopping venues, restaurants, parks and trails, there is a lot to offer to the wonderful people who live and work here. 

The City of Littleton offers outstanding benefits and perks to our employees. For more information, please see the 2024 Benefit Guide. The City of Littleton believes in attracting and retaining the best talent and our strategies include hiring in at market-competitive pay and creating career development opportunities. In addition to your application, please submit a cover letter that describes why you are the best candidate for this position with the City of Littleton.

This full-time position is exempt per FLSA and is not eligible for overtime compensation.

Application Deadline: Applications will be accepted until finalists are identified or the position is filled, but preference will be given to complete applications received by February 8, 2024. Those who do not apply by this date may or may not be considered.

For questions and additional information, please contact: Noah Walters, nwalters@duffygroup.com

To view the full posting and submit an application, visit: https://www.governmentjobs.com/careers/littletonco/jobs/4331690/community-development-director-city-of- littleton