Senior Planner/Project Manager

The Opportunity:

WSP is currently seeking a Senior Planner or Project Manager with experience or interest in project management to join our Planning, Landscape Architecture and Urban Design department. The position is located in our Kitchener office. Reporting to the Manager, the successful candidate will be responsible for contributing to our community planning projects involving all aspects of land use planning, with a specific focus on work being undertaken for municipal clients. The successful candidate will be critical to supporting Project Management teams and leading effective delivery of a range of municipal land use planning studies. The successful candidate can expect to be challenged in a variety of tasks undertaken in a fast-paced and dynamic business environment.

Why choose WSP?

• We value and are committed to upholding a culture of inclusion and belonging
• Our Flexible Work Policy - we recognize the importance of balance in our lives and encourage you to prioritize the balance in yours. We will support you on and off the job so you can be fully present in both your work and home lives.
• A Canadian success story - we're proud to wear the red and white of this beautiful country and show the world what Canada has to offer.
• Enhance the world around you - from the environment to the highways, to the buildings and the terrain, WSP is the fabric of Canada.
• Outstanding career opportunities - we're growing and pushing ourselves every day to be greater than yesterday - we're open to your ideas and trying new things.
• A phenomenal collaborative culture and a workforce filled with genuinely good people who are doing humbly important work. Come find out for yourself what it's like to be a part of our journey.

We offer attractive pay, flexible work options, a great corporate culture, comprehensive and employee-focused benefits including virtual healthcare and a wellness platform as well as great savings programs, and a clear vision for the future.

#WeAreWSP

What you can expect to do here:

• Authors or coordinates authorship of planning reports, planning studies, zoning by-laws, official plans, secondary plans, community improvement plans, and other projects;
• Manages or is moving towards managing small to medium-sized municipal planning projects;
• Supports Project Managers on larger, more complex municipal planning projects as Deputy Project Manager or in a Senior Planner role;
• Provides planning advice and works within a wide variety of municipalities, including large urban, small towns, and rural communities;
• Contributes to WSP's Centre of Excellence in municipal planning, where a national group of WSP's professionals gather to share innovative approaches and strategize about business development;
• Prepares or contributes to work plans and proposals to respond to municipal requests for proposals for a variety of municipal planning projects;
• Ensures the prioritization of high-quality work that is representative of WSP's strong commitment to quality;
• Stays current with planning trends, best practices, and legislative changes;
• Nurtures relationships with municipal clients and internal relationships with other WSP staff and fosters new relationships through business development and strategic pursuits;
• Monitors or supports monitoring of project budgets and schedules, and identifies risks and issues early on so that they can be managed more effectively;
• Supports mentorship and motivates early career professionals and project teams;
• Delivers engaging presentations to the public, stakeholders, and municipal councils, in virtual and in-person settings;
• Exercises tact, diplomacy, and professionalism when interacting with external stakeholders, clients, the public, politicians, and colleagues;
• Manages or is involved in a variety of different projects, sometimes taking on different defined roles and with conflicting priorities, and as such exercises superior time management skills and nimbleness;
• Identifies challenges, risks, opportunities, and identifies creative solutions to overcome problems; and
• Coordinates, liaises, and/or leads multi-disciplinary teams on land use planning projects, such as urban design, landscape architecture, engineering, and others.

What you'll bring to WSP:

• University degree in Planning, Environmental Studies, or Communications, Public Policy, Geography, or a similar degree;
• At least 5 years of progressive experience in a municipal or consulting environment;
• Excellent written and oral communication and time management skills;
• A strong interest in municipal planning, public policy, and/or land use regulation;
• Demonstrated knowledge and experience of provincial land use planning legislation and policy, and application of that knowledge to municipal land use planning projects.
• Demonstrated public consultation experience, including experience facilitating stakeholder and public meetings;
• Demonstrated experience with delegating tasks to staff or managing projects;
• Experience with SketchUp, Adobe Creative Suite or similar tools or demonstrated knowledge in urban design principles and practices is an asset;
• Highly motivated, organized, flexible, and enthusiastic team player committed to upholding our reputation for delivering high quality service;
• Strong Project Management experience with complex municipal or land development planning projects comprised of multi-disciplinary teams
• Strong analytical skills with the ability to collect, organize, query, analyze, and effectively communicate information;
• Full Membership, or eligibility for Full Membership, in the Ontario Professional Planners Institute and the Canadian Institute of Planners;
• Membership in the International Association for Public Participation and/or Project Management Institute is an asset; and
• Valid Ontario Driver's License.

WSP is one of the world's leading professional services firms. Our purpose is to future proof our cities and environments.

We have over 65,000 team members across the globe. In Canada, our 12,000+ people are involved in everything from environmental remediation to urban planning, from engineering iconic buildings to designing sustainable transportation networks, from finding new ways to extract essential resources to developing renewable power sources for the future.

At WSP:

• We value our people and our reputation
• We are locally dedicated with international scale
• We are future focused and challenge the status quo
• We foster collaboration in everything we do
• We have an empowering culture and hold ourselves accountable

Please Note:

Health and Safety is a core paramount value of WSP. Given the importance of keeping one another safe it is expected that you comply with our Health, Safety & Environment (HSE) policy at all times as well as client HSE policies when working at client locations.

Offers of employment for safety-sensitive positions involving fieldwork are contingent upon candidates being able to perform key physical tasks of the job as described in the job posting and interview. This may include the ability to work in a variety of environmental conditions, such as remote or isolated areas, working alone, and in inclement weather (within safe and reasonable limits).

WSP welcomes and encourages applications from people with disabilities. Accommodations are available on request for candidates taking part in all aspects of the selection process.

WSP is committed to the principles of employment equity. Only the candidates selected will be contacted.

WSP does not accept unsolicited resumes from agencies. For more information please READ THE FULL POLICY.