Toole Design Group is looking to hire an experienced and talented full-time Planning Director for our growing team in the Midwest. Do you enjoy big picture strategic thinking and leading teams? Are you ready to grow and leverage your skills in project management and business development in an exciting market? Are you passionate about delivering effective solutions in multimodal transportation, sustainable safety, and emerging mobility across the Midwest? Would you like to work for a firm that is committed to the well-being of its employees? If so, please consider joining our Midwestern team.
This position can be located at any of our offices in the Midwest: Columbus, OH; Kansas City, MO; Madison, WI; or Minneapolis, MN.
This Planning Director position will focus on advancing our talented planning team and practice in the Midwest. You will earn a competitive salary and great benefits, including medical, dental, vision, life insurance, disability, retirement, paid parental leave, a health savings account (HSA), a flexible spending account (FSA), and PTO starting at 22 days. We practice what we preach and ensure that our employees also have access to transportation by providing them with financial incentives to bike, walk, or use transit for a better quality of life.
About Toole Design
Toole Design is the leading planning, engineering, and landscape architecture firm specializing in multimodal transportation. From our start in 2003 as a single office in Maryland, we have expanded throughout the United States. Our talented team of planners, landscape architects, and engineers are committed to delivering quality work that advances the lives of all people, regardless of age, ability, race, or gender. We have been named a "best firm to work for" and have one of the lowest staff turnover rates in the industry.
Every project our employees deliver directly and positively affects our communities. We are industry-leading experts, and we work hard to foster collaboration between offices and disciplines to achieve the best outcomes.
A Day in the Life of a Planning Director
As a Planning Director, you will help grow our Planning practice in the Midwest, working closely with senior leadership and representing the firm within the transportation industry. You will oversee business development initiatives, support proposals, and strategy/negotiations, while keeping abreast of new methods, developments, and opportunities that emerge in the industry. You'll be recruiting staff for an incredible existing team and maintaining company culture as a desirable and inclusive place to work. On large/complex projects, you will tap into your technical expertise in multimodal planning to troubleshoot and coach team members on client and project management challenges.
Our projects are at all different scales, from national pedestrian and bicycle research and design guidance for the Federal Highway Administration to plans and studies for states, MPOs, cities, and counties. You will work with staff from a variety of disciplines on multimodal corridor studies, Vision Zero projects, transit plans and studies, Safe Routes to School plans and programs, active transportation plans, new mobility and curbside management, trails and greenways, Complete Streets, design guidelines, and more. We push ourselves and our clients to build momentum toward positive change in communities, considering equity every step of the way.
Qualifications of a Planning Director:
- Bachelor's or master's degree in urban planning, landscape architecture, urban design, or a related field, AICP preferred
- A minimum of 12 years of planning experience, 15+ years preferred with at least some consulting
- At least five years of experience pursuing and winning work, and a similar level of experience managing and delivering projects for public sector clients
- Experience mentoring and managing staff teams, including managing workloads, coaching, and recruiting
- Demonstrated success managing complex transportation projects, consultants and subconsultants, and managing schedules and budgets
- Experience building and nurturing genuine relationships with other transportation professionals within and outside your organization
It would be a plus if:
- You have a strong interest in multimodal and active transportation planning and design
- You are willing to develop new techniques, lead projects in new practice areas, and oversee the use of new tools
- You are excited about projects that transform communities into healthier and more vibrant places
- You are entrepreneurial, enjoy creating teams, and thrive on seeing your efforts result in tangible successes
- You enjoy pursuing and winning work
- You have strong leadership skills and enjoy participating in multi-disciplinary teams
- You excel at motivating and mentoring people and teams with diverse life experiences and expertise
- You can build relationships, bring enthusiasm to projects, and are detail-oriented with strong problem-solving skills
- You know how to get your message across when speaking, in writing, and visually
- You deliver high-quality work on time and on-budget, and know how to inspire this in others
- You are detail-oriented and have strong organizational skills
Work Schedule for a Planning Director
This full-time position typically works a flexible schedule of 40 hours a week. We provide employees with the flexibility and necessary equipment to work from home 3 days per week. This position can work a hybrid schedule out of our Columbus, OH; Kansas City, MO; Madison, WI; or Minneapolis, MN offices, which are all easily accessed on foot, by bicycle, and via transit.
Ready to Join our Midwestern Team?
We understand your time is valuable, so we have a quick and easy application process. If you feel that you would be right for this Planning Director position, please visit our website:
At Toole Design, diversity is a necessity, not a nice-to-have. We have a collaborative culture where people of all backgrounds come together to share ideas and build better, more inclusive communities. We encourage those from underrepresented communities - women, people of color, LGBTQIA+, immigrants, those with disabilities, and people at all the intersections in between - to apply. Even if you don't think your current skill set checks every box, but this role seems to align with your strengths, we want to hear from you.
We're proud that about half our managers are women and we are committed to achieving racial diversity in our leadership as well. Toole Design is a woman-owned business and an equal opportunity employer (EO/AA/VEV/Disabled employer).
Individuals may request accommodations or assistance with the application process by contacting and asking for Human Resources or emailing .