Deputy Director of Planning, Preservation, and Zoning

Job Description

Job Description

About the Department

The Mayor’s Office of Strategic Planning & Community Development (OSPCD) is the planning and development agency for the City of Somerville. OSPCD’s mission is to improve the lives of everyone in Somerville by making it easier for people to get and keep stable housing, find quality jobs, and start and run a business; building safe and healthy streets and public spaces; and guiding how neighborhoods can change for the better while keeping what makes Somerville unique. OSPCD consists of seven divisions, including Economic Development, Finance & Administration, Housing, Housing Stability, Mobility, Planning, Preservation & Zoning, and Public Space & Urban Forestry.

The Planning, Preservation, & Zoning (PPZ) division is staffed by a Director, Deputy Director, three Senior Planners, five Planners, a Community Outreach Coordinator, and an Administrative Assistant. PPZ’s core functions include the following :

• Engaging with the community of Somerville residents, businesses, and organizations to develop long-term plans that guide future urban development, government policy, and capital improvement decision-making as the city evolves.
• Staffing & administering the Historic Preservation Commission, Planning Board, Urban Design Commission, and Zoning Board of Appeals.
• Coordinating review of permit applications by OSPCD staff to ensure urban development is compliant to standards and consistent with city policy.
• Maintaining, revising, and updating the Somerville Zoning Ordinance to implement City policies and long-term planning.

Statement of Duties

The Director of PPZ oversees the strategic direction of the division’s core functions and the overall development of staff and processes. The Deputy Director of Planning, Preservation, and Zoning (PPZ)  supervises day-to-day administrative operations and procedures while assisting the Director with oversight of the core functions of the division.

Essential Duties & Responsibilities

The essential functions or duties listed below are intended only as illustrations of the various types of work that may be performed. The omission of specific statements of duties does not exclude them from the position if the work is similar, related, or a logical assignment to the position. (Note : not all duties are performed by all incumbents in each division).

Minimum Qualifications

Education and Experience :

Knowledge, Abilities, and Skill

Work Environment

The work environment involves everyday discomforts typical of offices, with occasional exposure to outside elements. Noise or physical surroundings may be distracting, but conditions are generally not unpleasant. Employee may be required to work beyond normal business hours to attend evening meetings.

Physical and Mental Requirements

The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the position’s essential functions.

Physical Skills

Little or no physical demands are required to perform the work. Work effort principally involves sitting to perform work tasks, with intermittent periods of stooping, walking, and standing. There may also be some occasional lifting of objects such as books, office equipment and computer paper (up to 30 lbs.)

Motor Skills

Duties are largely mental rather than physical, but the job may occasionally require minimal motor skills for activities such as moving objects, operating a telephone system, computer and / or most other office equipment, typing and / or word processing, filing, and sorting.

Visual Skills

Visual demands include constantly reading documents for general understanding and for analytical purposes and routinely reviewing maps and blueprints with a need for color vision.

Hours : Full-time

FLSA : Exempt

Union : Non-Union

Salary :   $110,000.00 annually plus benefits

Date Posted : September 2nd, 2025

The City of Somerville is an affirmative action / equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, sex, religion, age, national origin, disability or any other protected category. Women, minorities, veterans, and persons with disabilities are encouraged to apply.

Auxiliary aids and services, written materials in alternative formats, and reasonable modifications in policies and procedures will be provided to qualified individuals with disabilities free of charge, upon request. Persons with disabilities who need auxiliary aids and services for effective communication (i.e., CART, ASL), written materials in alternative formats, or reasonable modifications in policies and procedures in order to access the programs, activities, and meetings of the City of Somerville should please contact Adrienne Pomeroy at 617-625-6600 x 2059 or apomeroy@somervillema.gov.

Pre-Employment Requirements for All Employees :

Overview of Total Rewards :

Benefits listed are for benefits-eligible positions and the above information is meant to be a general overview of the benefit programs offered by the City of Somerville and not a binding contract.

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