Archistar

Principal Director – Planning and Zoning

Archistar

full-time

Posted on:

Location Type: Hybrid

Location: Los Angeles • California • United States

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Job Level

Lead

About the role

  • Serve as Archistar’s senior technical authority on zoning ordinances, land use regulations, and development standards across the United States
  • Own and govern the interpretation of planning and zoning controls, providing statutory and legal assurance over their translation into digital and rules-based systems
  • Act as the final escalation point for complex, ambiguous, or high-risk zoning and land use matters
  • Review, validate, and approve complex zoning rules, overlays, conditional uses, variances, and discretionary provisions
  • Ensure regulatory intent, administrative discretion, real-world planning practice, and the administrative record are preserved within automated and assisted review workflows
  • Provide technical leadership and assurance for complex or high-risk municipal, county, and state implementations
  • Guide jurisdiction-specific approaches to exceptions, overlays, discretionary review, and statutory nuance
  • Partner closely with product, engineering, and data teams to review, validate, and sign off on digital zoning logic from a statutory and planning perspective
  • Participate in audits, statutory and legal assurance reviews, and go-live readiness decisions
  • Engage directly with planning directors, zoning administrators, regulators, and senior public-sector stakeholders on complex planning and zoning matters
  • Provide expert technical input in a statutory and legal assurance capacity for government and enterprise engagements, including RFPs, pilots, and statutory reliance discussions
  • Support confidence in digital planning systems among regulators, reviewers, and decision-makers
  • Develop internal zoning and planning standards, playbooks, and technical guidance
  • Mentor and upskill internal teams to strengthen land use and zoning expertise across the organization
  • Contribute to the governance framework of Archistar’s Center for Technical Excellence

Requirements

  • 10+ years’ experience in statutory planning, zoning, land use regulation, or development review
  • Deep, practical knowledge of zoning ordinances, land use controls, and entitlement and permitting workflows
  • Strong professional credibility with municipal, county, or state government stakeholders
  • Demonstrated judgment in interpreting discretionary, conditional, and complex zoning provisions
  • Exceptional written and verbal communication skills, including executive-level and public-sector engagement
  • Experience working with digital planning, zoning, or e-permitting systems in a statutory, governance, or assurance capacity
  • Strong understanding of how zoning regulations, overlays, and discretionary controls are represented in structured or digital rule environments
  • Familiarity with GIS-based zoning data, parcel data, and spatial rules
  • Experience contributing to or assuring automated review, decision-support, or digitally assisted assessment workflows
  • Exposure to large-scale zoning reform, housing delivery initiatives, or government digital transformation programs
  • Nice to Have
  • Exposure to rules engines, machine-readable zoning, or automated assessment systems
  • Experience partnering closely with technical teams building or maintaining digital planning platforms
  • AICP certification or equivalent senior professional credential
  • Experience serving as a Zoning Administrator, Planning Director, or Entitlements / Development Review Manager
Benefits
  • Apply your zoning and land use expertise at a national, cross-jurisdictional scale across the U.S.
  • Work with governments that value legal defensibility, due process, and professional judgment
  • Be part of an award-winning planning technology company partnering with leading municipalities and agencies
  • Competitive executive-level salary package, including equity participation
  • Remote-first flexibility across North America, with purposeful travel
  • A collaborative executive team that values rigor, autonomy, and public-sector credibility
  • Mission-driven work supporting housing delivery, permitting modernization, and better planning outcomes

Applicant Tracking System Keywords

Tip: use these terms in your resume and cover letter to boost ATS matches.

Hard skills
statutory planningzoning ordinancesland use regulationdevelopment reviewzoning rulesconditional usesdiscretionary provisionsGIS-based zoning dataautomated review workflowsdigital planning systems
Soft skills
professional credibilityjudgmentwritten communicationverbal communicationexecutive-level engagementpublic-sector engagementmentoringtechnical leadershipcollaborationstakeholder engagement
Certifications
AICP certification