Category: 
Job
Organization: 
City of Fort Worth


Location: Fort Worth, Texas

Assistant Director of Development Services – Zoning & Design Review

Closing: Open until filled

Description

The Assistant Director of Development Services – Zoning & Design Review is a senior leader who helps set direction, align teams, and ensure decisions are consistent, timely, and strategically grounded. The role has historically been a key part of the Department’s leadership team during a period of tremendous growth, strengthening the operational foundation, improving processes, supporting staff, and keeping pace with increasing development volume while maintaining high service standards. Now, the role is evolving.

This is not a turnaround. Fort Worth is not “fixing what’s broken.” The City is building on a strong foundation and asking the next Assistant Director to help the City Manager’s office shift the organization from primarily responding to development pressure to more intentionally guiding growth through proactive planning, area plan development, and alignment of land use decisions with infrastructure and transportation investments.

This Assistant Director will oversee a complex and high-impact portfolio, including:

  • Zoning change case management, ordinance updates, and administration of the Zoning Commission.
  • Historic preservation, form-based codes, and downtown design, including Certificates of Appropriateness, code enforcement in designated districts, federal review components, and the boards and commissions that support design and preservation.
  • Zoning plan review, urban forestry, and zoning appeals, including compliance with the urban forestry ordinance, Boards of Adjustment administration, verification letters, and related determinations.
  • Platting and annexation / ETJ coordination, including subdivision ordinance enforcement, coordination of Plan Commission and development review committees, and collaboration across the entitlement and predevelopment landscape.

What the City is looking for in the next Assistant Director
Fort Worth is seeking a leader with the presence and practical intelligence to steward high-stakes decisions in public settings, and the discipline to build durable systems behind the scenes.

The City is particularly interested in a leader who brings:

  • A proactive, city-shaping orientation—someone who does not simply process growth, but helps guide it with intentionality.
  • A strong planning and urban design mindset—understanding how zoning tools, design standards, and area planning can reinforce quality-of-place outcomes and predictable development.
  • Credibility with diverse stakeholders—development partners, neighborhood leaders, boards/commissions, and internal alliance departments.
  • A workforce-builder’s instinct—a commitment to raising capability, training teams, strengthening accountability, and creating resilience through cross-functional knowledge.
  • Operational maturity—an ability to protect performance standards while expanding the organization’s strategic impact.

This is a role for someone who can be both strategist and operator, equally comfortable with board-facing complexity and internal execution.

Qualifications
Fort Worth is seeking a seasoned municipal leader who brings technical depth in zoning and entitlement systems, credibility in public-facing decision environments, and the ability to translate policy into predictable, high-quality outcomes at scale. The successful candidate will be both a strategic growth-shaper and an operational executive—equally capable of building durable internal systems and navigating complex stakeholder dynamics.

Minimum Qualifications

  • Bachelor’s degree in Planning, Urban Planning/Design, Public Administration, Urban Geography, Civil Engineering, or a closely related field.
  • Six (6) years of progressively responsible experience in city planning, development services, or a closely related municipal function, including broad exposure to zoning/entitlements, land use regulation, and development review.
  • Four (4) years of management or administrative leadership experience, including supervising professional staff and coordinating multi-function work programs.
  • Valid Texas driver’s license (or ability to obtain upon hire).

Preferred / Highly Desirable Qualifications

  • Masters Degree in Planning, Regional Planning, Urban Design or planning related degree strongly preferred.
  • A demonstrated record of leading or influencing zoning and land use policy in a high-growth environment, including ordinance interpretation, case management, and code modernization.
  • Experience overseeing or partnering closely with urban design, downtown design standards, form-based tools, conservation districts, or historic preservation programs where public process and defensibility are paramount.
  • Working knowledge of subdivision/platting and annexation/ETJ coordination, including collaborative workflows with engineering, transportation, utilities, and capital planning partners.
  • A history of success improving customer experience and service-level performance (cycle time, predictability, transparency) while maintaining decision quality and public trust.
  • Evidence of strong people leadership—developing staff capability, building a leadership bench, implementing training/cross-training, and strengthening accountability in a high-volume environment.
  • Professional credentials such as AICP and/or CNU (or comparable design/planning credentials) are valued.

How to Apply
For the full job posting and to submit your application, please go to: https://mackenzieeasonassociatesllc.applytojob.com/apply/rV66WnXt80/Assi...