"Director of Planning and Pre-development"

About the Position

The Claremont Colleges Services (TCCS) is the central coordinating and support organization for a highly regarded cluster of seven independent colleges known as The Claremont Colleges. TCCS provides exceptional shared services to 9,000 students and almost 3,600 faculty and staff.

Essential Functions

• Facilitation & Stakeholder Engagement: Act as a convener and collaborator across higher education partners, consultants, community stakeholders, and public agencies. Build trust among parties with diverse perspectives and ensure meaningful input is integrated into planning. Facilitate meetings, synthesize complex information, and promote constructive dialogue. Identify and communicate opportunities for incorporation of sustainable practices into planning and development for environmental protection and economic viability.
• Project Leadership & Coordination: Provide day-to-day leadership of pre-development activities, including master planning, feasibility, due diligence, and seismic retrofit planning. Maintain project schedules, budgets, and deliverables, ensuring timely completion of milestones. Develop and update project management tools such as dashboards, Gantt charts, and other visualizations to communicate progress clearly to leadership and stakeholders. Anticipate potential conflicts or delays across workstreams and propose solutions that keep projects moving forward.
• Budget Tracking & Reporting: Oversee project budgets, ensuring costs are tracked against forecasts and allocations. Coordinate with consultants and contractors to confirm accurate invoicing and cost reporting. Provide clear, timely updates on budget status, risks, and opportunities to leadership.
• Consultant & Contractor Oversight: Select, manage, and coordinate consultants (architects, engineers, planners, environmental, and legal teams). Develop and manage RFP and RFQ processes. Monitor contract performance, review deliverables, and ensure alignment with project objectives. Foster accountability and collaboration in all consultant relationships.
• Entitlement & Development Process Support: Coordinate entitlement and permitting processes with local government agencies, ensuring compliance with planning, zoning, and environmental requirements. Support the Executive Team in developing entitlement strategies, preparing documentation, and engaging with city and regional officials. Track regulatory risks and proactively manage consultant efforts to meet jurisdictional expectations and ensure compliance with legal requirements, regulations, and standards.
• Technical Workstream Management: Coordinate planning for seismic retrofits, demolition of outdated facilities, and historic restoration. Translate technical findings into actionable updates for leadership and stakeholders. Ensure all pre-development activities support long-term campus revitalization goals. Collaborate with TCCS Central Facilities Services on maintenance and rehabilitation efforts.

Qualifications

Education/Training: Bachelor's degree in Real Estate Development, Urban Planning, Business, Public Administration or related field; advanced degree preferred.

Experience: 8+ years of experience in real estate development, institutional facilities, urban planning, economic development or complex pre-development projects. Demonstrated success managing projects that required local government entitlements and development approvals. Strong ability to influence and facilitate across multiple stakeholders without dictating outcomes. Proven track record in consultant management, contract oversight, and technical coordination. Demonstrated ability to anticipate problems early, see interdependencies, and connect different paths of work to avoid conflicts and delays. Strong skills in budget management, reporting, and project visualization tools. Familiarity with higher education settings, complex governance structures or institutional campus redevelopment a plus. Exceptional communication, facilitation, and relationship-building skills.

Competencies: Project Leadership, Budget & Financial Oversight, Project Visualization & Reporting, Stakeholder Facilitation, Consultant & Contractor Management, Entitlement & Regulatory Navigation, Strategic Support, Problem Anticipation & Risk Management, Communication Skills, Historic & Technical Coordination, Collaboration & Influence.

Preferred Qualifications: Experience with historic preservation, seismic retrofits, and large-scale campus redevelopment. Experience in a higher education environment or similar. Established relationships with local agencies, permitting authorities, and community stakeholders. Adept at navigating regulatory processes and entitlement negotiations in collaborative, non-adversarial ways. Mission-driven, with a commitment to advancing the long-term vitality of higher education institutions.

Work Schedule:

The regular hours for this full-time position are 40 hours scheduled generally from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Monday through Friday. May be required to work holiday, weekend, and/or evening hours. This position is eligible for a hybrid work schedule to work partial hours remotely as approved by the supervisor.

Compensation

Pay: The pay rate for this position is competitive and commensurate with the duties, responsibilities, and qualifications required for the position, between $12,500 - $15,000 per month. Benefits: This position is eligible for our employment benefits package including medical, dental, vision, 10% retirement contributions after one year (no matching required), group life insurance, generous time off, professional development funds, discounts for mobile plans, software, and entertainment, access to fitness facilities, and more.

To apply, visit https://theclaremontcolleges.wd1.myworkdayjobs.com/en-US/TCCS_Careers/job/Claremont/Director-of-Planning-and-Pre-development_REQ-7573.