Director of Planning

ABOUT THE POSITION

VHB is seeking a Director of Planning to lead and grow our planning practice in New Jersey. This role will strengthen client relationships, mentor staff, support business growth, and guide multidisciplinary teams on municipal planning, redevelopment, affordable housing, zoning, and regulatory assignments. The ideal candidate is a collaborative, client-focused leader committed to thoughtful, resilient, and community-centered planning.

Responsibilities

Lead, mentor, and develop planning staff while supporting a collaborative team culture.
• Grow the planning practice by expanding client relationships, building local prominence, and supporting financial performance.
• Manage workload, staffing, budgets, billing, collections, backlog, and profitability.
• Review proposals, scopes, budgets, contracts, and project delivery strategies.
• Monitor project performance, delivery needs, client expectations, and future opportunities.
• Promote technical quality across planning assignments and ensure appropriate QA/QC processes are implemented on all projects.
• Develop practical, client-focused solutions to complex planning, zoning, redevelopment, and regulatory challenges.
• Grow and deliver integrated services to our clients consisting of Environmental, Site Investigation & Remediation, Land Development, Geomatics, Traffic & Mobility, and Land Use Permitting.

Technical Responsibilities

• Lead municipal planning assignments, including master plans, housing and fair share plans, redevelopment plans, zoning ordinances, analyses, and development reviews.
• Serve as Project Executive, Project Manager, technical lead, or senior advisor on high-visibility planning projects.
• Provide planning testimony and represent clients before planning boards, zoning boards, municipal bodies, and other public forums.
• Support public- and private-sector planning assignments focused on affordable housing, redevelopment, and land use.

Business Development Responsibilities

• Lead business development, including client relationships, annual planning, proposal strategy, and securing new work.
• Guide pursuits, including opportunity identification, scope development, risk review, and project goal definition.
• Maintain market visibility through professional associations, conferences, boards, committees, and industry forums.

Skills and Attributes

• Deep knowledge of municipal planning, land use, zoning, redevelopment, affordable housing, and development review.
• Strong communication, facilitation, collaboration, and problem-solving skills.
• Experience working across multidisciplinary teams, including planning, transportation, environmental, engineering, GIS, and community development.

Minimum Requirements

• 20+ years of progressive planning, consulting, project management, business development, and client management experience.
• Bachelor's degree in Planning or a related field.
• Professional planning certification required, such as AICP or state professional planner licensure.

The full-time annual base salary range for this position is $200,000.00 to $225,000.00. The base salary offered will be determined based on job-related factors, including geographic location, internal equity, experience, credentials, skills, education, work schedule, and other factors permitted by law. The posted salary range reflects base pay only. Additional compensation and benefits available to eligible employees are outlined in our Total Rewards Program.

Annual base salary is one component of VHB's Total Rewards package. In addition to base pay, eligible employees may receive annual incentive compensation bonuses, spot bonuses, and merit-based salary increases, providing opportunities to increase earnings beyond base pay. VHB also offers a differentiating work experience, including a comprehensive benefits package that includes eligibility to participate in the VHB 401(k) plan, medical, dental, vision, life, and disability insurance, wellness programs, tuition reimbursement, and recognition programs.

Details on VHB's benefits package can be found here: Benefits Checklist

Building what's next, together.

Our people make the difference. We foster a technology-empowered, peopledriven, futureready culture where agility, innovation, and collaboration shape how we work every day.

When you join VHB, you'll find:

• Meaningful work on complex projects with real community impact
• A collaborative, inclusive culture that values curiosity and shared success
• Support to grow your skills and lead through change
• Learning and development supported by evolving tools and technologies, including AI
• Best-in-class benefits and a flexible, hybrid work environment

We're growing across the East Coast and are consistently recognized as a great place to work. Ready to shape what's next? Learn more about what sets our employee experience apart and connect with us.

VHB is a proud Equal Opportunity Employer. Since our founding, we have intentionally fostered a culture of inclusion and belonging, supported by deep-rooted core values, one of which is diversity. Qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, gender, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, protected veteran status, or other characteristics protected by law.

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