Indigenous Community Planner

Are you someone with strong leadership and technical capabilities?  Do you enjoy building relationships and working collaboratively in a team environment with both internal and external stakeholders and rightsholders? Are you a thought leader, a trusted advisor and a problem solver? If you enjoy entrepreneurship and innovation, this opportunity is for you! As someone with excellent communication skills and business acumen, you will thrive in our fast-paced and agile environment.

Your Opportunity

We are looking for an Indigenous Community Planner to join our multidisciplinary team of professionals in our Vancouver office. Our team of talented and passionate planners works extensively with Indigenous communities and various levels of government and private organizations in the areas of community planning, land use planning, Indigenous consultation and engagement, community engagement, and environmental planning and management including environmental assessment and permitting. We also work with and support our local environmental and engineering services teams, and our various planning teams across the country.

The ideal candidate is a passionate and creative planner and project manager with experience leading a team, providing mentorship, solid writing and communication skills, and relevant experience with Indigenous communities to jump right in and get started. We have developed many strong relationships with our Indigenous community clients and must continue building our capacity to enable existing and new relationships to flourish. We offer a collaborative work environment with various flexible work options to help balance the competing demands of work and personal life, interesting and exciting assignments ranging in size and type, and excellent career growth and advancement opportunities.

At Dillon, we operate as one team, and the successful candidate will be based in our Vancouver office. We offer flexible work hours and hybrid work arrangement  (3 days in the office minimum) options to help balance the competing demands of work and personal life.

What your day will look like

Technical Execution

• Manage and coordinate Indigenous community strategy projects (e.g., Comprehensive Community Plans, Land Use Plans, Strategic Plans, Health Plans, etc.)
• Delegate project-related tasks to team members with an appropriate level of direction, guidance, review and feedback
• Prepare, contribute to, and review planning documents and reports including community engagement summaries, background reports, analytical and rationale reports (e.g., opportunities and constraints summaries), and draft and final plans
• Lead and support the development and implementation of community engagement strategies
• Lead the development of engagement and meeting materials, including summaries and memos, presentations, surveys, information panels, activities, and informational content for project websites
• Lead and support meetings and facilitate engagement sessions with clients, community leaders, and members across the Province
• Synthesize and analyze background document research, planning inputs, and engagement outcomes, including identifying key themes and planning considerations
• Lead and support policy development for land use plans and other community plans and projects, as needed, based on inputs from research and engagement
• Communicate with clients, community leaders and members, staff and others regularly clearly and professionally, both orally and in writing
• Contribute to ongoing business development activities including leading and supporting the preparation of proposals and work plans, and meeting with potential clients to discuss opportunities

Learning & Development

• Commit to self-development ongoing learning and professional development
• Contribute to the career development of supporting staff, including technical direction, coaching, and mentoring
• Contribute to Dillon’s corporate profile through active participation in professional associations and committees

• A degree in planning, geography, environmental science or a related field
• Full membership in the Canadian Institute of Planners and the Planning Institute of BC
• Knowledge of relevant planning and legislative frameworks (Indigenous, municipal, provincial, federal) and planning principles and techniques
• Strong communication (written and verbal) and interpersonal skills - must be proficient in report and plan writing and able to prepare high-quality deliverables
• Ability to work in a fast-paced consulting environment with multiple project demands and timelines
• Able to work across multiple time zones, as needed

• 6-8 years of related work experience, preferably in the consulting industry
• Professional experience working with Indigenous communities in areas such as land use planning, community planning (e.g., Comprehensive Community Plans, Strategic Plans, etc.), policy development, community consultation and engagement and associated strategies
• Experience preparing and delivering Indigenous consultation programs for a range of clients, including developing communication materials
• Demonstrated success working in a team setting and meeting quality, schedule, and budgetary expectations
• Experience facilitating meetings and workshops and demonstrated experience providing mentorship to and managing more junior staff
• Experience working with Indigenous communities and understanding of culturally-appropriate approaches to planning and engagement
• Demonstrated success in project management

**This position will require that you travel as needed so a valid driver’s license is required.**

Compensation

Dillon is including the salary range that we in good faith believe may offer for this position. It will be dependent on the successful applicant’s education, experience, and skills, in addition to internal equity and geographic region. Dillon reserves the right to pay outside of the posted range, contingent on factors unrelated to an applicant’s gender or other status protected by provincial and/or federal law.     

$80,000 - $105,000

Why choose Dillon

Dillon is powered by people who are technically proficient, passionate about socially important projects, and motivated to deliver superior, tangible results. We strive to remain at the forefront of technology and innovation, and are empowered to continually grow and develop.

We live our core values:

• Reliability: words result in actions that build trust;
• Achievement: do the work to hit the target;
• Continuous development: always learning; always adapting; always growing;
• Creativity: discover new possibilities;
• Courage: do the things that matter, especially when it’s hard;
• Inclusiveness: enabling belonging to draw strength from our differences.

 In addition, we offer:

• Employee share purchase plan
  • Dillon is 100% employee owned and share ownership is open to all employees.
• A competitive compensation package
  • Comprehensive health benefits
  • Generous retirement savings plan
  • Student loan repayment assistance with matching employer contributions
• Flexible work hours and remote working options
  • Dillon values its staff and the contributions that are made each day and understands that work arrangements can differ based on personal needs and business needs. We are taking a trust-based approach to offer a variety of flexible and remote work options to help balance the competing demands of work and personal life.
• Early Career Development (ECD) program
  • We are committed to developing the skills and knowledge of our people at every stage of their careers. The ECD program is designed to accelerate the development of successful consulting careers for new graduates. The program focuses on a mix of skills and behaviours that align with technical, consulting, clients, business acumen, and early leadership.
• Focus on Innovation
  • The ability to anticipate, examine, and adopt new and innovative solutions is a crucial driver for the continual and progressive advancement of our business performance. In our culture, people are empowered to reflect and question current practices and seek forward looking solutions to today’s problems and tomorrow’s opportunities.
• Employee and Family Assistance program
  • A variety of EFAP tools and online resources to support well-being are available to all employees.
• Goodlife Fitness Corporate Membership
  • Our employees can take advantage of reduced annual membership fees.
• Wellness Subsidy
  • Our employees can take advantage of wellness subsidy that can be put towards expenses for a variety of health and/or wellness related activities such as gym membership, purchase of home fitness equipment, yoga classes and dance classes

Employment Equity, Diversity & Inclusion at Dillon

Dillon is committed to the principles of employment equity, inclusiveness, and diversity within our organization. We strive to achieve a workplace where opportunities are based on skills and abilities and that respects and values differences.

Inclusion is more than a word to us, it is the way we choose to run our business. We encourage you to connect with us if you require accommodation in the interview process. We would love to hear from you!