Planner

Are you interested in helping to shape the future of our cities and neighbourhoods? Do you want to help find practical solutions to the challenges facing our cities today? Are you committed to applying the principles of good planning to enable our communities to benefit from the opportunities of tomorrow? If these questions describe the kind of work that you love doing, this job is for you!

Your opportunity

Dillon’s Community Design group is looking for a Planner to join our multidisciplinary team of professionals in our Toronto (Downtown), Guelph, or Kitchener offices. You will have the opportunity to work on new and exciting city building projects while providing clients with a fully integrated and superior customer experience. 

This position requires working in the office 4-5 days a week. 

What your day will look like

Planning 

• Work with and support intermediate and senior planners in carrying out a range of land use planning and community engagement projects primarily for municipal clients across the GTA and Ontario
• Conduct and contribute to detailed policy research, including market and economic trends, jurisdictional and legislative framework reviews
• Prepare and contribute to technical documents and reports including background reports, analytical and rationale reports, and plans
• Support policy development for land use plans and other community plans and projects, as needed, based on inputs from research and analysis of quantitative data
• Prepare and contribute to communication and engagement materials including presentations, agendas, key messages, frequently asked questions, fact sheets, display panels and workbooks
• Analyze and synthesize input received through the course of stakeholder engagement activities and prepare consultation summary reports
• Support the development and implementation of stakeholder engagement programs leveraging digital technologies, including website content management systems, email marketing, mobile apps, social media, video and other digital communications and engagement tools
• Attend and support the planning and facilitation of stakeholder engagement events of various sizes and complexity
• Collaborate with technical and professional staff from across the company and sub-consultants to edit and merge work from multiple sources into a harmonized written ‘voice’ on a range of assignments 
• Support client relationships and business growth in Ontario, including proposal writing
• Ensure professionalism and personal accountability for time management, quality control, troubleshooting of project work, and meeting timelines and budgets
• Travel to other Dillon offices and project locations to attend in-person meetings and public events, as needed

Learning & Development 

• Commit to self-development and ongoing learning and professional development
• Contribute to Dillon’s corporate profile through active participation in professional associations and committees

What you will need to succeed

• A bachelor’s or graduate degree in planning from a planning program accredited by the Professional Standards Board
• Eligibility to attain full membership in the Ontario Professional Planners Institute (OPPI) within three (3) years of accepting the position
• One (1) to three (3) years of professional planning experience in Ontario, preferably in the consulting environment

Experience

• Demonstrated understanding of the municipal and provincial land use planning policy framework in Ontario (e.g., Provincial Policy Statement, Growth Plan, Greenbelt Plan and other legislation)
• Demonstrated understanding of the importance of meaningful community engagement in community planning
• Experience in supporting the delivery of policy planning projects at a local or regional scale
• Strong communications skills, with particular emphasis on report writing including the ability to adopt different formats and styles required by the project and a high level of grammatical proficiency
• Ability to think critically and strategically
• Highly developed communication and interpersonal skills
• Responsible, organized, accountable and committed to excellence
• Able to work in a self-directed, multidisciplinary team setting
• Experience in group facilitation, public and stakeholder engagement and/or Indigenous community engagement would be an asset
• Familiarity with graphic design software would be an asset
• A valid driver’s license is required

Dillon offers competitive salaries, health benefits, a generous retirement savings plan. Our work week is 37.5 hours.

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.

Dillon is a certified Great Place to Work. This recognition underscores our commitment to fostering an outstanding employee experience and cultivating an exceptional workplace culture. At Dillon, we believe that our people are our greatest asset. This designation reflects our ongoing efforts to ensure that our workplace is not just a place of work, but a community where everyone can thrive.

 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.
• Learning and Development opportunities
  • As a knowledge-based business, the organic growth of our knowledge and skills occur through our work performance and roles. The creation and sharing of knowledge allows us to take local knowledge to scale, capture lessons learned through experience, and continuously improve service delivery. The development of self and others is an evident and measured core behaviour within our organization.
  • We use a composite approach to development including coaching to build the how, mentoring to share lessons, advising to round out perspectives, and co-creation of knowledge through internal, learning opportunities.
• 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.
• 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

About Dillon

Dillon is a proudly Canadian, employee-owned, professional consulting firm specializing in planning, engineering, environmental science and management. We partner with clients to provide committed, collaborative, and inventive solutions to complex, multi-faceted projects. With 20 offices and more than 1000 employees across Canada, Dillon offers a wide range of services related to building and improving facilities and infrastructure, protecting the environment, and developing communities.

Now operating for over 75 years, we continue to strive for excellence in everything we do. Dillon has been listed as one of Canada’s Best Managed Companies for the past 18 years and has the distinction of having achieved Platinum Club member status in this program.

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. Please connect with us if you require accommodation in the interview process. We would love to hear from you!