Principal Planner/Senior Planner

Nature of Work
Under the general direction of the Executive Director of the Rochester-Olmsted Council of Governments (ROCOG), who also serves as the Planning Director for the Olmsted County Planning Department, a person in this position will participate in short- and long-range studies concerning the planning of transportation facilities and services and their impact on the ROCOG Planning Area transportation network, land use patterns and economic activity.  This person will be responsible for the initiation, management and coordination of various work activities of ROCOG, the designated Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) for the Rochester, Minnesota urbanized area.  Key projects this person will play an active role include the required 5-year updates of the regional Long Range Transportation Plan, various corridor or subarea capital investment studies, various data maintenance and data analysis work related to transportation system performance reporting, and ongoing work related to prioritization of projects for federal funding consideration.   In addition, as part of ROCOG’s federal charge to facilitate comprehensive, coordinated and collaborative planning efforts with the MPO’s partners, this job will also include involvement in transportation related planning initiatives of State of Minnesota Department of Transportation, the Cities of Rochester, Byron or Stewartville and Olmsted County.

Examples of Work
Prepares materials related to items for meetings of the ROCOG Policy Board and the ROCOG and Transportation Technical Advisory Committee (TTAC) as well as other periodic associated MPO-related meetings;
Assists with preparation of the annual MPO Transportation Improvement Program (TIP);
Participates in meetings with the ROCOG Executive Director and other staff regarding preparation and monitoring of the annual Unified Transportation Planning Work Program;
Participates in the management of the Federal Functional Classification system for the MPO and the ROCOG response to other federal requirements such as performance measure planning and reporting;
Collects, organizes, and analyzes data for the region’s transportation studies and activities, including travel demand data, crash data, commuting data, and other performance data related to the transportation system;
Completing various transportation tasks to include technical and policy recommendations resulting in short- and long-range transportation plans, including development of ROCOG 25-Year Long Range Transportation Plan updates and amendments to the plan; 
Works with ROCOG’s Travel Demand Model consultant and other internal staff on maintenance of the ROCOG Regional Traffic Forecasting Model;
Represents ROCOG at MPO statewide meetings and other state agency meetings such as MnDOT committees at both the District and Central Office
Participates in transportation-related technical committees, advisory committees, working groups and task forces, as appropriate
Conducting planning studies for roadway, transit, bicycle, pedestrian, and freight investments conducted by or for the City of Rochester, Olmsted County and other local jurisdictions under the umbrella of ROCOG and the Olmsted County Planning Department; 
Participates and supports local planning initiatives, such as Destination Medical Center planning, multimodal policy development at the local jurisdictional level, Rochester and Olmsted County land use plan updates, as well as other studies conducted by other jurisdictions located within the metropolitan planning area.
Knowledge, Skills and Abilities Required
Knowledge of transportation planning principles, theories and practices and transportation research methods and techniques, and the ability to adapt new methods and techniques;
Knowledge of Metropolitan Planning Organization planning processes;
Experience or working knowledge of ESRI ArcGIS; 
Working knowledge of Travel Demand Modeling;
Familiarity with the use of traffic forecasting models used in transportation planning and software for traffic operations analysis;
Experience with short- and long-range transportation planning projects involving roadway, transit, bicycle, pedestrian or freight issues;
Knowledge of state and federal transportation funding programs;
Ability to conduct technical research and make recommendations on transportation planning issues to elected officials and public audiences;
Preparing informational materials, summary memorandums, presentations, planning documents and technical reports;
Keeping up to date on local, state and federal transportation planning issues;
Proficient in Microsoft Office Suite;
Strong critical thinking and problem-solving skills;
Skill in the organization and leadership of project-level staff, schedules, activities, materials and information for planning studies; 
Experience in the facilitation of meetings and consensus building;
Ability to communicate with diverse groups of people in ROCOG metropolitan planning area and explain technical information understandably to people with technical and non-technical backgrounds; 
Ability to read, understand and interpret regulations and policies;
Ability to speak and write effectively and persuasively;
Skill in preparing maps and graphics that demonstrate and interpret statistical data;
Ability to represent ROCOG, the Planning Department and Olmsted County with tact and diplomacy;
Ability to prepare and give public presentations before decision-making bodies.
Persons with disabilities: the above is a general listing of job duties. Essential and non-essential functions may vary by individual position. Reasonable accommodations may be available for both essential and non-essential job duties.