POSITION OPEN UNTIL FILLED

The City of Moses Lake is seeking a committed, innovative, solution-oriented, and ethical leader to serve as its next Community Development Director. This is a real opportunity to truly make a difference and help shape the future of the state’s central economic hub—a growing center of aviation, aerospace, renewable energy technology, manufacturing, and agriculture.

ABOUT THE ROLE
As a key member of the City’s executive leadership team, the Community Development Director oversees a dynamic department that includes Planning (Current & Long Range), Building, Code Enforcement, and Civil Development Review. The Director will guide strategic initiatives, manage a $2.89M departmental budget, and lead a team of 15 dedicated professionals.

This role is central to advancing Moses Lake’s vision for smart and responsible growth, economic vitality, and customer service excellence. The Director serves as a liaison to the Planning Commission, Hearing Examiner, and other advisory bodies.

THE TEAM’S EXPECTATIONS
The Community Development Department is a strong team of people who are committed to providing excellent customer service while supporting the growth and livability of the City. They are excited to bring on an approachable, empowering, and emotionally-intelligent leader who will collaboratively create a strategic vision for the department and who will effectively communicate and advocate for the professional growth and
wellbeing of staff in the department.

The Team is looking for a director with integrity and who has a strong sense of ethics; a leader who communicates effectively and frequently with the team, leads with empathy, encourages personal and professional growth, mentors team members, and motivates in a positive and fun way; a leader who actively listens, is humble, open to new ideas and change, committed to continuous learning, and has a growth mindset; a leader who leads by example, will hold others accountable, and set aspirational and achievable standards for excellence; a leader who is collaborative, supportive, and resilient—someone who can navigate tough difficult conversations, lead through change, and maintain strong, steady leadership amidst difficulty and controversy; a leader who is committed to staying with the team for the long-term and being a part of the Moses Lake community.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES & TOP PRIORITIES
• Lead and support the operations of the department, including the professional and personal growth of the department and team members.
• Lead and develop a culture of continuous process improvement and customer service excellence.
• Reach out to and meet with potential developers to encourage land development and attract primary industry jobs.
• Lead negotiations for development agreements, extraterritorial agreements, annexation agreements, and other development-related agreements.
• Look for ways to streamline codes to encourage infill, job growth, and quality commercial and residential development.
• Collaborate and effectively communicate with internal teams, elected officials, other government agencies, and community stakeholders.
• This is a “working director” position, meaning that in addition to leading the department, the person in this position meets with customers, prepares reports and agenda bills, and performs other staff work as needed to get work done.
• Guide and direct long-range planning and land use regulations. Attends Planning Commission meetings and City Council meetings. Serve as the City’s SEPA responsible official and Shoreline Administrator.

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS
• Bachelor’s degree in urban or regional planning, architecture, urban design or related field; Master’s preferred. AICP certification preferred.
• 8 years of progressively responsible experience in land use planning, community development and housing in an organization of similar size and scope, including 5 years of supervisory experience.
• Or equivalent combination of education and experience.

BENEFITS
The City of Moses Lake offers a comprehensive benefits package. Employees (and their families) are eligible to enroll in medical, dental, and vision coverage. In addition to basic life insurance coverage, AD&D, dependent life, additional life insurance, long-term disability, EAP and LifeFlight are also offered. Retirement is through the Department of Retirement Systems - Public Employees Retirement System. Optional deferred compensation is offered with a City match of up to 2% of the employee's base salary. The City also offers an optional Flexible Spending Account (FSA) for healthcare and dependent care. Employees of the City receive eleven (11) paid holidays plus one (1) floating holiday annually. Vacation accrual begins at 12 days annually and increases with years of service. Sick leave is accrued at the rate of eight (8) hours per month.

ABOUT MOSES LAKE
Located near the center of Washington State, the City of Moses Lake (population 27,000) is at the crossroads of Interstate 90 and State Route 17. The city covers about 21 square miles with an urban growth area of similar size.

The lake for which the city is named covers 6,500 acres with over 120 miles of shoreline. The lake and the neighboring Potholes Reservoir just to the south are major attractions for outdoor recreation, including hunting, fishing, and pleasure boating. Moses Lake is also known for its amazing sand dunes at the south end of the Lake.

Moses Lake boasts a regional airport with one of the longest runways in the world, able to land the largest of aircraft. Military and commercial test and training flights of all sizes are a daily occurrence at the airport. The airport is a major economic driver and produces hundreds of local jobs in the aviation and aerospace industries.

Moses Lake is also becoming a hub for renewable energy technology, including Sila Nanotechnologies, Group 14, and Twelve. Other major manufacturing includes Moses Lake Industries (pure chemical production for tech), Genie, Simplot, LKQ, and more.

Agriculture continues to be a major economic driver for Moses Lake and the region, with Grant County being the largest grower of potatoes in the world. (If you’ve eaten a french fry at McDonald’s, it most likely came through Moses Lake.)

Moses Lake has an authentic small town “Americana” feel of living in the country with the entertainment and shopping opportunities of a regional mid-sized city. Downtown parades, community events and festivals, concerts, movies, and other activities add to the sense of community and small-town charm. The City’s park system is remarkable and diverse, with waterfront parks, a Surf n’ Slide Waterpark, entertainment venues, first-class history and culture museum, recreation center, and many opportunities to access the lake. For more information, go to tourmoseslake.com.