Deputy Director of Development Services – Zoning & Design Review
City of Fort Worth, Texas
Fort Worth is a high-performance, full-service municipal organization operating at the center of one of America’s most dynamic growth regions. The City’s work is not theoretical; every decision has immediate consequences for neighborhoods, infrastructure, economic vitality, and the lived experience of residents and businesses. That reality has shaped a culture that values execution, measurable outcomes, transparency, and cross-department collaboration.
As Fort Worth continues to grow and evolve, the City is investing in leaders who can match pace with performance, leaders who can protect what works while advancing what’s next. The City’s Development Services Department sits directly in that equation, serving as both the operational gateway for development activity and a strategic platform for shaping Fort Worth’s long-term community framework.
This recruitment represents a rare opportunity: a senior leadership role inside a nationally recognized development services organization, now evolving from “exceptional at managing growth” to “exceptional at guiding it.”
About the City of Fort Worth as an Organization
The City of Fort Worth is a full-service municipal organization operating under a council–manager form of government. The Mayor and City Council set policy direction, and the City Manager Jay Chapa serves as the organization’s chief executive, responsible for implementing Council priorities and overseeing daily operations across the enterprise.
Fort Worth delivers services through 27 departments and major offices, spanning public safety, infrastructure, community development, financial stewardship, and internal operations. The City’s scale is reflected in its workforce of approximately 7,200 employees, including roughly 4,500 civilian employees, 1,700+ police employees, and about 960 fire employees. Supporting this platform is a multi-billion-dollar operating structure; the City’s FY2026 operating budget is $3.09 billion, including a $1.11 billion General Fund. Together, this scope demands leaders who can drive performance in a complex environment, balancing customer expectations, transparency, risk management, and cross-department coordination while delivering measurable outcomes.
The Development Services Department: A performance-driven organization with a five-year blueprint
Fort Worth has surged past a million residents and is still adding almost 20,000 new neighbors each year. That explosive growth keeps the Development Services Department (DSD) at the center of the City’s economic engine. A 240 person team guides every plat, permit and inspection, and has been ranked #1 in Texas amongst 1200 cities by Texas Businesses in verified reviews on the economic development platform Scout. Fort Worth ranked the highest in two categories: “Speed of Permitting” and “Speed of Zoning.” (4.0 of 5 for both). The only city to reach above 4 stars in these categories.

DSD’s 2029 Strategic Plan is ambitious and outward facing. Among its headline initiatives:
• Delivery support for the $1.16 billion Panther Island flood control and riverfront redevelopment, coordinating entitlements across federal, regional and local partners.
• Launch of a next generation, AI enabled online permitting portal that improves both the customer experience as well as reduce staff time related to minor reviews and publish real time KPI dashboards that will aid in governmental transparency.
• An update to the Transportation Impact Fee (TrIF) program and 2028 study, opening the door to public private partnerships that keep new roadway capacity ahead of growth.
• Restoration of landmark civic spaces—including Heritage Park—and completion of the Historic Resource Survey that will guide preservation policy for the next decade.

These projects will contribute to shaping how, and how fast, Fort Worth grows. The Deputy Director will help turn strategy into reality.
Development Services is not a back-office function in Fort Worth. It is a high-volume, high-accountability operation that influences how the City grows, how quickly projects move, and how consistently policies are applied. It supports the full development lifecycle, zoning, platting, entitlements, infrastructure coordination, building permits, plan review and inspections, complex project facilitation, customer service, and data-enabled performance management.
In FY2021, Development Services launched a five-year Strategic Plan that is updated every year and reads like a modern operating system for a growth city, focused on customer experience, employee experience, and a set of priorities that are directly relevant to this Deputy Director role:
1) Customer experience as a service standard
The Department emphasizes service excellence, predictability, and transparency- streamlining review and permitting processes, strengthening collaboration with internal “alliance partner” departments and external stakeholders, and using technology to make workflows more visible and user-friendly. The Strategic Plan speaks directly to reducing friction, improving clarity, and solving the customer pain points that slow projects down or erode trust.
2) Employee experience as a capability strategy
The Department is equally explicit about building the workforce needed for long-term performance: developing leaders at every level, expanding training and cross-training, supporting wellness and work-life balance, and strengthening succession planning and institutional knowledge. In other words, this is a department that understands the operational truth: customer outcomes are only as strong as the talent system behind them.
3) A modern execution agenda: operational efficiency, smart growth, continuous improvement
The Strategic Plan is structured around three priorities:
• Operational Efficiency: meeting service-level expectations, using technology and workflow improvements to reduce review delays, improving transparency, and optimizing resources.
• Smart Growth: supporting compact and mixed-use design, missing middle housing, conservation districts, form-based codes, design overlays, and policies that reinforce character while accommodating growth.
• Continuous Improvement: investing in employee development (including Lean Six Sigma), leveraging analytics and dashboards, and standardizing workflows, documentation, and escalation paths.
The Department’s plan is not aspirational language; it is operationally specific. It includes initiatives that modern development organizations are actively pursuing, technology enablement, customer self-service, dashboard-driven performance, and clear cycle-time metrics, paired with a deliberate push toward smarter, more intentional growth patterns.
Department structure and scope: a coordinated development platform
Development Services operates through multiple functional divisions that collectively deliver a coordinated development experience:
• Customer Care provides the front door for customers, helping with submittals, answering questions, managing CRM inquiries, and improving customer satisfaction through education, communications, and training resources.
• Development Coordination supports critical connective points: contract management, business support/financial management, facilitation for strategic projects, strategic operations/KPI tracking, and administration of programs such as transportation impact fees. This division emphasizes both customer navigation and internal accountability.
• Development Engineering delivers infrastructure-related development review: engineering plan review, stormwater development services, transportation development review, and water/wastewater coordination, supporting safe, compliant, predictable development with a strong customer experience orientation.
• Plans Exam & Inspections ensures public health and safety through building plan review, code adoption and amendments, and inspections, including modernization efforts such as video inspections and certification goals.
• Zoning & Design Review is the engine where land use, urban form, entitlement decisions, and place outcomes converge. It is one of the most visible, stakeholder-facing portfolios in the Department and one of the most consequential for Fort Worth’s long-term success.
The role: Zoning & Design Review as the City’s “growth-shaping” platform
The Deputy Director of Development Services – Zoning & Design Review is a senior leader who helps set direction, align teams, and ensure decisions are consistent, timely, and strategically grounded. The role has historically been a key part of the Department’s leadership team during a period of tremendous growth, strengthening the operational foundation, improving processes, supporting staff, and keeping pace with increasing development volume while maintaining high service standards.
Now, the role is evolving.
This is not a turnaround. Fort Worth is not “fixing what’s broken.” The City is building on a strong foundation and asking the next Deputy Director to help the City Manager’s office shift the organization from primarily responding to development pressure to more intentionally guiding growth through proactive planning, area plan development, and alignment of land use decisions with infrastructure and transportation investments.
This Deputy Director will oversee a complex and high-impact portfolio, including:
• Zoning change case management, ordinance updates, and administration of the Zoning Commission.
• Historic preservation, form-based codes, and downtown design, including Certificates of Appropriateness, code enforcement in designated districts, federal review components, and the boards and commissions that support design and preservation.
• Zoning plan review, urban forestry, and zoning appeals, including compliance with the urban forestry ordinance, Boards of Adjustment administration, verification letters, and related determinations.
• Platting and annexation / ETJ coordination, including subdivision ordinance enforcement, coordination of Plan Commission and development review committees, and collaboration across the entitlement and predevelopment landscape.
What makes this opportunity distinctive
A high-performing department that measures itself
The Strategic Plan includes clear key performance measures and service-level expectations across Zoning & Design Review functions- turnaround times, error reduction, predictable administrative review timelines, and shot-clock compliance. This role will lead in a culture where performance is visible and where teams are expected to continuously improve, not simply maintain.
A portfolio where city-shaping decisions happen daily
Zoning and design review are where community character, economic development, neighborhood stability, and equity considerations meet real projects and real tradeoffs. The next Deputy Director will help ensure the City’s decisions are not just efficient but also coherent, aligned with broader policy direction and infrastructure realities.
A “next phase” leadership seat
Fort Worth is recruiting a leader who can operate at two levels simultaneously:
• Operational excellence (cycle time, predictability, customer experience, staff capability)
• Strategic city-building (area plans, code management, growth alignment, implementation discipline, long-term outcomes)
That combination is rare, and it is exactly what makes this position compelling.
The three-year leadership agenda
The next Deputy Director will be expected to help deliver a clear evolution in how Fort Worth guides growth. Priority outcomes include:
• Area plans that drive decision-making—coordinating land use, infrastructure, mobility, and urban design so adopted direction translates into consistent outcomes.
• Growth patterns that strengthen fiscal sustainability—supporting development decisions that align with infrastructure capacity and long-range capital investment strategies.
• Predictable, transparent, high-trust processes—maintaining service standards while handling continued development pressure.
• A stronger internal leadership bench—developing talent, building systems, and creating resilience across specialized teams through training and cross-training.
• A proactive department posture—more education, more clarity earlier in the process, and stronger collaboration across departments and with community stakeholders.
What the City is looking for in the next Deputy Director
Fort Worth is seeking a leader with the presence and practical intelligence to steward high-stakes decisions in public settings, and the discipline to build durable systems behind the scenes.
The City is particularly interested in a leader who brings:
• A proactive, city-shaping orientation—someone who does not simply process growth, but helps guide it with intentionality.
• A strong planning and urban design mindset—understanding how zoning tools, design standards, and area planning can reinforce quality-of-place outcomes and predictable development.
• Credibility with diverse stakeholders—development partners, neighborhood leaders, boards/commissions, and internal alliance departments.
• A workforce-builder’s instinct—a commitment to raising capability, training teams, strengthening accountability, and creating resilience through cross-functional knowledge.
• Operational maturity—an ability to protect performance standards while expanding the organization’s strategic impact.
This is a role for someone who can be both strategist and operator, equally comfortable with board-facing complexity and internal execution.
Key Responsibilities
Strategic leadership and growth-shaping execution
• Provide senior leadership for the Zoning & Design Review portfolio, translating City and departmental priorities into clear direction, measurable outcomes, and decision-ready implementation.
• Lead the evolution from primarily “processing growth” to more intentionally guiding growth, strengthening area-based planning, aligning land use outcomes with infrastructure and mobility realities, and improving predictability in how policy is applied.
• Ensure zoning, design review, and entitlement practices reinforce neighborhood stability, quality-of-place, and long-term community framework outcomes.
Zoning, land use policy, and entitlement leadership
• Oversee zoning change case management and support continuous improvement of the zoning process—from intake through public hearing—balancing speed, transparency, and sound recommendations.
• Lead zoning ordinance and map amendments and updates, including Council priority code and policy initiatives.
• Ensure consistent interpretation and application of the Comprehensive Plan, zoning ordinances, and relevant state law across all land use actions.
Urban design, downtown, and historic preservation stewardship
• Direct design review functions spanning historic preservation, form-based codes, and downtown design—ensuring standards are clear, defensible, and consistently administered.
• Guide the administration and staff support for boards and commissions associated with preservation and design, ensuring high-quality staff work, strong public process management, and decision clarity.
• Oversee updates to plans, guidelines, and related ordinances to support smart growth and predictable outcomes in designated districts.
Platting, annexation, and ETJ coordination
• Provide leadership for platting and annexation services that support orderly growth in the City and ETJ, including coordination with regional partners and neighboring jurisdictions where applicable.
• Ensure subdivision ordinance administration is consistent, legally sound, and customer-oriented; improve SOPs and process clarity where needed.
• Oversee the cadence and quality of City Plan Commission and Development Review Committee workflows, including briefing support and cross-department alignment.
Boards, commissions, and public decision-making
• Represent the Department in high-visibility public settings; prepare and present clear, professional recommendations and decision-ready materials.
• Ensure a consistent, credible staff posture across public hearings and quasi-judicial processes, including zoning-related boards and appeals.
Operational excellence, service-level performance, and continuous improvement
• Direct and evaluate programs, projects, workflows, and service offerings—improving cycle time, reducing friction, and strengthening transparency for customers and internal partners.
• Identify opportunities for process improvement; implement changes that enhance predictability, quality control, and customer experience.
• Partner with internal “alliance” departments and external stakeholders to create a seamless development experience.
People leadership and capability building
• Lead and develop a multidisciplinary team; set expectations, prioritize work, coach performance, and build a stronger leadership bench across specialized functions.
• Strengthen training, cross-training, and succession readiness—building resiliency across zoning, design review, urban forestry, and platting/annexation functions.
• Foster a culture of responsible empowerment, accountability, and professionalism in a “do more with less” environment.
Budget, stewardship, and organizational management
• Participate in the development and administration of division/department budgets; forecast resource needs; approve expenditures; and implement adjustments as needed.
• Ensure compliance with applicable federal, state, and local laws, codes, and standards, with strong attention to defensibility and risk management.
Why Fort Worth—and why now
The Deputy Director role has been central to building a strong operational foundation during a period of sustained growth. The next leader will inherit a division that is organized, accountable, and ambitious, now ready to push further into proactive planning and long-term alignment.
For the right leader, this is a chance to do work that matters:
• To help shape one of the country’s most dynamic cities,
• Inside a department that measures its performance and invests in its people,
• With a mandate to elevate how growth is guided—not just how it is processed.
Qualifications
Fort Worth is seeking a seasoned municipal leader who brings technical depth in zoning and entitlement systems, credibility in public-facing decision environments, and the ability to translate policy into predictable, high-quality outcomes at scale. The successful candidate will be both a strategic growth-shaper and an operational executive—equally capable of building durable internal systems and navigating complex stakeholder dynamics.
Minimum Qualifications
• Bachelor’s degree in Planning, Urban Planning/Design, Public Administration, Urban Geography, Civil Engineering, or a closely related field.
• Six (6) years of progressively responsible experience in city planning, development services, or a closely related municipal function, including broad exposure to zoning/entitlements, land use regulation, and development review.
• Four (4) years of management or administrative leadership experience, including supervising professional staff and coordinating multi-function work programs.
• Valid Texas driver’s license (or ability to obtain upon hire).
Preferred / Highly Desirable Qualifications
• Masters Degree in Planning, Regional Planning, Urban Design or planning related degree strongly preferred.
• A demonstrated record of leading or influencing zoning and land use policy in a high-growth environment, including ordinance interpretation, case management, and code modernization.
• Experience overseeing or partnering closely with urban design, downtown design standards, form-based tools, conservation districts, or historic preservation programs where public process and defensibility are paramount.
• Working knowledge of subdivision/platting and annexation/ETJ coordination, including collaborative workflows with engineering, transportation, utilities, and capital planning partners.
• A history of success improving customer experience and service-level performance (cycle time, predictability, transparency) while maintaining decision quality and public trust.
• Evidence of strong people leadership—developing staff capability, building a leadership bench, implementing training/cross-training, and strengthening accountability in a high-volume environment.
• Professional credentials such as AICP and/or CNU (or comparable design/planning credentials) are valued.