{"id":2375268,"url":"https://alion.io/job/thurston-county-associate-planner","title":"ASSOCIATE PLANNER","company":{"id":185504,"name":"Thurston County","domain":"thurstoncountywa.gov","url":"https://alion.io/company/thurstoncountywa","size_band":null,"is_staffing_agency":false,"employer_type":"direct","is_intermediary":false,"listed_via":null,"ats_vendor":"Oracle","truth_index":null},"role":"Operations","role_family":"Operations","seniority":"middle","employment_type":null,"work_mode":"remote","remote_scope":"stated_countries","remote_scope_basis":"inferred_payroll_markers","remote_working_hours":null,"hiring_geo_confidence":"inferred","locations":["Olympia, United States"],"countries":["US"],"hiring_countries":["US"],"hiring_countries_total":1,"salary":{"min":6034,"max":7937,"currency":"USD","period":"month","gross":null,"usd_annual":95244},"salary_estimate":null,"experience_years_min":3,"visa_sponsorship":false,"relocation_package":false,"has_equity":false,"technologies":[],"status":"live","first_seen_at":"2026-10-12T15:54:12Z","employer_posted_date":"2026-10-12","last_verified_at":"2026-10-14T16:44:21Z","board_verified":true,"closed_at":null,"days_open":2,"trust":{"level":"ok","repost_count":null,"flags":[],"days_open":2},"description":"The salary for this position is: $6,034-$7,937 monthly.\nThe Community Planning & Economic Development (CPED) department is seeking a highly motivated Associate Planner to join our Community Development Division. Under the guidance of a Senior Planner, the Associate Planner is responsible for leading and coordinating long-range planning projects and county-wide land use policy issues, with an anticipated focus on growth management issues, housing, joint planning with other local jurisdictions, critical area protections, and rural economic development. The Associate Planner will also coordinate more complex permitting processes, especially for projects in the Urban Growth Areas. The Associate Planner will use their skills to provide journey level expertise and guidance on long range planning and policy issues as well as independently assisting applicants on a variety of land use permit reviews and approvals.\nEssential functions may include, but are not limited to, the following:\nConduct journey level research at the direction of a Senior Planner or Planning Manager and provide detailed staff reports and recommendations.\nAdvise elected and appointed officials, including the Planning Commission, on planning and policy issues and projects.\nPrepare and presents reports and information to advisory groups, committees, community groups, and private organizations.\nHolds or assists with open houses, workshops and stakeholder groups.\nResponds to public inquiries with information on the planning process and policy issues.\nWorks collaboratively across disciplines and departments to problem-solve around planning issues.\nPrepare and/or review proposed new ordinance and ordinance amendments to county codes.\nPrepare and/or review proposed new amendments to the County's Comprehensive Plan and subarea plans.\nLand use application review and preparation of staff reports.\nThe view the full job classification, click here:Associate Planner\nWORKING CONDITIONS:\nWorking Environment - Typically a quiet office setting, sitting or standing at a desk. \nSchedule - Monday - Friday 8:00 AM - 5:00 PM or similar. Work demands may require work outside the assigned hours. \nTravel Requirements - Occasional travel may be required to attend meetings or trainings and conduct site inspections.\nCustomer Interactions - Daily interactions via phone, in-person, and video with Thurston County Staff, and with members of the public. \nWHO WE ARE:\nThe Associate Planner will be joining an experienced, committed, and fast-paced team working on impactful conservation projects across four watersheds. As a part of our Community Planning & Economic Development team, you will have the opportunity to plan for Thurston County's future and collaboratively solve complex community issues. The Community Planning team works with other county team members, landowners, community groups, the cities in Thurston County, state and federal agencies, and more.\nThe experts of Community Planning & Economic Development are on the leading edge of major issues affecting the residents of Thurston County including:\nHabitat Conservation \nComprehensive Planning\nStormwater Management \nWater and Climate Data Monitoring \nRural Water Availability Planning\nAgriculture, Forestry, and Open Space Planning\nJoint Planning with the Cities in Thurston County\nShoreline Management \nThe team members of Community Planning & Economic Development make it a wonderful place to work and effect change. CPED is a department of highly motivated professionals working for the people of Thurston County and planning for its future. CPED works to conserve natural resources, plan for resilient communities, ensure buildings are safe and energy-efficient and plan for future growth.\nThurston County values the diversity of the people it hires and serves. Inclusion to us means fostering a workplace in which individual differences are recognized, appreciated, and responded to in ways that fully develop and utilize each person’s talents and strengths. We are dedicated to recruiting and developing a talented workforce from various cultures, lifestyles, backgrounds, and perspectives who are committed to our vision and core values. Thurston County Racial Equity and Inclusion Webpage\nWHAT WE OFFER OUR EMPLOYEES:\nWork-Life Balance: We are committed to ensure that our staff experience the reward of public service, while also sustaining a routine that suits each individuals’ lifestyle.\nPlan For Your Future: As a member of our team, you will enjoy great employee benefits, including a retirement plan, pre-tax savings accounts, as well as comprehensive health care and dental/vision care for you and your family. Please visit Thurston County Employee Benefit Plans for more information.\nPaid Leave: Full-time regular employees earn paid vacation in addition to paid holidays.\nRobust Training Program: Employees are encouraged to attend County paid training to help them further their career, learn new skill sets, and stay on top of emerging trends in our industry. We also encourage our staff to participate in professional organizations and attend conferences.\nFlexible Work Schedules: Some of the options that employees may take advantage of include alternative or compressed schedules and/or remote working.\nDeferred Compensation: The County offers 3 voluntary deferred compensation plans for employees who would like to set aside additional deferred tax dollars into a retirement savings plan.\n Flexible Spending Account (FSA): Employees can take advantage of Section 125 flexible spending accounts for out-of-pocket health care and daycare expenses with pre-tax dollars.\nPublic Service Loan Forgiveness: This is a federal program which allows full-time public service employees who have made qualifying payments for certain loans, to get their student loans repaid. Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program\nWhy you’ll love it here: Thurston County is located between Seattle and Portland in Western Washington’s South Puget Sound Region. Perched in between the mountains and the ocean, the area boasts the perfect blend of year-round outdoor activities including boating, hiking, skiing, and more. The region is also home to the state capitol city of Olympia, known for its many restaurants, microbreweries, coffee shops, farmer’s markets, kids’ activities, history, and art events. Discover more about life in Thurston County at Experienceolympia.com.\nMessage to potential applicants: We understand that some potential applicants are less likely to apply for jobs unless they believe they meet every one of the functions or skills listed in a job description. We are most interested in finding the best candidate for the job, and we understand that may be someone who will learn some of these skills on the job. If you are interested in this position, and meet the minimum qualifications, we encourage you to go ahead and apply! Feel free to think about how you will bring your own set of skills to the role and tell us about the potential that you hold.\nQUALIFICATIONS\nBachelor's degree in Planning, Geography, Public Administration, Environmental Science, Earth Science, Biology, Environmental Planning, or a closely related field. Additional experience may be substituted for education on a year for year basis. \nThree (3) years of progressively responsible experience in professional level planning in current, long range, and/or environmental planning. \nAbility to utilize the personal computer and related software packages to perform word processing, information retrieval and tracking. \nCurrent Washington State Driver's License or have requested and obtained an appropriate accommodation.\nDESIRED SKILLS\nMaster’s degree in biological sciences, public administration, ecology, environmental planning, or a related field. \nKnowledge of planning principles under the Washington State Growth Management Act, including joint planning.\nKnowledge of or experience with economic development planning and housing issues.\nKnowledge of geospatial data analysis and interpreting environmental data.\nAbility to prepare budgets, familiarity with State and Federal funding opportunities to apply for grants and administer consultant contracts.\nAbility to quickly assess problems and act independently to positively resolve conflicts and coordinate efforts constructively and collaboratively to the satisfaction of elected officials, tribal partners, regulators, staff, local jurisdictions, consultants, contractors, and the community.\nExperience in project management and giving presentations.\nAbility to conduct effective research and evaluate complex data to prepare clear and concise written and oral reports.\nAbility to communicate effectively with individuals and groups regarding complex or controversial planning policies or regulations.\nAbility to collaborate with other staff, property owners, developers, contractors, public officials, the general public, and representatives of other agencies.\nOTHER RELATED RECRUITMENT INFORMATION:\nQuestions about this recruitment? Please contact: Ana Rodriguez at (360) 867-2087 or by email  .\nThis position is:\nRepresented by a Union \nMay be eligible for overtime under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) \nEligible for benefits\nItems required for consideration:\nApplication\nLetter of Interest\nResume\nList of three professional reference\nPlease note: Information in this announcement is subject to change without notice at any time during the length of the job advertisement.\nTHURSTON COUNTY IS AN EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER\nThurston County is committed to provide equal opportunity to all persons seeking or having access to its employment, services and activities, which is free from restriction based on race, sex, marital status, color, creed or religion, national origin, age, sexual orientation, including gender expression or identity, pregnancy, status as an honorably discharged veteran or military status, genetic information, or the presence of any sensory, mental or physical disability, unless based upon bona fide occupational qualifications. Applicants with disabilities who need accommodation with the application or selection process should contact Thurston County’s Human Resources, at (360) 786-5498. Those who are deaf, deaf-blind, hard of hearing or speech impaired may use the statewide relay system to reach Thurston County offices and departments to conduct their business telephonically. Relay users can simply dial 7-1-1 (or 1-800-833-6388) to connect with Washington Relay.","description_format":"text","description_chars":10538,"description_truncated":false,"requirements":{"experience_years_min":3,"management_years_min":null,"team_size_min":null,"manages_managers":false,"education":{"level":"bachelor","optional":true},"security_clearance":false,"languages":[]},"benefits":["Equity","Flexible schedule","Retirement plans"],"hiring_locations":[{"name":"United States","iso":"US","kind":"country"}],"hiring_excludes":[],"relocation_offered":false,"industries":["Public Administration & Local Government","Courts & Judiciary"],"lifecycle":[{"event":"open","at":"2026-10-12T18:27:42Z"}],"visa":[],"liveness":{"score":75,"band":"hot","label":"Hiring now","p_open":1,"p_active":0.795,"p_room":0.945,"age_days":1,"expected_fill_days":3,"reasons":["conf:2","win:mid"],"computed_at":"2026-10-14T06:34:16Z"},"pay":{"stated_usd_annual":95244,"is_top_pay":false},"html_url":"https://alion.io/job/thurston-county-associate-planner","json_url":"https://alion.io/job/thurston-county-associate-planner.json","meta":{"generated_at":"2026-10-14T17:16:14Z","cache_seconds":300,"methodology":"https://alion.io/methodology","terms":"https://alion.io/terms","contact":"https://alion.io/contact","api":"https://alion.io/developers","about":"Alion is a live layer of people, companies and AI agents: who they are, whether they are real and active right now, what they do and how to work with them, readable by people and by agents and paid per call.","catalog":"https://alion.io/catalog.json","usage":{"tier":"crawler_verified","counted_by":"address","units_charged":1,"used_today":22103,"day_limit":null,"remaining_today":null,"minute_limit":300,"resets_at":"2026-10-15T00:00:00Z"}},"offers":[{"id":"company.slices","title":"One company in depth, by slice","status":"live","price":{"credits":0.02,"usd":0.002,"plus_per_slice":{"credits":0.05,"usd":0.005}},"unit":"per company, plus each slice with data","note":"the employer in depth","call":{"mcp_tool":"get_company","arguments":{"id":185504},"rest":"https://alion.io/mcp/rest/get_company?id=185504"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=company.slices&for=job%2Fthurston-county-associate-planner"},{"id":"market.stats","title":"A market slice: pay, demand and time to fill","status":"live","price":{"credits":1,"usd":0.1},"unit":"per slice","note":"pay, demand and time to fill for this role and place","call":{"mcp_tool":"market_stats"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=market.stats&for=job%2Fthurston-county-associate-planner"},{"id":"job.search","title":"Open jobs by role, technology, place, pay and visa","status":"live","price":{"credits":0.02,"usd":0.002},"unit":"per posting in a list","note":"similar open postings","call":{"mcp_tool":"search_jobs"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=job.search&for=job%2Fthurston-county-associate-planner"},{"id":"company.verify","title":"Is this company real and active right now","status":"pilot","price":null,"unit":"per company","request":{"url":"https://alion.io/catalog/request","method":"POST","body":"{\"offer\": \"company.verify\", \"for\": \"job/thurston-county-associate-planner\", \"note\": \"what you need it for\"}"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=company.verify&for=job%2Fthurston-county-associate-planner"}]}