Senior Development Officer

Complex Development Review and Case Management (55%)

• Acts as delegated Development Authority and principal municipal case manager for assigned major and complex development applications, including industrial, commercial, institutional, resource-related, utility, agricultural, intensive-use, and other significant proposals.
• Provides sustained file ownership from pre-application discussions through completeness review, circulation, technical analysis, issue resolution, decision, condition implementation, appeal, and transition to compliance or subsequent permitting processes.
• Determines the applicable regulatory pathway, required technical information, internal and external referrals, professional review needs, statutory timelines, decision authority, and matters requiring escalation.
• Interprets and applies the Municipal Government Act, Subdivision and Development Regulation, Land Use Bylaw, statutory plans, intermunicipal instruments, County policies, legal agreements, prior decisions, and administrative-law principles in complex or non-routine circumstances.
• Reviews and synthesizes substantial and technically detailed application records, plans, studies, drawings, modelling, legal instruments, agency requirements, and stakeholder submissions.
• Renders approval or refusal decisions and prepares clear, proportionate, enforceable, and defensible reasons and conditions, including variances where authorized.
• Assesses cumulative impacts, land-use compatibility, access, servicing, drainage, environmental constraints, emergency access, site design, phasing, nuisance impacts, off-site implications, and implementation risks.
• Leads pre-application, technical review, and issue-resolution meetings with applicants, landowners, engineering and planning consultants, architects, general contractors, utilities, agencies, and internal County departments.
• Negotiates practical compliance solutions without compromising legislative requirements, public interest, decision integrity, or the delegated authority of the position.
• Determines the need for development agreements, encroachment agreements, memorandums of understanding, restrictive covenants, easements, caveats, securities, and related approval instruments in consultation with legal and technical specialists.
• Maintains complete, organized, and auditable records for complex applications and actively tracks commitments, revisions, conditions, milestones, outstanding information, and follow-up approvals.
• Conducts site inspections and coordinates implementation or compliance matters associated with assigned complex approvals.

Regulatory Interpretation and Quality Assurance (20%)

• Provides advanced technical advice on development regulation, delegated authority, procedural fairness, statutory timelines, notice requirements, conditions, variances, enforcement interfaces, and municipal decision-making.
• Identifies interpretation issues, regulatory gaps, inconsistent practices, emerging risks, and implications for future applications; documents recommended interpretations and escalates policy or corporate-risk matters to the Program Lead.
• Develops and maintains decision templates, interpretation guidance, conditions libraries, checklists, procedures, service standards, file-management practices, and quality-control tools.
• Performs peer review of selected complex applications or decisions when requested, while preserving the accountability of the assigned Development Authority.
• Provides technical advice internal and external stakeholders

Appeals, Compliance Support, and Public Advice (15%)

• Prepares evidence, application records, reports, affidavits, orders, presentations, and recommendations for Council, the Subdivision and Development Appeal Board, the Land and Property Rights Tribunal, courts, and other regulatory or quasi-judicial bodies.
• Represents the Development Authority at hearings and meetings and explains regulatory requirements, decisions, conditions, and appeal rights in a clear and professional manner.
• Provides expert interpretation and file support for complex compliance and enforcement matters in collaboration with Development Compliance Officers, Protective Services, legal counsel, and other departments.
• Manages sensitive or contentious interactions professionally and supports voluntary compliance while maintaining the County’s regulatory position.
• Advises on the interface between development approvals, the Safety Codes Act, and the County’s Quality Management Plan, including permit sequencing, site readiness, and matters requiring review by accredited safety codes professionals.

Mentorship and Program Support (10%)

• Provides structured mentorship, technical coaching, file consultation, peer support, and knowledge transfer to Development Officers and related staff, without formal supervision, performance management, or disciplinary authority.
• Monitors legislative, tribunal, and municipal-practice developments and translates relevant changes into operational guidance and training.
• Leads or participates in regulatory improvement initiatives, Land Use Bylaw implementation work, procedure updates, audits, and workflow or technology improvements related to development review.
• Assumes lead responsibility for urgent, sensitive, or technically complex files and related special projects as assigned.
• Supports a collaborative team environment through knowledge sharing, consistent regulatory interpretation, and professional coordination.
• Adheres to applicable responsibilities and accountabilities as outlined in the County’s Health and Safety Management System.