About Burlingame
The City of Burlingame is located on the San Francisco Peninsula, five minutes from San Francisco International Airport and easy visiting distance to San Francisco. Convenient Bay Area-wide access is provided by nearby bridges. The developed area of the city extends from the eastern slope of the coastal range to San Francisco Bay. Coyote Point Park at the southern City limits and the Bay Trail through Burlingame along the water’s edge provide access to water oriented and developed regional recreation opportunities, including sailing, wind surfing, swimming, children’s museum and meeting facilities. Development on Burlingame’s bay front is dotted with first class hotels which are oriented to San Francisco Bay and provide visitors and residents alike with vacation-style opportunities. Burlingame’s village style, kid-friendly downtown and nearby Washington Park are popular destinations on the Peninsula, easily accessible by foot, rail and car.
The City of Burlingame is a full-service, general law City with a Council-Manager form of government. The City has approximately 220 full-time employees who deliver quality municipal services to its 30,500 citizens. The City of Burlingame prides itself on being an "Employer of Choice" and embraces a participative approach in managing the City and the Organization.
Location
Description
The City of Burlingame is accepting applications for the position of Assistant/Associate Planner
Our diverse team of employees welcomes you to apply. We are a small city that gets a lot done, and each member of our team is vital to our success as an organization. We recently asked our employees what they enjoyed most about working for the City of Burlingame, and their responses fell into five general categories:
- Colleagues
- Community
- Location
- The Work
- The Benefits
Browse the Burlingame Welcome Brochure for more information about why employees love working here or view our City of Burlingame is a Great Place to Work Video:
City of Burlingame is a Great Place to Work Video
ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS
The duties and responsibilities listed below are illustrative only and are not meant to be a full and exhaustive listing of all of the duties and responsibilities of the classification. Duties may include, but are not limited to:
- Participating in implementation of goals, objectives, policies, and priorities of the Planning Division;
- Review and manage current planning applications such as design review, conditional use permits, administrative permits, environment documents of various scales and complexities;
- Able to manage multiple planning projects independently while working effectively with other City departments, developers, and community members;
- Providing technical assistance to the public regarding planning matters, including assisting at the public counter;
- Reviewing architectural and construction plans, development applications, and preparing comprehensive written and oral reports;
- Attending meetings and making presentations before the Planning Commission and/or City Council, as required;
- Perform advance planning assignments such as Zoning code amendments, General Plan amendments, Specific Plans, Housing Element implementation, and various other assignments;
- Establishing good working relationships and working cooperatively with all City departments; and
- Participating in zoning code enforcement as necessary; and other duties as assigned.
Ideal Candidate
Under the direction of the Planning Manager, the Assistant or Associate Planner performs a variety of professional duties related to current and advance planning. We are seeking a motivated candidate with strong customer service orientation and proven organizational and interpersonal skills. The ideal candidate will be detail-oriented with strong communication, report writing, and collaboration skills. Someone who brings a solutions-oriented mindset to challenging land use issues, with a focus on creating and maintaining a vibrant, sustainable, and well-planned urban environment for the City of Burlingame. The position will be filled by the City at the level consistent with the qualifications and experience of the candidate selected. This is a full-time, benefited position with the opportunity to work remotely two days per week.
For more detailed information regarding the minimum qualifications and essential functions of the position, please review the Assistant/Associate Planner job description.
Job Description URL: https://www.burlingame.org/DocumentCenter/View/968/Assistant-Associate-Planner-PDF
Minimum Qualifications:
Any combination of training and experience that would provide the required knowledge, skills, and abilities is qualifying. A typical way to obtain the required qualifications would be:
Assistant Planner
- Equivalent to graduation from an accredited four-year college or university with major coursework in urban planning, or a closely related field
- One (1) year of full-time professional planning experience is desirable
- Possession of a valid California driver's license and a satisfactory driving record
Associate Planner
- Equivalent to graduation from an accredited four-year college or university with major coursework in urban planning, or a closely related field
- Three (3) years of increasingly responsible full-time professional planning experience
- Possession of a valid California driver's license and a satisfactory driving record
Education/Experience: A Bachelor’s degree from an accredited four-year college or university in Planning, Urban Studies or a closely related field. A minimum of one (1) year of professional experience in municipal planning, with emphasis on current and advance planning. A Master's degree may be substituted for the required one (1) year of experience.
License/Registration: Possession of a valid Class C California Driver’s License.
Benefits
BENEFITS:
- Retirement: CalPERS 2.5% at 55 for Classic members and 2.0% at 62 for New members; Classic members contribute 1.5% of the City’s contribution to CalPERS retirement via payroll deduction on a pre-tax basis
- Health Insurance: Choice of CalPERS Medical plans. City pays up to 92.5% of medical premium of most medical plans
- City contribution to Retiree Health Reimbursement Arrangement (HRA): 3% of salary, increases with years of service
- Dental and Vision for employee and dependents
- Term life insurance policy in the amount of $75,000
- Long-Term Disability Insurance plan pays 60% of monthly salary ($3,500 max)
- Vacation leave of 10 days for the first 4 years and increases with years of service
- Fourteen paid holidays per year (includes 2 floating holidays)
- Sick Leave: 12 days per year
- Deferred Compensation: City contributes $45 per pay period matching contribution to a 457 plan
- Section 125 Flex Benefit: Un-reimbursed Medical and Child Care
- Transportation Incentive Program
- Reduced fee for City Recreation fitness classes
- Employee Assistance Program
Special Instructions
APPLICATION PROCESS
This recruitment is scheduled to close at 5:00 PM on Wednesday, July 9, 2025, or upon receipt of the first 100 applications, whichever occurs first. Depending upon the number of applicants, it may close at any time.
Applications may be reviewed on a continual basis.
Interested candidates must submit a completed online employment application and resume. A resume in lieu of a completed application will not be accepted.
Dates for Interviews (dates may be subject to change):
- Oral Panel Interview: Virtual interview scheduled for July 17, 2025
- Department Interview: In-person Interview scheduled for July 21, 2025
Please note that attachments need to be in a PDF format. If you are having difficulty attaching documents in CalOpps, please email hr@burlingame.org for assistance.
Unless otherwise specified, all correspondence will be conducted via the email address provided on your application.
SELECTION PROCESS
Applications will be reviewed for relevant education, experience, training and other job related qualifications. Based upon a review of employment applications and supplemental questionnaires received, the most qualified applicants will be placed on an eligibility list for this position. Current and future vacancies may be filled from this list. Applicant names will generally remain on the list for one year.
The department will select candidates from the eligibility list to invite to a department interview. The Community Development Director will make the final appointment.
Depending upon the number of candidates, this process may be altered.
Note: Meeting the minimum qualifications does not guarantee that a candidate will be invited to participate in the selection process. The City of Burlingame reserves the right, at its discretion, to limit the number of qualified candidates invited to the selection process.
PRIOR TO APPOINTMENT
Candidates will be required to:
- pass a fingerprint check submitted to the Department of Justice
- pass a background investigation
- comply with The Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 and provide proof of identity and authorization to work in the United States at date of hire
The City of Burlingame is an Equal Opportunity Employer and as such does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, sex, religion, ancestry, physical or mental disability, marital status, sexual orientation, or national origin in its employment actions, decisions, policies, and practices. The duties described in this job announcement are intended only as illustrations of the various types of work that may be performed. The omission of specific statements of duties does not exclude them from the position if the work is similar, related or a logical assignment to the position. This job announcement does not constitute an employment agreement between the employer and employee and is subject to change by the employer as the needs of the employer and requirements of the job change.