[Hiring] Pro Housing Planning Specialist @ICF

Role Description

Your passion is helping communities expand housing supply by improving local land use, development review, and permitting practices. At ICF, you can put that expertise into action by joining a team supporting the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and its partners with practical, community-informed strategies to reduce unnecessary regulatory barriers to home construction.

In this role, you will provide subject matter expertise on state and local regulatory reforms, with particular emphasis on land use and permitting practices. Your work will align with HUD’s State and Local Best Practices for Home Construction and the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act, translating policy and practice into actionable training content and facilitated discussions for local stakeholders. This role may additionally support work under any of HUD’s Technical Assistance initiatives, including the Thriving Communities or Community Compass Technical Assistance programs.

This position is ON-CALL (hourly, part-time with variable hours) and work remotely. Assignments are made on a demand-response basis, so hours are completely variable.

Travel within the United States is required, and authorized travel and meals and incidental expenses will be reimbursed in accordance with applicable federal per diem rates. The consultant may remain an on-call subject matter expert for future projects, if desired.

What you’ll be doing:

• Provide subject matter expertise on local pro-housing regulatory reforms, especially land use, zoning, development review, and permitting practices that can support increased housing supply and faster home construction.
• Serve as an expert subject matter expert at listening sessions and trainings in locations across the United States.
• Facilitate dialogue among local attendees to help communities identify regulatory reforms that are feasible, locally appropriate, and likely to have the greatest impact.
• Apply HUD’s State and Local Best Practices for Home Construction and relevant provisions of the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act when developing recommendations, training content, and stakeholder discussions.
• Review and help shape HUD written products on land use, zoning, development review for local government audiences.
• Coordinate with HUD, other TA providers, and ICF team members to ensure content is accurate, practical, consistent, and ready for delivery to local audiences.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent in urban or regional planning, public administration, public policy, government, real estate development, housing, or a related discipline, OR a minimum of 10 years of relevant professional experience.
• Minimum of 7 years of demonstrated experience with land use, zoning, development review, building or planning approvals, permitting modernization, or related pro-housing reforms.

Requirements

• Strong knowledge of how state and local regulatory requirements affect housing supply, development costs, project feasibility, and construction timelines.
• Demonstrated experience translating complex policy or regulatory concepts into practical guidance for local governments, practitioners, community stakeholders, or housing industry audiences.
• Experience developing, reviewing, or delivering training presentations and facilitating discussions with diverse audiences.
• Ability and willingness to travel to approximately two to four listening sessions across the United States, with scheduling and hours driven by project needs.

Preferred Skills/Experience

• Direct experience advising municipalities, counties, states, planning agencies, housing agencies, or development partners on zoning, land use, permitting, or process improvements.
• Familiarity with HUD housing supply initiatives, HUD’s State and Local Best Practices for Home Construction, and the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act.
• Experience delivering a standardized, client-approved presentation deck while maintaining an engaging and responsive facilitation style.
• Experience leading listening sessions, workshops, or peer-learning discussions that help participants assess local conditions and prioritize actionable reforms.

Professional Skills

• Excellent verbal, interpersonal, facilitation, presentation, and written communication skills.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving capabilities, including the ability to assess local regulatory conditions and identify practical reform options.
• Ability to deliver consistent, high-quality content while adjusting examples and discussion techniques for different community contexts.
• Ability to work effectively in a collaborative, multi-partner environment and manage variable, project-driven assignments.
• Proficiency in Microsoft Office applications, particularly Word, PowerPoint, Outlook, and Excel.