Role: Geodemographic Planner

Hiring company: City of Edmonton, Canada

Employment type: full-time

Job location: 7th Floor Edmonton Tower, 10111 104 Avenue, Edmonton, T5J 0J4

How to apply: https://recruitment.edmonton.ca/int/job/54939/Geodemographic-Planner

Description

Use your land use planning and forecasting expertise to help shape Edmonton’s future, by bridging the gap between high-level policy (The City Plan) and technical land-use and population modeling. The Monitoring and Analysis Team within the Urban Growth Unit provides expertise to support evidence-based decision-making related to the implementation of The City Plan.

We are looking for a hands-on technical specialist to spearhead the City’s Geodemographic Projection Program (GPP). You will analyze the current and future neighborhood-level impacts of City Plan implementation and serve as the primary subject matter expert responsible for designing, building, and running the City’s in-house land use, housing, and population forecasting models. You will have opportunities to present and interpret findings from your work to support evidence-based decision-making related to urban form and growth.

Technical Responsibilities

  • Program Lead: Lead and manage the GPP in alignment with department, branch and section objectives. Suggest changes in line with current best practices after re-evaluating model and program design.
  • Model Design & Execution: Scope, design, and execute business-as-usual and scenario-based land use, housing, and population forecasts, ensuring rigorous statistical integrity.
  • Technical Problem Solving: Apply population sciences (e.g., age-cohort survival) and advanced statistical methods to develop predictive growth models. Calibrate simulations using GIS and programming, and resolve data gaps with defensible statistical methodologies.
  • Capacity & Land Budgeting: Create methodologies and forecasting models to quantitatively analyze if existing land supply and planning regulations can accommodate forecasted future growth in accordance with The City Plan.
  • Market, Policy, and Demographic Analysis: Conduct research to study market trends, demographic trends, and impacts of policy on growth to create quantifiable inputs and assumptions for forecasting models.
  • Research and Initiative: Track and analyze housing, economic, and market conditions to understand their implications on land use and population distribution.
  • Data Management: Process large data sets and conduct quality assessment and quality control activities on data processed by team resources.

Leadership & Coordination

  • Collaborate and Advise: Partner with city-building experts to integrate projections across programs and serve as the subject matter expert for non-technical stakeholders.
  • Leadership and Mentorship: Provide technical guidance to a small team, training them in model execution, interpretation, and data-driven recommendation strategies.
  • Knowledge Translation: Translate complex spatial and statistical data into clear documentation, infographics, and reports for Council, senior leadership, and the public.
  • Project Management: Own the project lifecycle, balancing resources with taking exploratory risks to ensure all objectives are met.

Qualifications

  • University degree in Urban Planning, Human Geography, Economics or a discipline with a focus on demographics, statistical analysis, land use planning, economics, forecasting and geospatial analysis
  • Minimum of 4 years of professional experience in land use planning and forecasting
  • Advanced training in computer modelling and statistics, along with intermediate ArcGIS software and programing language proficiency
  • Familiar with land use planning principles, the City of Edmonton’s land development process and The City Plan
  • Proficiency in Tableau or similar visualisation software

Assets

  • Membership or eligibility for membership in the Canadian Institute of Planners and regional affiliate

The successful candidate must have applied knowledge of the following subject matters

  • Land use planning and policy, and development processes
  • Model building, forecasting and statistical analysis
  • Demographic, housing and land use analysis

The successful candidate must have the following skills

  • Strong statistical analysis skills
  • Strong GIS and modelling skills
  • Working knowledge of Python
  • Project management
  • Good written and oral communication skills
  • Good stakeholder engagement skills

The successful candidate will have the following demonstrated abilities

  • Systems thinking
  • Problem-solving
  • Interpreting results
  • Explaining technical work to less technical audiences
  • Taking initiative and working independently
  • Meeting deadlines while managing competing priorities
  • Team building and reaching consensus

Salary range: $54.155 – $69.110 (Hourly); $95,407.57 – $121,754.54 (Annually)

Expiration date: May 18, 2026 11:59:00 PM (MDT)