Salary : $122,782.40 - $147,180.80 Annually
Location : County Administration - 1195 Third Street, Napa, CA
Job Type: Full Time
Job Number:
Department: Planning, Building & Environmental Services
Opening Date: 09/11/2026
Closing Date: 9/30/2026 5:00 PM Pacific

The Position
The Department of Planning, Building, & Environmental Services (PBES) partners with the community to promote the health, safety, and sustainability of Napa County by providing a range of development services while balancing agricultural, environmental, and economic vitality. PBES is comprised of ten divisions: Building, Code Compliance, Engineering, Environmental Health, Natural Resources, Parks, Planning, Geographic Information Systems, and Staff Services.

Planner III performs a variety of responsible professional planning duties in the field of current and advance planning; prepares, processes and presents environmental analysis reports, reviews technical reports, conducts zoning research, and prepares findings and planning agenda items; disseminates zoning/regulatory and permitting process information to the public and provides assistance to the public and developers on complex planning matters; and, as assigned, performs business process analysis and oversees interdepartmental permitting coordination and ensures the efficiency of the Department's permit tracking systems. This position is expected to perform the full range of planning duties with a significant degree of independent judgment and responsibility. Positions assigned to this class may also apply specialized and advanced level knowledge, skills, and abilities in the area to which they are assigned and may serve as a lead worker to lower-level planning staff.

POSITION REQUIREMENTS
Experience and Education:
Any combination of education and experience that would likely provide the required knowledge, skills, and abilities is qualifying. A typical way to obtain the knowledge, skills, and abilities would be:
Experience:

Three (3) years of responsible professional experience in the planning, natural resources, water resources, sustainability/energy field or related field. Note: A Master's degree in a related field may be substituted for one year of the required experience.
Education:

A Bachelor's degree from an accredited college or university with a major in urban, regional, land use or environmental planning, environmental policy, environmental science, hydrogeology or related field is required.
License or Certificate*

Possession of a valid California driver's license.

Member of the American Institute of Certified Planners (AICP) for land use planning positions is preferred.

*Any license, certification, or registration required for this position shall be maintained (i.e. active and in good standing) at all times during employment with Napa County. For continued employment with Napa County, you must maintain such license, certification, or registration to meet the minimum qualifications of this position.

Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) Agreed Winter Time Off:

• 32 hours of Winter Time Off

THE RECRUITMENT PROCESS
Online Application Deadline

By 5:00 PM, PST, Wednesday September 30, 2026

Application Screening & Supplemental Question Scoring

Tentatively scheduled for the week of October 5, 2026

Supplemental questions will be scored by subject matter experts. The most qualified applicants from scoring the supplemental questions will be invited for an Oral Panel Interview.

Oral Panel Interview

Tentatively scheduled for the week of October 26, 2026
The Human Resources Department reserves the right to change the recruitment process at any time.

Example of Duties
Click here to review the full job description including the example of duties and job requirements: Planner III
Benefits
Learn more about the benefits package for this position here.

Disaster Service Worker
Napa County employees automatically become Disaster Service Workers. This means that when Napa County experience emergencies (earthquakes, wildfire, power outage, etc.) you may be asked to pivot from your regular duties to provide critical services to those affected by the emergency(Cal. Gov. Code a7 3101.)

PUBLIC SERVICES EMPLOYEES BENEFITS INFORMATION

SALARY -
Salaries are based on a five-step range. Appointments are usually made at the beginning step with advances occurring at six months and the completion of each year thereafter. Salary rates are reviewed annually.

ADDITIONAL BENEFITS INFO -
Click here for additional benefits information for Public Services Employees:
THESE BENEFITS DO NOT APPLY TO EXTRA HELP POSITIONS

EMPLOYMENT INFORMATION

PHYSICAL STANDARDS -
Certain designated County positions require a candidate to pass a physical examination prior to appointment. Offers of employment are conditional upon successful completion of this examination.

FINGERPRINTING -
All employees hired into allocated positions or extra help positions will be fingerprinted.

SELECTION PROCESS -

FOR POSITIONS IN THE DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS AND THE PROBATION DEPARTMENT - The selection process will include an oral board interview, psychological assessment, background investigation, and a pre-employment physical exam.
01

Instructions for Supplemental Application Questions. The following questions comprise one of the steps in the selection process for this position and are intended to assist you in presenting your qualifications. Only the information you provide in your answers to these questions will be evaluated and scored to determine the best-qualified candidates to continue in the selection process for this position. Please be complete and specific in answering the questions, as your score will be based on this information. Applications submitted without responses to the supplemental questions will not be evaluated. Although your experience and education should relate to your application, your application and resume will not be reviewed when scoring the supplemental questions. Please be as detailed as possible in your responses to the supplemental questions. I have read and understand the instructions presented above.

• Yes
• No

02

Do you possess at least three years of responsible, professional experience in the planning field or a related field?

• Yes
• No

03

Please select the highest level of education you have completed:

• High School / GED
• Associates degree
• Bachelors degree
• Masters degree
• Doctorate
• Other

04

Please explain what educational, training and/or professional planning work experiences meet or exceed the minimum qualifications for this position.
05

Please describe your experience with local (city or county) planning processes, including the application of land use (zoning) regulations, public presentations/meetings, and facilitating consensus among competing interests.
06

Please describe your experience with CEQA and/or NEPA. Include specific examples of projects, the types of environmental documents you have prepared or managed (e.g., Negative Declarations, Mitigated Negative Declarations, and EIRs), the environmental resources and impacts you evaluated, any mitigation measures you developed or assessed, and your role and level of responsibility. Please also describe your experience assessing the environmental impacts of land use changes on natural resources and addressing complex or controversial environmental issues.
07

Describe your customer service experience. Include customer service experience related to planning (or another closely related field) either as an employee of a public agency or for a company in private industry.
Required Question