Placemaking Manager

About Us

Tysons Community Alliance (TCA) is an independent, non-profit community improvement organization, committed to the transformation of Tysons, VA into a vibrant, inclusive, globally attractive, multimodal urban center where all thrive by facilitating collaboration, activating places, promoting Tysons and place management.

TCA operates on a budget of $4 million and plans to hire a staff totaling 14 at full capacity.

Position Summary

The Placemaking Manager is integral to the successful execution of the Placemaking program. The Placemaking program will help guide and accelerate the transformation of Tysons into a cohesive, dynamic, globally-attractive urban center through:

- Physical interventions that activate a space, influence a greater walk/bike/roll/transit culture, set an example for what the vibrant urban future of Tysons could be, build an identity, preserve opportunities for long-term transformational projects, give people reasons to be there – and ultimately build a sense of place in Tysons.

- Create better user journeys and enhanced quality of life

- Change the perception of Tysons while reinforcing and celebrating a new shared identity, embodying the Tysons urban future in all our work - building momentum for a positive growth cycle

- Tackle signature projects that have the potential to have the greatest impact on the fundamental urban form and user experience of Tysons

- Supporting the Transportation Department by improving the comfort & safety of connections between transit to major destinations, and stitching together major destinations and urban nodes to create a more cohesive Tysons

The system of priorities for the Placemaking team is made up of four buckets of projects:

- Beautification/managed spaces

- Wayfinding/gateways/public realm identity

- Making connections & extending nodes of activity

- Signature projects (i.e.: Community Circuit, mini-pitches, etc.)

The Placemaking Manager supports the program and adds value by:

· Working on designs, concepting and iterating, visualizing ideas in the implementation phase of a project, often after a consultant team has done work on the front end of a project

· Managing various placemaking projects from concept to completion and operation

· Managing our commitment to various spaces and landscapes through various contractors

· Contributing their own research, knowledge, experience and thought leadership to all projects throughout the project life cycle

· Communicating and coordinating our work with multiple types of stakeholders

· Measuring and reporting on the performance and outcomes of our work

· Finding and securing funding for our work as needed

In short, the person in this role is the Placemaking Director’s #2.

Essential Duties

Note this is a near term sampling of duties in the first year. The Placemaking Manager and the Placemaking Director will collaboratively customize these and future tasks annually through the work planning process:

Beautification / managed spaces – 20%

- Manage the landscape maintenance contractor for the Tysons-wide VDOT roadways beautification project, as well as the expansion of their contract and scope over time as this project grows.

Wayfinding/gateways/public realm identity – 25%

- Responsible for “owning” the location destination master file for wayfinding signage.

- Take consultant work product for wayfinding signs and update, iterate, and revise, planning and design files in CAD and/or SketchUp.

- After the gateways master plan is completed, be responsible for project implementation from start to finish, pending funding.

- Manage key components of our public realm identity work including district branding, public art and street furniture

Making connections / extending nodes of activity – 25%

- Placemaking projects large and small that mix landscape, lighting, food & beverage, event programming, athletics, and more.

- Create aspirational drawings and/or sketches that illustrate ideas for bike and pedestrian transportation planning and/or design projects that support placemaking goals for key audiences and decision makers.

Special Projects – 10%

- Example of one near term special project: Own the TCA’s participation in the US Soccer Foundation’s nationwide mini-pitch initiative. The initiative is the Foundation’s goal of installing 1,000 mini-pitches by 2026 when the FIFA World Cup comes back to North America. TCA is trying to facilitate locating, funding and constructing one or more of these in Tysons.

Keeper of the KPI’s – 10%

- Will be the keeper of key performance indicators (KPI’s) for the Placemaking Department – which may include introducing new measurement systems such as the Place Standard from Scotland, Gehl’s 12 urban quality criteria, or the PPS Place Wheel.

Funding: - 10%

- We anticipate being able to extend and expand our impact by applying for grants. This may include working on funding strategy overall, applying to grants and administering them if received.

Other duties, in support of TCA Program Areas (i.e. Communications and Branding, Research and Business Support, Transportation and Mobility) as assigned.

Culture Fit characteristics

How do you know if you are the right culture fit for this position? We are looking for….

- Someone who is willing to be a versatile generalist in a small organization - to work on almost anything, handle and prioritize multiple small, medium and large projects simultaneously

- Someone with natural curiosity, willingness to learn every day, and the initiative to find the answers

- A multidisciplinary professional who embraces the "other duties as assigned" label

- Someone with a strong interest in methodologies to measure placemaking data

- Strong interest in topics like urban design, urban wayfinding signage systems, landscape architecture, placemaking activations, bike & pedestrian planning, suburban to urban transitions, and other adjacent topics

- A critical thinker who has high expectations for their own achievement

- Someone who has a great sense of design and aesthetics as it applies to the public realm and landscape

- A person with great time management, sets their own deadlines, self-disciplined about productivity and efficiency, and generally embraces the work smarter not harder mentality

- Outcomes oriented, can work to a milestone schedule with dates, and does not let the perfect be the enemy of the good

- Fully committed to a culture of continuous improvement in all our work – experimenting, iterating, reflecting, changing and adapting

- No room for egos; we work as a team on behalf of the board to deliver outcomes for the community

- Likes to work on the district scale, in an organization that is between the public and private sectors and a desire to be part of the fun and interesting world of urban place management organizations – we are implementers!

- Passion for creating districts that are economically viable, socially vibrant, environmentally responsible, measurably healthy and undoubtedly safe

- Willing to have some days fully at their desk, but interested in having other days getting out into the sites we are working with

- Believes in the Tysons urban transformation

Qualifications

The Placemaking Manager will be a self-driven and resourceful individual who excels at being a flexible placemaking professional with an emphasis on specific design skills and thorough project management.

Minimum Expected Skills:

- Proficient in working with people using proactive communication to achieve results

- Detail-oriented, organized, persevering, and skilled problem solver

- Able to handle multiple priorities and demonstrate high productivity with minimal oversight, while working collaboratively with all staff internally and stakeholders externally

- Data skills - ability to track and document key performance metrics in the placemaking world

- Clear written, graphic, and verbal communication skills

- Proficiency with Microsoft Office 365 Suite, Teams and Zoom

Minimum Qualifications:

- Degree in urban planning, urban design, landscape architecture, transportation planning, real estate development, or similar

- Experience with industry leading design software like AutoCAD and SketchUp (both would be preferable)

- Project management experience

- Experience managing a diverse mix of consultants and consultant teams that may contain a variety of disciplines planning-adjacent

Desired Qualifications:

- Experience in landscape architecture construction administration, or interest in learning those skills

- Experience in managing landscape maintenance contractors, or interest in learning those skills

- Experience with placemaking performance measurement systems, or interest in learning that subject area more in-depth

- Experience in wayfinding signage systems, public realm branding and gateways, or interest in learning those subject areas more in-depth

Compensation and Benefits

We offer a starting salary range of $75,000 - 90,000, depending on experience, plus a comprehensive benefits package including401(K), Health, Dental, Vision, Life and Disability coverage, Transit/Parking, and ample paid time off.

The responsibilities of this position primarily call for in-person presence at events and activities in Tysons while balancing attendance at internal meetings and in-person collaboration. TCA provides general flexibility and ability to work from home up to three days per week, with Tuesdays and Thursdays being “core days,” subject to change.

TCA is an equal opportunity employer committed to fostering diversity and inclusion in the workplace.