Manager, Land Use Programs and Initiatives

ABOUT ULI

• You'll own ULI Northwest's Technical Assistance Panels (TAPs), where we convene small teams of real estate and land use experts to advise cities and public agencies on development challenges tied to the region's transit build-out. You'll manage each panel end to end, from procurement and scoping through execution, reporting, and follow-up.
• You'll work closely with the Executive Director, committee members, public and private sector partners, and participating ULI members to shape the questions each panel tackles, recruit the right panelists, and keep projects moving.

• You'll partner with the Executive Director on a grant-funded initiative exploring how AI tools, including AI agents, can support the region's development community. There is no established playbook for this work, at ULI or in the industry, and you'll help think through approach, sequencing, and open questions as it takes shape.
• You'll bring genuine curiosity and comfort with AI tools to this and other work; ULI Northwest is building toward becoming an AI-native team.

• You'll be the ULI point person for several of our member groups, including two housing councils (member groups focused on housing affordability across the region) and our product councils (small peer groups of senior industry professionals organized around a specialty).
• You'll work with the volunteer leaders of each group to set priorities and plan programming, and you'll run the meetings yourself, making sure members get real value from their time.

• You'll support budgets, financial tracking, contracts, grant reporting, and deliverables across ULI Northwest's grant-funded initiatives.
• Depending on experience and capacity, you'll take on management of additional grant-funded contracts as ULI Northwest's portfolio of work grows.

• You'll support programs and events as needed, including speaker and stakeholder coordination, venue and vendor logistics, and on-site execution; this is a smaller part of the role, with logistics support shared across the team.
• As needed, you'll support the Director of Operations and Strategy with day-to-day business operations such as contracts, leases, invoicing, and vendor relationships.
• You'll collaborate with ULI staff to surface program outcomes, member perspectives, and stories that demonstrate impact.

• 3 to 5 years of relevant experience in program or project management, ideally with real ownership of a body of work rather than a purely support or admin role.
• Strong relationship management skills, with genuine comfort working alongside senior executives, public officials, and volunteer leaders.
• A learning mindset: curiosity about complex, unfamiliar subject matter and the drive to dig in, not just manage logistics around it.
• Ability to work independently and exercise judgment with limited day-to-day oversight, while knowing when to loop in leadership for strategic input.
• Comfort using AI tools in your work today, and genuine interest in agentic AI.
• Strong written and verbal communication, with professional polish.
• Proficiency in Microsoft Office, especially Outlook, Word, Excel, and PowerPoint.
• Ability to travel locally within Western Washington, with occasional national travel, and to attend events throughout the day, including early mornings or evenings.

• A background or degree in urban planning or a related field.
• Curiosity about the issues shaping the future of cities, including transit-oriented development, housing affordability, and emerging technologies.
• Experience in an association, nonprofit, or membership organization.
• Familiarity with real estate, land use, urban development, or related public policy. Direct subject-matter expertise is not required; intellectual curiosity and a willingness to learn matter more.