Employees

Senior Accommodation Planner

Employee Name:

Lorelei Green

Title:

Senior Accommodation Planner

Ministry:

Ministry of Labour and Citizen's Services

Background:

Education: Bachelor of Interior Design (University of Manitoba); Courses in Fine Arts (University of Victoria)
Member of the BC Public Service Since: 2006

My Role

As a Senior Accommodation Planner, I provide advisory services for the design, programming and planning of office space. The bulk of my time is spent defining projects and spending time with ministries looking for new space. If a ministry is designing a re-plan, we hire the architect or planning consultant and oversee the project. If a ministry is looking for space over 5000 square feet, we will prepare a request for proposal (RFP) and oversee the procurement process. We do a lot of presentations showing ministries what they can do in general and scope what they should be looking at in terms in planning. I provide research on best practices, trends in office planning and green initiatives in facilities.

Career Path:

I started as a private sector interior designer, and then moved on to be a consultant for B.C. Building Corporation (BCBC) for 10 years. Because my preference is in the overall managing and coordinating, the job of Senior Accommodation Planner was just what I wanted. I'm still involved with design, just somewhat removed. It was great to go from a sole proprietorship to working with great people.

What I Like Best:

I enjoy the variety of work and continually learning about different government services through the range of projects I am involved in. There are opportunities to learn about areas of work I'd never find out about and I get to meet new people both in the private and public sectors. The training and learning opportunities are well supported within our department and they are interested in setting career goals and learning goals. It's amazing when you think of the diversity; I learned just how big the government is.

Ideas At Work:

What I do each day enables other ministries to do their jobs and helps them to have healthy, productive work spaces and welcoming environments in which to carry out their business.

Advice:

This job takes prioritizing and organizational skills to manage a multitude of projects at once. You have to be prepared to give presentations, do live planning, run meetings and manage consultants. An accredited program or university degree is essential and any kind of work in design field is beneficial. The bulk of our work is office work, so if you want to work for the government in this capacity, you will want to have experience in office design and planning. There are co-op opportunities within our department, so that would be a great way to start out.