Land Development Manager

About Hightop

Hightop is a vertically integrated real estate firm founded in 2013. We develop, build, own, and manage multifamily, mixed use, retail and planned community projects across the Philadelphia region.

The Role

You will be the owner’s engineer. You will take suburban sites from raw land to shovel-ready, working directly with ownership, our construction team, and our attorneys. You will shape what we buy, how we design it, and how fast we get it approved.

What You Will Do

• Lead site due diligence and feasibility on new acquisitions. Run yield studies, flag fatal flaws, and estimate site costs before we commit.
• Manage outside civil engineers, surveyors, traffic, environmental, and geotech consultants. Hold them to scope, schedule, and budget.
• Drive land development approvals through township staff, planning commissions, zoning hearing boards, and boards of supervisors. Present at public meetings.
• Own state and county permitting: NPDES, Chapter 102 and 105, E&S and PCSM, sewage planning modules, and PennDOT Highway Occupancy Permits.
• Coordinate public and private utilities, including water, sewer, electric, and gas.
• Review plans for constructability and cost. Find value engineering wins without creating approval risk.
• Manage financial security, escrow releases, as-builts, and dedication of public improvements.
• Support our construction team through site work and closeout.

What You Bring

• Professional Engineer license in Pennsylvania
• 7+ years in civil site design or land development, with real experience on ground-up suburban residential or mixed-use projects
• A track record of getting projects approved through PA municipal and state processes
• Working knowledge of SALDO and zoning ordinances, stormwater management, and DEP permitting
• Proficiency in Civil 3D or comparable software
• Strong communicator who can hold a room at a township meeting and push a consultant to deliver
• Developer mindset. You think about cost, schedule, and yield, not just compliance.