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Parks and Recreation Services Deputy Manager

City of Ann Arbor
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Parks and Recreation Services Deputy Manager - Open Space and Parkland Acquisition, Sustainability and Natural Area Preservation
 
Salary $90,000 - $104,000 (offer will be commensurate with experience) 
 
Benefits offered with this position include:
    * Defined benefit pension plan
    * 401a with City match
    * Optional 457 Deferred Compensation plan
    * Reciprocal Pension Credit, available for pension-qualified applicants
    * Retiree health reimbursement account
    * Very generous medical/dental/vision/pharmacy plans
    * Paid vacation, personal time, floating holiday, plus sick days. Unused vacation and sick time rolls over
    * Short-term disability, life insurance, and AD&D insurance
    * Flexible spending accounts
    * Wellness Incentive Program in which participating employees can earn up to $500 annually. These dollars will be deposited into a health reimbursement account (HRA), which can be used toward eligible health care expenses
    * Tuition reimbursement up to $5,000 annually; must be employed 1 year to be eligible
    * Employee assistance program
    * Voluntary benefits like Long Term Disability, accident coverage, critical illness, LegalShield, and Identify Theft
 
Role Summary
 
To assist the Parks and Recreation Services Manager in addressing operational needs and to manage multiple unit projects while maintaining positive customer relations. Provide operational direction and technical oversight and consultation in accordance with unit policies, procedures, and processes. Manage, administer and develop all aspects of the City’s Open Space and Parkland Preservation program, including program administration, outreach and strategic plan development, land and easement acquisitions, partnership development, securing grant funding, and oversight of grant deliverables and reporting requirements. Manage, administer and develop all aspects of the City’s sustainability objectives and outcomes as they relate to land and easement acquisitions, including assessment of ecosystem services, carbon analyses, multivariate GIS analyses, and collaborations with other City departments and community organizations to advance landscape-level conservation planning.
Manage regular and temporary staff and volunteer opportunities in the natural area preservation (NAP) management. Manage, administer and develop all aspects of the City’s diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives as they relate to land and easement acquisitions, including affordable land access programming, developing acquisition criteria and methods that prioritize equitable conservation outcomes, and leveraging innovative frameworks, strategies and partnerships to enhance community-wide DEI objectives.
 
Duties
 
Duties are performed under the direct supervision of the Parks and Recreation Services Manager or designee and may include the following:
 
Essential Duties
    * Administrative responsibilities:
         + Facilitation and coordination of regular meetings of the Greenbelt Advisory Commission and Land Acquisition Committee of the Parks Advisory Commission, including the identification of action items and delegation of tasks to commissioners and staff. Coordinate with the executive committee of the Greenbelt Advisory Commission to prepare meeting agendas, presentations and action items. Coordinate with the Parks & Recreation Services Manager to prepare Land Acquisition Committee agendas, presentations and action items.
         + Prepare all land and easement-related resolutions for City Council’s consideration, attending Council meeting as-necessary to address Council or community questions. Provide presentations to Council and other City commissions as requested.
         + Oversee and develop requisite program reporting, including annual reports for the Open Space & Parkland Preservation millage, federal grant reports, reports to the Office of Sustainability and Innovations regarding metrics related to land and easement acquisition ecosystem services, and reports to the DEI Director regarding conservation outcomes at the nexus of DEI/land and easement acquisitions.
         + Facilitate RFP/RFQ processes related to land and easement acquisition activities, manage vendor contracts, facilitate payments and ensure contract compliance. Coordinate with City’s Purchasing office to prepare RFP/RFQs.
         + Maintain all land and easement acquisition records and data. Work collaboratively with the City’s Accounting and Financial Services department on annual financial reporting related to the Open Space & Parkland Preservation millage and program administration. Work with the City’s Information Technology Service Unit to maintain and ensure accurate GIS data.
    * Outreach and strategic planning responsibilities:
         + Implement and develop the Greenbelt Advisory Commission strategic plan. Lead updates as necessary. Communicate strategic objectives to the community, acquisition partners, and grant funders.
         + Implement and develop the City’s Parks & Recreation Open Space Plan in conjunction with Park Planners. Lead updates related to land and easement acquisitions as necessary. Communicate strategic objectives to the community, acquisition partners, and grant funders.
         + Work closely with the City’s Office of Sustainability and Innovations, Systems Planning and others on City-wide efforts related to land and easement acquisitions and strategic land-use planning.
         + Prepare press releases, provide public presentations, and engage in local community events to promote and report on City’s land and easement acquisition activities, outcomes and benefits. Work collaboratively with the City’s Communications office to distribute content.
         + Assist with creating multimedia and social media content to communicate the City’s land and easement conservation impacts, including both social and environmental benefits. Work collaboratively with the City’s Communications office to update web content.
         + Provide leadership and technical expertise to the City’s DEI activities related to land and easement acquisition, including the strategic development of affordable and equitable land access programming to support the regional agricultural community and economy.
         + Assist the Office of Sustainability and Innovations in quantifying ecosystem services and climate benefits associated with the City’s land and easement acquisition activities, fully integrating those metrics into City-wide sustainability objectives and reporting.
    * Land and easement acquisition responsibilities:
         + Process program applications for the Greenbelt District and parkland acquisitions. Facilitate application scoring and maintain/update scoring systems. Coordinate with the City’s Planning and Natural Areas Preservation departments to evaluate and rank applications. Orient program applicants to the City’s process, timeline and requirements.
         + Facilitate all aspects of requisite due diligence for land and easement acquisitions, including but not limited to: securing purchase agreements, option agreements, rights of first refusal, appraisals, environmental site assessments, surveys, title commitments, baseline environmental condition reports, participation agreements, settlement statements and recorded easements and/or deeds.
         + Coordinate closely with acquisition partners to meet the technical and legal requirements of all funding parties. Track changes to federal and local matching fund requirements to ensure availability and viability of funding sources for land and easement acquisition support.
         + Work closely with the City Attorney’s Office to develop legal templates to streamline and improve acquisition timelines. Update land and easement standard operating procedures as necessary to meet national standards and practices.
         + Provide leadership and technical expertise to the City’s DEI activities related to land and easement acquisition, including the strategic development of affordable and equitable land access programming to support the regional agricultural community and economy.
         + Provide technical expertise and develop innovative land and easement acquisition frameworks to support affordable and equitable land access programming. Coordinate public RFPs associated with land access efforts.
    * Partnership and grant responsibilities:
         + Identify and secure external funding sources, prepare grant applications and administer successful grant awards and reporting, including grant funding available through the USDA-NRCS Agricultural Conservation Easement Program, USDA-NRCS Regional Conservation Partnership Program, Michigan Natural Resources Trust Fund, and other matching funds available from other local units of government.
         + Develop strategy, innovations and landscape-level conservation planning methods for securing and deploying federal grant funds. Lead and administer all aspects of the USDA-NRCS Regional Conservation Partnership Program grant agreements the City has committed to, including all acquisition activities, reporting requirements, conservation enhancement activities, partnership development, and outreach. Negotiate, refine and execute programmatic and supplemental agreements with NRCS as necessary to secure additional funding.
         + Lead and enhance community-wide conservation efforts through partnerships, networks and collaborations, including efforts to address conservation at the nexus of sustainability and DEI.
         + Engage with national, regional and local conservation networks to enhance program visibility and leveraging best practices and innovations from the conservation community at-large.
    * Land and easement enforcement responsibilities:
         + Coordinate annual easement monitoring activities and enforcement. Work closely with the City Attorney’s Office to address easement violations and enforce easement terms, pursuing legal recourse when necessary. Address easement notification and reserved rights provisions with for portfolio of City-held easements.
         + Update monitoring and enforcement standard operating procedures as necessary to meet national standards and practices. Create internal protocols for addressing legal requirements and responsibilities associated with City-held easements.
         + Update endowment requirements as necessary to meet future needs of City’s legal obligations and mitigate risk.
 
    * Natural Area Preservation responsibilities:
         + Take a leadership role in providing direction to subordinates related to customer service, staffing, volunteer coordination, natural area management, equipment, and project and program delivery.
         + Responsible for maintaining and reviewing operational workload performance measures.
         + Review and approve resource allocation and work schedules.
         + Responsible for evaluating and approving plans, specifications, contracts and equipment specifications as they affect operations.
         + Provide direction in evaluating volunteer coordination and ecological restoration program delivery as it reflects trends and affects operations.
         + Responsible for coordination and implementation of asset maintenance and management program.
         + Act as primary facilitator for supervisors in prioritizing and coordinating resources across the work areas within the unit.
         + Provide direction in evaluating and approving plans, specifications, contracts and equipment specifications as they affect operations.
         + Assist in budget preparation and the monitoring of resource allocations, expenditures, and revenue.
         + Assure that safety principles, practices and precautions are being followed across all work areas.
         + Responsible for the evaluation of subordinates’ performance, monitoring training and development plans.
         + Responsible for coordinating seasonal staff training and development program within relevant work areas.
         + Address operations documentation needs.
         + Ensure frequent site inspections of parks and natural areas for proper ecological restoration priorities and effectiveness, data collection, record keeping, asset management, safety, and customer service quality.
         + Oversee the Administration of contracts with service providers.
 
Related Work
    * Assure maximum deployment of technology across work areas within the unit.
    * Demonstrate continuous effort to improve operational effectiveness and efficiencies.
    * Coordinate with other City personnel regarding current and future projects and needs.
    * Assure that City policies and procedures are developed, implemented and followed.
    * Assure the use of progressive and environmentally responsible techniques across all work areas.
    * Ensure proper tracking and analysis of equipment, site and unit operation performance.
    * Work to resolve problems and conflicts that surface.
    * Service unit liaison for relevant legal requests
    * Ensure proper tracking and analysis of equipment, site and unit operation performance.
    * Perform other related duties as assigned.
 
Knowledge of: (position requirements at entry)
    * Contemporary principles and best practices of personnel management, contract management and supervision
    * Contemporary principles and best practices of environmental management practices and stewardship
    * Principles and practices of state-of-the-art delivery of volunteer coordination and ecological stewardship services
    * Outstanding customer service principles and practices
    * Occupational safety principles, practices and precautions
    * Employee/labor relations
    * Protection, assessment, stewardship, and restoration of urban natural areas and related specialized equipment
    * General union regulations and procedures
    * Safety precautions relating to hazardous substances
    * Contemporary principles and best practices of accounting, budget preparation, management and analysis of data
    * Applicable federal drug and alcohol testing policies for individuals involved in work accidents
    * Computers and software applications used in business settings (e.g. word processing, spreadsheets, asset management systems, program/facility reservation systems, presentations)
    * Pertinent federal, state, county and city laws, codes, ordinances and regulations
 
Skills and Ability to: (position requirements at entry)
    * Assist the Parks and Recreation Services Manager in critically analyzing operations, collaboratively designing and instituting improvements without disruption of existing operations
    * Thoroughly evaluate contracts and operational agreements and make recommendations for improvements and opportunities to the Parks and Recreation Services Manager.
    * Implement approved operational improvements and monitor progress
    * Organize people, information and materials, including planning, assigning and supervising the work of subordinates
    * Provide both oral and written communication that is easily understood and direct in its content
    * Allocate resources, set priorities and make sound operational decisions
    * Establish and maintain effective, respectful, and productive working relationships.
    * Negotiate effective and appropriate solutions in difficult situations
    * Listen effectively to understand thoroughly the intended message
    * Estimate resources, techniques, tools, materials and equipment required for projects across work areas of the unit in order to advise the Parks and Recreation Services Manager of operational needs
    * Interpret and apply legislation, laws and procedures related to the unit
    * Analyze pertinent data and provide meaningful reports pertaining to the operations of the work unit.
 
Education, Training and Experience (position requirements at entry)
 
Required:
    * Bachelor’s degree in Natural Resources, Conservation Biology, Environmental Studies, Sustainability or a related field.
    * At least four (4) years of land purchase and opens space management experience.
    * At least four (4) years of ecological restoration program management experience.
    * The City of Ann Arbor, at its discretion, may consider an alternative combination of formal education and work experience.
 
Preferred:
    * Master’s degree in Natural Resources, Conservation Biology, Environmental Studies, Sustainability or a related field
    * Union environment work experience: at least 2 years
    * Supervisory experience: at least 2 years
    * Volunteer coordination management experience: at least 4 years
 
Physical Requirements: The physical ability to drive, walk, stand, stoop, bend, kneel, crouch, reach, pull, push, feel, grasp, lift, talk, see, hear, and perform repetitive motions.
 
The ability to safely operate a motor vehicle. Ability to safely operate a motor vehicle as incumbent will be subject to local travel. This position is required to drive to locations where public transportation is not accessible.
 
Move and lift light objects weighing up to 20 pounds such as mail, files, equipment including monitoring equipment, drones, etc.
 
Operating office equipment requiring continuous or repetitive hand/arm movements. The ability to remain seated or standing for extended periods of time.
 
Position incumbent may be required to participate in, ride with or directly observe Community Services Area employees in performance of day-to-day responsibilities. This may include, but is not limited to, climbing in and out of trucks, extended periods of standing or walking, lifting and carrying specialized equipment and walking over rough and uneven terrain, walking into and inspecting below and above grade work areas, very noisy work areas, and chemical storage areas, as well as slippery surfaces to access work areas. In addition, the work will require seasonal exposure to extreme (both hot and cold) weather conditions, including snow and ice.
 
The physical demands described here are representative of those that may be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential duties of this position. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential duties.