Parks & Recreation Director

Job Description Summary

FIRST REVIEW OF APPLICATIONS WILL OCCUR ON JUNE 16, 2025

Plans, organizes, and directs the activities and staff of the City’s Parks and Recreation Department, which includes park development, park maintenance, aquatics, public arts program, sports, recreation programs, spring training facilities, and outdoor conservation programs.

Essential Functions

• Plans, develops, and directs department programs, services, resources, and staff. Develops policies and procedures; ensures that operations comply with policies, procedures, and related regulations; and directs the implementation of programs and services through subordinate managers, supervisors, and staff.
• Represents the Parks and Recreation Department to elected officials, citizen groups, other city departments, school districts, other government entities, and organizations; prepares and delivers written and oral reports and recommendations to City Council, City Manager, and staff, and citizen groups.
• Manages department financial resources; researches, develops, and administers the department’s budget and capital improvement budget; works with assigned staff to apply for and administer relevant grants; administers grants awarded to the department and prepares required reports; reviews and approves all bills, invoices, purchase orders, contracts, and other financial resource documents. Creates and/or approves budget adjustments.
• Oversees the contract negotiations with private sector service providers, and intergovernmental agreements with school districts, the Maricopa County Library District, and other government entities. Negotiates agreements and contracts on behalf of the City and the Parks and Recreation Department. Oversees the Arts and Culture Commission and the Parks and Recreation Advisory Commission.
• Formulates Master Plan, Open Spaces and Trail Master Plan; the department's Strategic Plan, long and short-range goals and objectives, and other strategic documents for the department.
• Demonstrates continuous effort to improve operations, decreases turnaround times, streamlines work processes, and works cooperatively and jointly to provide quality seamless customer service.
• Serves and participates on various City teams and regional agencies by attending team activities and serving as a City representative. Confers with officials of City, County, State, and Federal agencies regarding plans and priorities for existing and planned programs. Participates on various ad hoc committees.

Requirements

• Formal Education/Knowledge: Work requires broad knowledge in a general professional or technical field. Knowledge is normally acquired through four years of college resulting in a Bachelor's degree or equivalent.
• Experience: Minimum of nine years of experience in a related field.
• Certifications and Other Requirements: Valid Driver’s License
• Reading: Work requires the ability to read general correspondence, technical reports, memorandums, letters, technical reports and data, policies, laws, guidelines, porcedures and engineering studies at a college level.
• Math: Work requires the ability to perform general math calculations such as addition, subtraction, multiplication, percentages and basic algebra.
• Writing: Work requires the ability to write, reports, ordinances, policies, and general glan goals, objectives and policies.
• Managerial: Complex - Work requires managing and monitoring work performance of a department including evaluating program/work objectives and effectiveness, establishing broad organizational goals and realigning work and staffing assignments for the department.
• Budget Responsibility: Significant - Has responsibility for final approval of a department’s budgetary recommendations to a Deputy City Manager/City Manager. Monitors progress toward fiscal objectives and adjusts plans as necessary to reach them.
• Policy/Decision Making: Significant - The employee normally performs the duty assignments within broad parameters defined by general organizational requirements and accepted practices. End results determine effectiveness of job performance. This position independently decides how objectives are achieved and what resources are needed. Typical positions in this category are upper management to executive level jobs.
• Technical Skills: Comprehensive Application - Work requires advanced skills and knowledge in approaches and systems, which affect the design and implementation of major programs, solutions for highly complex issues, and/or processes organization-wide. Independent judgment and decision-making abilities are necessary to apply technical skills effectively.
• Interpersonal/Human Relations Skills: High - Interactions involve overseeing and/or approving final decisions regarding policy development and implementation. This level often involves interaction with others outside the organization or department on key organizational/departmental issues and requires exercising participative management skills, high levels of negotiation, and the ability to reach consensus on complex issues to achieve organizational goals and objectives.

12 Month Objectives

• Familiarize and execute the City’s Strategic Plan, Parks and Recreation Master Plan, and the function of the Arts and Culture Commission, Youth Commission, and Parks and Recreation Advisory Board.
• Become familiar with and manage any Parks and Recreation Capital Improvement Program (CIP) projects, including scope, budget, and timing.
• Within the first three months, meet with the Finance Director or his designee to review the Parks and Recreation Budget and understand the Director's responsibilities for budgetary spending and approvals. Throughout the remaining nine months, execute the budget in accordance with city policies and guidelines.
• Become familiar with all the Parks and Recreation Department’s services.
• Gain an understanding of all department-related performance measures. As appropriate, recommend new or enhanced measures to the Deputy City Manager.
• Establish and maintain effective working relationships with the other department directors, deputy directors, the city manager’s office, and elected officials.
• Engage Parks and Recreation staff in the development of Projects for the FY27 Budget.
• Evaluate and update the Parks and Recreation Department’s Strategic Plan as necessary based on evaluation of the needs and opportunities of the department.
• Participate in a Gallup Boss to Coach Cohort.