Manager, Parks and Open Space Design and Development

**Manager, Parks and Open Space Design and Development** **Competition Number** 2024-524 **Job Code** 1218 **Posting Date** November 26, 2024 **Closing Date** December 10, 2024 (at 6:00pm) **Job Status** Permanent Full-Time The **City of Kitchener** is a vibrant and dynamic city of approximately 292,000, in the heart of southwestern Ontario. As the largest municipality in Waterloo Region, Kitchener continues to be poised for development and growth, enhancing its reputation as a leader in city-building and innovation, with nationally recognized strategies to build its neighbourhoods, its digital infrastructure and its diverse economy.The **City of Kitchener** is WHERE you want to work Learn more about the top reasons to join us: **Why work at the City of Kitchener** Position Overview: - Leading and coordinating multi-disciplinary projects, the **Manager** of** Parks and Open Space Design and Development** ensures the delivery of park, recreation, environmental and urban design solutions throughout Kitchener. This role facilitates collaboration in planning, design, and project management within the Parks & Open Space Design & Development Team.**Responsibilities**: - Provide leadership to ensure the design, development and project management of an annual capital works program in parks, trails and open space project delivery. - Responsible for planning and assigning resources to the 10 year capital forecast to meet parks and city strategic directions and goals. - Provide leadership and mentoring to full-time and contract staff within the team. - Supervise project manager/landscape architects responsible for contracts for tendered projects, providing technical direction, quality assurance inspections, issuing PO’s, payments, and ensuring adherence to contract schedules, specifications, and budgets. - Lead, develop and ensure compliance with process, practice and policy to support project delivery success and lead an efficient and effective team. - Responsibility for works within and influence on an annual capital budget of between $5M - $10M. - Provide oversight and leadership for a complex program of projects concurrently of various scales. - Provide leadership in establishing high quality engagement and consultation with communities. - Deliver a range of parks and open space design functions in collaboration across City divisions and departments that are aligned with various strategies to include (but not limited to) the Parks and Open Space Strategy, Sustainable Urban Forest Strategy, Cycling and Trails Master Plan, the Leisure’s Facilities Master Plan and other such strategies as developed from time to time. - Prepare and oversee the development of parks related tender documents (RFT, RFP, RFI) including cost estimates, in compliance with the city’s procurement bylaw. - Ensure the work of contractors and trades are compliant to project specification, budgets and timelines. - Performs other related duties as assigned. **Requirements**: - 4-year Honours degree in landscape architecture, urban planning, environmental science, or other relevant discipline. - Professional designation (with stamp) as a Landscape Architect in good standing per the Ontario Association of Landscape Architects Act. - Minimum 4-7 years of related experience. - Excellent written and verbal communication skills to communicate within team, other teams, divisions and departments, members of the public and media. - Professional designation as a Project Manager, in good standing with the Project Management Institute (PMI) an asset. - Demonstrated experience successfully managing teams overseeing a broad range of complex and high-profile projects with multidisciplinary issues and extensive community engagement. - Must be comfortable in high pressure situations and demonstrate agility in adapting to evolving planning frameworks and community expectations. - Demonstrated excellence in communication and engagement skills with ability to manage community engagement on controversial park development projects and initiatives with empathy and transparency to foster trust and relationship building with both internal and external stakeholders. - Must have strong interpersonal and public relations skills; including well developed promotion, presentation skills and media relations. - Must have an MTO Class “G” driver’s license in good standing with personal vehicle which can be used for City business. - Reliable with a good attitude and employment record. - Please note that as per Human Resources Policy _HUM-HIR-_110, "Employment of Relatives of Staff Members and Elected Officials":_ - "The immediate relatives of staff of the Human Resources Division, all _Directors,_ General Managers_, or the Chief Administrative Officer and Elected Officials shall not be employed by the City in any capacity._ - The immediate relatives of all other Management personnel shall not be employed where such employment would be:_ - 1. within the same