THE OPPORTUNITY

The City of Fort Worth, Texas offers an exciting and unique opportunity to lead the 12th largest city’s park and recreation offerings into a new era following the upcoming retirement of Richard Zavala who has been the City’s Director since 1992. The new Park and Recreation Director will benefit from planning investments including a bold greenspace initiative, an organizational strategy, and will also play a key role in the final shaping of its Park, Recreation, and Open Space Master Plan.

ABOUT FORT WORTH

A city of Cowboys and Culture, Fort Worth is known for its Texas hospitality. Exuding both charm and expansiveness, Fort Worth is the 12th largest and one of the fastest-growing big cities in the United States. With great neighborhoods, scenic terrain, and a rich history of arts and culture, paired with world-class opportunities for business and education, it’s not only fun to visit Fort Worth, but it’s also even more rewarding to call it home. Fort Worth truly offers all the benefits and amenities of a bustling metropolitan city while keeping the small-town charm that keeps it unpretentious and charismatic in all the right ways.

THE DEPARTMENT

Fort Worth’s Park & Recreation Department, a nationally accredited agency, maintains 302 parks (13,070 acres) and public spaces citywide and provides recreational activities and educational programming that make Fort Worth a great place to live, work and play. The department provides its services with 544 FTE (851 total) employees and an annual budget of $87.5 million. Reporting to the Director are a Deputy Director, two Assistant Directors, a Public Information Officer, and a Senior Administrative Assistant. A Council-appointed Park & Recreation Advisory Board is responsible for providing policy recommendations and information to the City Manager and the City Council about citizen needs and requests that will improve the services of the Department.

The Park & Recreation Department is responsible for planning, designing, developing, and maintaining the city's network of parks, trails, and public rights-of-way, as well as the planning and administration of the city's recreational programs. The Department is organized into five divisions: Administrative, Park Operations, Recreation, Planning and Resource Management and the Golf and Athletics Division.

THE POSITION

Reporting to an Assistant City Manager, the Park and Recreation Director provides strategic leadership for the Park and Recreation Department and maintains partnerships with private, civic, and public entities who maintain a key role in building and stewarding Fort Worth’s park system. Key responsibilities include casting and championing the vision for the Park and Recreation Department and providing leadership with planning, coordinating, administering, and evaluating programs, projects, processes, procedures, systems, standards, and service offerings; working with staff and city leadership to establish and implement capital and operational budget priorities through the annual budget process; directing the development and implementation of departmental goals, objectives, and policies; establishing appropriate service and staffing levels; and monitoring and evaluating the efficiency and effectiveness of services offered by the department and allocating resources accordingly.

The most successful candidates will have a contemporary understanding on a national level of best practices and future trends in parks and recreation; an innate dissatisfaction with the status quo and will relentlessly seek continual improvement and drive a culture of the same; experience in parks and recreation master planning as the new Director will have a role in shaping the final stages of its master plan; and effective change management skills with the ability to craft a vision, effectively communicate it, and garner its support.

QUALIFICATIONS

The following are the minimum qualifications for the Park and Recreation Director:

• Education: Bachelor’s degree from an accredited college or university with major course work in recreational science, physical education, horticulture, public or business administration, social services, or a related field.

• Experience: Eight years of increasingly responsible experience in parks and recreation services, including four years of marketing, administrative and supervisory responsibility.

SALARY & BENEFITS

The City of Fort Worth is offering a salary range of $180,000 to $195,000 for this position, commensurate with experience and qualifications. In addition, the City provides a benefits plan that includes medical, dental, vision, life, and long-term disability insurance, a pension plan (Fort Worth Employees’ Retirement Fund), and a 457 deferred compensation plan. Partnering with Southwestern Health Resources, the City provides access to three employee health centers exclusive to Fort Worth employees, retirees, and their enrolled dependents.

APPLICATION & SELECTION PROCESS

To be considered for this position, interested candidates must submit a cover letter and résumé below no later than Monday, December 9, 2024.

Important dates:

Semifinalist interviews (virtual): Tuesday, January 7, 2025

Finalist interviews (in-person): Friday, January 17, 2025

Confidential inquiries are welcomed to:

Greg Nelson | greg@mosaicpublic.com | (916) 550-4100

Bryan Noblett | bryan@mosaicpublic.com | (916) 550-4100