POSITION TITLE: Lead Specialist, Environmental Sustainability (Full-Time Regular) (Classified)
REQUISITION #: req5794
DEPARTMENT: Environmental Services
LOCATION: 222 LAPORTE
BENEFIT CATEGORY: Classified (Non-CBU) View Classifications & Benefits
EMPLOYMENT TYPE: Full-Time Regular
ANNUAL SALARY RANGE: $62,272.00 - 103,787.00 (Salaries are paid biweekly)
ANTICIPATED HIRING ANNUAL SALARY RANGE: $80,000.00 - 90,000.00 (Salaries are paid biweekly)
SELECTION PROCESS: Application deadline is 3:00 p.m. MT on 12/28/2022.

The City of Fort Collins is a bias-conscious employer. We ask that you please avoid the use of photos when submitting a resume and/or an application for employment. You will receive an email acknowledgment when you have successfully submitted an application. Your completed application will be forwarded to the hiring manager. You will be notified if you are selected for further testing or interviews. Please keep your contact information up-to-date. The status of your application will be updated in your applicant profile. Post-offer background check required.

The Community: The City of Fort Collins sits nestled against the foothills of the Rocky Mountains alongside the banks of the Cache La Poudre River. At 5,000 feet in elevation, residents enjoy a moderate, four-season climate, with an average of 300 days of sunshine per year. With 174,800 residents, Fort Collins is Colorado’s fourth-largest city and spans 57 square miles. With the 20 year growth projection, the City of Fort Collins is expected to reach 255,000 residents.

The first people who hunted in this region arrived approximately 11,000 years ago, and Northern Colorado remains an integral part of the traditional and ancestral homelands of the Arapaho, Cheyenne, and Ute Nations. European-American trappers and traders arrived by the early 1800s but rarely established permanent settlements. Gold and silver discoveries in the Colorado mountains in the mid-1800s and the prospect of land for farming and ranching attracted people from eastern cities and across the globe to the Colorado Territory, including what would become the town of Fort Collins; an agricultural colony that emerged from its founding days as a military fort. The expansion included the sugar beet industry's growth, which brought new residents whose descendants still live here today, including Mexican-American families from southern Colorado, New Mexico, and northern Mexico, as well as Germans from Russia. Since 1879, Fort Collins has been the home of the state’s land grant institution, Colorado State University, which currently enrolls 34,000 students. Along with the university, the city’s major high-tech and manufacturing companies and breweries attract new residents from all over the country and world. The community’s overall social diversity continues to grow.

There are abundant outdoor recreation opportunities available to the many residents who enjoy healthy lifestyles. The nearby Horsetooth Reservoir is a key attraction, as is the Cache La Poudre-North Park Scenic Byway. The Downtown district provides many venues for live music, shopping, dining, and nightlife within the city. Fort Collins is widely considered the Craft Beer Capital of Colorado. The City has a strong appreciation for arts, culture, and entertainment. Various national organizations and magazines recognize Fort Collins as one of the best places to live in the nation.

The City’s long list of acknowledgements includes:

• No. 2 Best Tasting Drinking Water in North America: American Water Works – June 2021
• No. 5 Best Remote-Ready Cities: Livability.com Jan 2021
• Top 30 Creative Small Cities: CVSuite – May 2020
• No. 18 Safest Cities in America: SafeWise – April 2020
• No. 1 Best Place to Live: Livability.com March 2020
• No. 9 Most Fitness Friendly Places: SmartAsset – Dec 2019
• No. 7 Safest Driving Cities: Allstate – June 2019
• No. 4 Best U.S. Cities to Raise a Family: MarketWatch – April 2019
• No. 9 Best Performing Cities: Milken Institute – Jan 2019
• No. 3 U.S. Cities with Highest Economic Confidence: Yahoo – Nov 2018
• No. 2 Brain Concentration Index: Bloomberg – Nov 2018
• No. 1 City in America for Cycling: PeopleForBikes-May 2018
• Outstanding Achievement in Local Government Innovation Award: Alliance for Innovation-April 2018
• The Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award-Nov 2017
• 18th Best City for Career Opportunities: SmartAsset – Sep 2017
• 3rd Best College Town to Live in Forever: College Ranker – July 2017
• 25 Best Towns Ever: Where to Live Now: Outside Magazine – June 2017
• No. 1 Stable and Growing Housing Market: Realtor.com-June 2017
• 11th Happiest City in America: Yahoo! Finance - March 2017
• No. 9 Top 150 Cities for Millennials Report: Millennial Personal Finance - Feb 2017
• No. 2 Best Cities for Small Business Owners: ValuePenguin – Feb 2017

Why Work For the City of Fort Collins?

• Medical, dental, vision (for self, spouse, children) – eligible on the 1st of the month following date of hire
• Paid vacation, paid holidays, and sick
• Retirement + company contributions – after 6 month probation period and immediate vesting
• Flexible spending: Medical expenses FSA, dependent FSA or both
• Employee Assistance Program: counseling, legal, financial assistance
• Life insurance, short-term and long-term disability
• Wellness program, workout facilities
• Employee/family onsite health clinic
• Personal & professional learning opportunities including supervisory and leadership development; plus career mobility
• Collaborative work environment

Job Summary
With a deep commitment to environmental stewardship, equity, and leading by example, this position will lead the City’s internal efforts to achieve the goals set forth in the Municipal Sustainability and Adaptation Plan (MSAP) - fcgov.com/sustainability/goals. This includes responsibilities for planning, supporting implementation, employee engagement, and reporting for each of the plan’s six goal areas in partnership with every Department across the City to ensure the Plan’s vision is met. A key initiative in 2023 and 2024 is the reestablishment of the internal Municipal Innovation Fund small grants program, which includes $125,000 each year to advance staff-led, results-driven sustainability projects for the organization in alignment with the City’s MSAP and commitment to lead by example.

In addition, this position will support the Environmental Services Department (ESD) to deliver its outcomes to the Fort Collins’ community, including support for advancing the City Council’s priorities, the objectives included in Our Climate Future and the Air Quality Plan, and leadership at all levels. The Lead Sustainability Specialist will be a proven, strategic leader committed to bridging technical, nature-based, and people-centered solutions to achieving our goals, including further integration of the three ESD program areas.

This position will report to the Environmental Services Director, will manage at least one part-time hourly position, and will support the integration of triple bottom line sustainability by actively collaborating with the teams within Environmental Services and throughout the City organization on the establishment, oversight, and implementation of interdepartmental and cross-functional City-wide projects. As needed, the Lead Sustainability Specialist may act on behalf of the Environmental Services Director, representing the Environmental Services Department with the Sustainability Services Area Lead Team and City leadership.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities

The following duties and responsibilities are illustrative of the primary functions of this position and are not intended to be all inclusive.

• Develops plans and policies regarding environmental sustainability and collaborates with other staff and consultants regarding issues.
• Develops and manages complex projects.
• Supports the development and implementation of equitable public outreach and engagement.
• Prepares Council agenda materials; participates in City Council meetings regarding resolutions, ordinances, and programs.
• Conducts processes and creates outcomes centered in equity, leading with race.
• Collaborates with internal and external stakeholders.
• Prepares data and annual reports and may conducts periodic public surveys.
• Responds to community member, employee, and City Council inquiries, complaints and service requests.
• Responsible for preparing and managing portions of the program budget.
• Pursues and manages grants.
• Manages consulting contracts.
• May serve on task forces and may serve as team leader on interdepartmental and interagency teams related to environmental sustainability.
• Supports the City of Fort Collins’ Triple Bottom Line decision-making, performance excellence and integrated systems thinking.
• May hire and direct the work of classified and temporary employees.
• Conducts best practice research and maintains peer relationships in other communities.

Management Responsibilities

Yes

City Competencies

• Demonstrated cultural competence to effectively interact, work, and develop meaningful relationships with people of diverse identities, perspectives, and cultural backgrounds.
• Strong learning orientation. Leverages all resources and is creative in ways of learning for self to continue adapting to changing issues and trends.
• A desire and ability to understand the diverse needs of internal and external customers, and to create experiences and deliver services that exceed their expectations.
• A desire and ability to utilize digital tools for organizational information, individual, and teamwork.

Required Knowledge Skills and Abilities

• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, and ability to communicate technical subject matter to the general public and present to diverse audiences, including racially, ethnically, and socioeconomically diverse communities.
• Demonstrated technical expertise in relevant area.
• Familiarity with related Federal and State environmental laws and regulations.
• Ability to develop and implement effective education and engagement campaigns.
• Familiarity with, and commitment to, equity, diversity and inclusion principles.
• Experience incorporating the perspectives of multiple communities, including historically underrepresented populations, in the consideration of impacts and outcomes of a decision-making process.
• Ability to develop and maintain effective professional relationships with peers, stakeholders, customers, and city employees
• Demonstrated knowledge of practice and principles of project management.
• Ability to negotiate, facilitate discussion and conflict resolution among diverse groups and individuals.
• Ability to collect, organize and analyze sets of data; ability to deduce implications of collected data and communicate findings to a non-technical audience.
• Experience mentoring and/or supervising teams in a supportive and collaborative work environment.
• Demonstrated expertise with standard Office programs.

Required Education

Experience Requirements

• Five years related experience.

Studies have shown that women and people of color are less likely to apply for jobs unless they believe they can perform every job description task. We are most interested in finding the best candidate for the job, and that candidate may come from a less traditional background. The City may consider an equivalent combination of knowledge, skills, education, and experience to meet minimum qualifications. If you are interested in applying, we encourage you to think broadly about your background and skill set for the role.

The content in this posting was created for recruitment purposes. To view the full job description click the link below.

Lead Spc, Env Sustainability

The City of Fort Collins will make reasonable accommodations for access to City services, programs and activities and will make special communication arrangements for persons with disabilities. Please call (970) 221-6535 for assistance.

Notice Regarding Medical and/or Recreational Marijuana Use:
Because the possession and use of marijuana, whether for medical use or otherwise, constitutes a federal offense and because the City is a drug free workplace, the City will not accommodate the medical use of marijuana and enforces written policy prohibiting working for the City while marijuana is in the body. The fact that state law recognizes medical marijuana as a prescribed, or otherwise permitted, medication does not alter or otherwise change this policy.

The City of Fort Collins is an Equal Opportunity Employer. Applicants are considered for positions for which they have applied without regard to gender (regardless of gender identity or gender expression), race, color, religion, creed, national origin, ancestry, age 40 years or older, marital status, disability, sexual orientation, genetic information, pregnancy or other characteristics protected by law. For the purpose of this City policy “sexual orientation” means a person’s actual or perceived orientation toward heterosexuality, homosexuality, bisexuality.

BACKGROUND CHECK REQUIRED.

Note: Some information in your application may be public information under the Colorado Open Records Act.