Labor Supervisor

Labor Supervisor- GS/15

 

The City of Alexandria is in Northern Virginia bordered by the District of Columbia (Potomac River), Arlington, and Fairfax counties. Once within the original boundary stones that demarked the area of the Nation’s Capital, Alexandria is a part of the greater Washington, D.C. metropolitan area. With a population of approximately 157,600 Alexandria is the sixth largest city in the Commonwealth of Virginia. Unique and historic, Alexandria is a place that is experiencing substantial redevelopment appeal and business growth opportunities because of a high market demand for urban living in a quality environment. About one-quarter of the City’s 15.47 square miles has been designated as a national or local historic district.

The City of Alexandria is an independent city with no county affiliation and derives its governing authority from a Charter granted by the Virginia General Assembly. Virginia is a Dillon Rule state, allowing local governments only the authority expressly granted to them by the Virginia Constitution or by the Virginia General Assembly in the City Charter or in general law. City Council is the governing body, which formulates policies for the administration of the City. The mayor is chosen on a separate ballot and presides over sessions of the Council.

If you are interested in working for the vibrant City of Alexandria, we invite qualified candidates to apply for our Labor Supervisor position for the Department of Recreation, Parks and Cultural Activities (RPCA). 

• The mission of Recreation, Parks & Cultural Activities is to enrich the City of Alexandria by creating meaningful experiences through public spaces, cultural activities, and programming.
• The Department’s vision is to improve the well-being of every person in our community by connecting them to each other and their environment.  

Labor Supervisor- Park Services

A Labor Supervisor provides supervision to a group of Laborers and/or Equipment Operators engaged in general maintenance and repair work. An employee in this class assigns, inspects, and evaluates the work of semiskilled or unskilled workers in a variety of settings in the performance of a wide variety of tasks. The appropriate Park Manager assigns areas of work and standards to be met in detail, and the work performed is checked in process and upon completion. This work involves the response to service requests submitted by City residents, the enforcement of the City Code provisions that apply to park maintenance. 

The employee uses the CityWorks data management system and Microsoft Office Suite to maintain records, prepare correspondence, and create reports. Work is reviewed through the evaluation of the results achieved. General supervision is provided by Park Managers of Park Services.

Overview Park Services

The Recreation, Parks, and Cultural Activities Department (RPCA) supports the well-being of Alexandria’s residents by ensuring access to a variety of quality recreation, park, and cultural experiences. There are over 900 acres of publicly accessible open space (this includes both public and private land that is open for public use) 566 acres of it is publicly owned park land, and approximately 30,000 street trees. The City Marina has 60 slips for recreational boating and annual licensing, commercial water taxi and sightseeing contracted services, licensed outdoor dining, and receives approximately 300,000 visitors annually. The Department is comprised of four operating Divisions: Recreation Services; Leadership & Management; Cultural Activities; and Park Services. These four Divisions work to offer the full range of programs, facilities, and parks.

This position will report to a Park District Park Manager for day-to-day work activities in managing proactive and reactive maintenance in the city. Staff work based on a strategic plan, business plan, and annual work plan. Considerable time and resources are focused on staff training and development. The duties of the incumbent may rotate over time to fully prepare them for continued advancement. The current organizational chart for the section is shown below. 

 Labor Supervisor key performance indicators:

• Supervises the maintenance of parks and other City owned property including such tasks as cutting, trimming, and edging grass, applying lime, adding topsoil and/or fertilizer, raking and seeding;
• Schedules and supervises contractors in the maintenance of parks and designated public sites. 
• Supervises the operation of and is responsible for the general maintenance and minor repair of dump trucks, snowplow and spreader attachments, leaf trucks, crew cabs, front-end loaders, graders, tractors and connected trailers, and manage contracts and bids related to park maintenance management. Monitor and coordinate on-going operations of assigned program areas; maintain documentation and supporting records and statistics; inspect the work of contractors in the care of the parks.

Labor Supervisor key work projects FY24:

• Administration of the park maintenance contracts, including contract development, monitoring of contractor work (to include mowing and planting) and billing, and communication with contractors. 
• Handle challenging or difficult interpersonal situations in an effective manner.
• Investigate and evaluate service requests submitted by residents or City staff regarding City Park issues and generates Work Orders to address corrective measures as needed.  
• Provide quality customer experiences to citizens, staff, and other City collaborators.
• Regularly assigned to standby duty for after-hours response to emergency calls and responds to after-hours call-back to investigate and/or correct situations in the field as necessary.  
• Utilize the CityWorks data management system to update and track Service Requests and Work Orders in accordance with standard operating procedures.
• Writes daily and weekly work reports;
• Provides training to Laborers and/or Equipment Operators;
• Inspects and evaluates the performance of employees supervised;
• Acts for a Park Manager in his/her absence as delegated;
• Schedules the daily work assignments including the turf maintenance, irrigation, repairs and maintenance requirements;
• Administers district parks maintenance contracts and inspects district's maintenance projects to assure compliance with approved plans and specifications;
• Performs inspections of parks facilities, and make recommendations for maintaining and improving quality levels of parks maintenance;
• Promotes, enforces, and educates staff in the area of safety, maintenance and equipment operation;
• Coordinates the administration, personnel management, operation, and maintenance of the parks;
• Plans, coordinates, and directs daily operation, including payroll, incident and accident reports, interviewing, hiring, evaluating and scheduling of staff;
• Supervises the pick-up and disposal of debris from City streets, curbs and gutters, right-of-ways, sidewalks, catch basin inlets, dog exercise areas, along the waterfront;
• Conducts systematic inspections of parks and other City properties maintained by the Department and plan and implement long-range maintenance projects such as those for improving turf on ball fields and maintaining esthetic qualities of City parks;
• Review plans and specifications to ensure compliance with approved standards, and works with contractors to make necessary corrections or adjustments due to field conditions that render approved plans.
• Schedules and supervises contractors in the maintenance of parks and designated public sites;
• Assumes responsibility for special projects such as pesticide applications on turf and shrubs by both contractors and parks crews;
• Prepares, reviews and makes recommendations on bid specifications for items such as landscape maintenance, materials, pool cleaning, white coating and/or equipment;
• Perform related work as assigned.

Key Work Aspects of RPCA and the City of Alexandria:

As a departmental leader, the Labor Supervisor have both a division assignment to carry out a functional area of work and a strategic team assignment. As such, you are tasked with creating an environment of success in the department such that staff are highly engaged to focus on results that support organizational attainment of our mission and strategic plan. Our purpose is to build an organizational cultural “that supports each of us and inspires excellence.”

RPCA Strategic Plan – Each senior leader is expected to implement the mission, vision, values, and the four focus areas as determined through business plans and the budget process. It is expected that all decisions will be made considering the values and focus areas.

Statement of Workplace Excellence – Every RPCA staff member has the right to a safe, healthy, efficient, and pleasant working environment where all organization members adhere to the highest standards of behavior, personal integrity, and truthfulness. Each staff member demonstrates full support and acts on deploying workplace excellence.

Shared Leadership Approach - We continually strive to gain the maximum amount of discretionary effort on the part of our staff members. All staff members are collectively responsible for our organizational community and have leadership roles. Everyone is a decision maker within his or her job. We invite participation in solving organizational issues and constantly improving our operations. We share a leader-to-leader model.

Customer Service Guarantee – We are committed to delivering a consistently superior customer experience to all who participate in our programs or visit our parks and facilities. Service will be:

• Responsive – respond in a timely manner to all residents and customers both external and internal. We own the request we receive and do not shift the responsibility.
• Professional – represent the department in appropriate appearance, decorum, and communication.
• Courteous – Treat everyone with respect. Treat everyone fairly. Treat everyone with dignity.
• Accountable – Demonstrate a bias toward action. Ensure follow-up and follow-through with appropriate results.

Our most valued assets are engaged staff members and customers. 

High Performance Organization

RPCA commits to building and sustaining a high-performance organization. This ensures a clear and consistent strategic direction. We continually focus on improving all aspects on internal and external operation. We also strive through workplace excellence and shared leadership to inspire staff to outstanding outcomes. Every job in the organization has elements of team leadership, management, and task accomplishment. HPO is team based.

What You Should Bring 

Thorough knowledge of the repair and maintenance requirements in the area of responsibility; ability to assign, supervise, and evaluate the work of others; ability to train and motivate Laborers and Equipment Operators in the performance of their tasks in a safe and efficient manner; ability to follow written and verbal instructions; ability to read construction site plans; physical ability to perform work under adverse weather conditions; and the ability to communicate clearly and effectively, both orally and in writing.

High School Diploma or GED; three years of experience as a Laborer III or Equipment Operator; or any equivalent combination of experience and training which provides the required knowledge, skills and abilities.

Some employees in this class, depending on area of assignment, must possess a valid Commercial Driver's License (CDL), issued by the state of residence, with the proper endorsement for the vehicle being driven within six (6) months of appointment.

Two-Year College Degree with completion of college-level courses in recreation and parks management; one year of experience in park/facility management, operations, and grounds maintenance.This position requires successful completion of a criminal records background check and drug screening prior to employment.

Salary : $51,600 - $90,803