Urban Forestry / Arboricultural Maintenance Worker III

Are you passionate about Urban Forestry, creating vibrant, green spaces and enhancing the beauty of a small-town community? We are seeking a dedicated Urban Forester/Arborist to lead our efforts in preserving and expanding the Town’s tree canopy, maintaining diverse plant life, and fostering sustainable, eco-friendly landscapes. If you thrive in the outdoors and have a vision for how plants can shape and enrich public spaces, we’d love to have you join our team!

A successful individual in this role will appreciate working primarily in the fields of arboriculture and horticulture, but also includes assisting the greater Parks & Recreation Department and the Town as a whole.  The ideal person works well in a team environment as well as independently, with good communication skills, and an interest in learning multiple skills to become proficient in a variety of tasks that will be part of the regular work performed throughout the year. Work varies daily and seasonally based on need.

This position works under the general supervision of the Town Arborist or a designee, and performs skilled, semi-skilled and manual maintenance duties required to preserve or improve the safety, cleanliness, appearance, and appeal of the Town by maintaining the Town’s urban forest, landscapes, Town facilities, parks, green spaces, and stream corridors.     

Interested applicants should expect to work outdoors in various types of weather conditions, or indoors depending on individual work assignments. Work environment includes exposure to noise, dust and traffic with extended periods of standing, walking, bending, crouching, lifting heavy objects and operating equipment.  

Professional growth or career progression is a priority. This role will help prepare someone for a career in Urban Forestry and Parks & Recreation through progressive learning of complex skills. 

This is a Non-Exempt Position.

The functions listed below are those that represent the majority of the time spent working in this class. Management may assign additional functions related to the type of work of the class as necessary.

Essential Functions:

Performs arboricultural maintenance of trees in town right of ways, pack, and facilities.  Common activities include tree removal and pruning (hazard reduction clearance, structure).  

Maintains trees and shrubs – including installation, watering, pruning for health, size control, aesthetics, and clearance of infrastructure and traffic routes, dismantling, stump removal, root collar excavation, etc. 

Responds to tree related emergencies to clear and abate hazardous situations. 

Uses ropes, climbing saddles, gaffs (tree removal only), harness, other specialized tree climbing tools and devices, rigging equipment, aerial lift devices for general tree work operations.  

Performs maintenance of landscape areas including landscape beds, hardscaped areas, seasonal display pots and planters, etc. Common activities include weeding, installation of plants, pruning, leaf removal, etc.

Guides, helps, and advises less experienced maintenance workers in all areas of job duties.

Familiar with common landscape trees and plants of the Mid-Atlantic region. 

Maintains stream valleys and natural wooded areas. 

Participate in invasive plant control activities.

Assist Park Maintenance staff with routine and emergency work as needed.

Responds to snow emergencies by plowing and removing snow and applying ice melt at Town streets, facilities, and sidewalks. 

May handle and maintain plant material during off season and awaiting installation.

Assists in greenhouse maintenance; sows and establishes annuals plants, bulbs, and herbaceous perennials, graminoids, etc. for installation in landscaped areas and pots/planters. 

Assist with the repairs of irrigation systems.

Assist with seasonal holiday displays.

Sets up and breaks down special Town events, such as festivals, concerts, and parades. Also staffs special events – some are mandatory, such as the Independence Day celebrations and the Halloween Parade; the remainder are optional. 

This is an essential position among the Town’s work force and subject to work during inclement weather conditions or other designated emergency related to trees, snow, etc.

Attends training classes, safety meetings and workshops. Maintains required certifications such as VDOT flagger, VDOT Basic Work Zone Safety, and attends OSHA 10 class. 

Adheres to OSHA, VOSH as well as Town rules and standards.  

Erects and maintains traffic control devices for work on streets and rights-of-way including performing flagging duties. 

Refers to and reviews instructions and information from supervisor and/or crew leader, equipment maintenance and repair manuals, progress reports, job evaluations, policy and procedure manuals, codes / laws / regulations, publications and reference texts, etc.  

Performs and documents vehicle pre-trip inspections.  

Operates and maintains a variety of vehicles, equipment, and tools to ensure safe and effective operation per manufactures recommendations. This includes dump trucks, pickup trucks, trailers, utility vehicles/skidsteer and attachments, tractors and attachments, woodchipper, aerial lift devices, arrow board, ATV’s, ladders, lawn mowers, snow blowers, water pump, backpack sprayer, pressure washer, generators, light towers, blowers and chainsaws, line trimmers, hedge shears, drills, auger, carpentry saws, reciprocating saws, rakes, shovels, pitchforks, picks, etc.

Routinely works with materials such as wood chips, leaf mulch, soil, lumber, gravel, stone dust, trash, brush, debris, ice melt, fertilizer, lime, herbicides, spill kit materials, etc. 

Operates office equipment such as a phone, computer, tablet, printer, scanner, copier and basic software to enter time sheet and respond to emails, texts and phone calls etc.

Interacts and communicates with various groups and individuals such as direct supervisor, crew members, subordinates, upper management, contractors, vendors, and the general public.

Maintains positive relations with co-workers and customers.

Additional Duties:

Occasional weekend or after regular hours work for special events or volunteer events may be required.  

Performs related work as assigned.

Responsibilities, Requirements and Impacts

Data Responsibility:

Data Responsibility refers to information, knowledge, and conceptions obtained by observation, investigation, interpretation, visualization, and mental creation.  Data are intangible and include numbers, words, symbols, ideas, concepts, and oral verbalizations.

Collects, classifies or formats data or information in accordance with a prescribed schema or plan to facilitate the identification and extraction of useful information.

People Responsibility:

People include co-workers, workers in other areas or agencies and the general public.

Speaks with or signals to people to convey or exchange information of a general nature.

Asset Responsibility:

Assets responsibility refers to the responsibility for achieving economies or preventing loss within the organization.

Requires some responsibility for achieving minor economies and/or preventing minor losses through the handling of or accounting for materials, supplies or small amounts of money.

Mathematical Requirements:

Mathematics requires the use of symbols, numbers and formulas to solve mathematical problems.

Uses addition and subtraction, multiplication and division and/or calculates ratios, rates and percents. 

Communications Requirements:

Communications involves the ability to read, write, and speak.

Reads routine sentences, instructions, regulations, procedures or work orders; writes routine sentences and completes routine job forms and incident reports; speaks routine sentences using proper grammar.

Is willing and able to record & report on issues observed during work operations.  Provide daily field reports.  Routinely check-in with program managers, supervisors, and coordinate with team members on larger projects.

Judgment Requirements:

Judgment requirements refer to the frequency and complexity of judgments and decisions given the stability of the work environments, the nature and type of guidance, and the breadth of impact of the judgments and decisions.

Responsible for guiding others, requiring a few decisions, affecting the individual and a few co-workers; works in a stable environment with clear and uncomplicated written/oral instructions, but with some variations from the routine.

Complexity of Work:

Complexity addresses the analysis, initiative, ingenuity, concentration and creativity, required by the job and the presence of any unusual pressures present in the job.

Performs semi-skilled and skilled work involving set procedures and rules, requires normal attention with varying periods of concentration for accurate results or occasional exposure to unusual pressure.

Impact of Errors:

Impact of errors refers to consequences such as damage to equipment and property, loss of data, exposure of the organization to legal liability, and injury or death for individuals.

The impact of errors is moderate – affects those in work unit.

Physical Demands:

Physical demands refer to the requirements for physical exertion and coordination of limb and body movement.

Performs medium to heavy work that involves walking, standing, stooping, lifting, digging, pushing and raising objects and also involves exerting between 20 to 50 pounds of force on a regular and recurring basis and 50 to 100 pounds of force on an occasional basis. 

Equipment Usage:

Equipment usage involves responsibility for materials, machines, tools, equipment, work aids, and products.

Leads or handles machines, tools, equipment or work aids involving moderate latitude for judgment regarding attainment of a standard or in selecting appropriate items.

Unavoidable Hazards:

Unavoidable hazards refer to the job conditions that may lead to injury or health hazards even though precautions have been taken.

Involves routine and frequent exposure to traffic and moving machinery.

Safety of Others:

Safety of others refers to the level of responsibility for the safety of others, either inherent in the job or to ensure the safety of the general public.

Requires responsibility for the safety and health of others.

Virginia Registered Technician Pesticide Certification (category 3A & 3B or 9) within one year of employment. 

Tree climbing proficiency with a minimum of 2 years climbing experience.

 Experience leading other in arboricultural operations or horticultural activities. 

Preferred Qualifications:

• ISA Certified Tree Climber and or ISA Certified Tree Worker Aerial Lift Specialist
• Experience with horticultural work. 
• Experience with plant health care.
• Experience with herbicide applications.
• Possess a pesticide certification in either the Registered Technician or Commercial Applicator categories in Virginia or a state with reciprocity with Virginia.

Salary : $56,396 - $90,797