Parks Planner - Limited Term

The Position

THIS RECRUITMENT WILL REMAIN OPEN UNTIL FILLED

The Community

This nearly 40 square mile City is ideally situated in north San Diego County with an approximate population of 115,000. It offers a great climate, beautiful beaches, lagoons and abundant natural open space. World class resorts, family attractions, well-planned neighborhoods, a diverse business sector and a charming village atmosphere combine to create the ideal California experience.

The Branch

The Community Services Branch is responsible for providing general strategic and administrative direction for the Parks & Recreation, Community Development, Housing & Homeless Services, Library & Cultural Arts Departments, and Real Estate Division.

The Department

The Parks & Recreation Department of the Community Services Branch provides leadership, planning, and administrative services to help develop and sustain quality parks and recreation programs. The department offers a wide range of programs and services for youth and adult sports, instructional classes, camps, aquatics, preschool, teens, seniors and special events. The department operates and maintains four community centers, a senior center, two aquatic centers, two historic sites, 13 community parks / school fields, two dog parks, two skate parks, 28 special use areas / neighborhood parks, 12 facility landscapes, 10 beach accesses, 43 miles of trails, 715 acres of habitat preserves and natural open space, all city-wide street trees, 71 acres of future parkland, 68 acres of street median planters and 9 acres of street parkways. In addition, the department administers the management and operations agreement for The Crossings at Carlsbad, an 18-hole championship municipal golf course and event facility. The Crossings at Carlsbad is a 6,835 yard par 72 municipal golf course that includes a clubhouse complete with a golf shop, player's lounge, banquet facilities, spacious fireplace-lit dining room, full-service kitchen, outdoor deck with ocean views and three miles of hiking trails.

Parks Planning

The department's current Capital Improvement Program projects (in various stages of planning, design and development) include the Veterans Memorial Park, Robertson Ranch Park, Stagecoach Community Park Pickleball Courts, Calavera Community Park Pickleball Courts, Stagecaoch Community Gardens, The Crossings Golf Course Landscape Improvements and Monroe Street Pool Renovation. Future or pending Capital Improvement Program projects include Village H South Dog Park, Hosp Grove Park Improvements, Zone 5 Park and interdepartmental review of various other city improvement projects.

Under general supervision, the Parks Planner will perform park and trails planning and landscape architectural work; prepare plans and exhibits; manage projects, including open space management contracts, and other related work as required.

Budget for this position has been approved through fiscal year 2027-2028.

You Belong in Carlsbad

The City of Carlsbad embraces and recognizes the vital relationship of an inclusive, engaged work environment and innovative excellence. An equitable and inclusive work climate comprises personal experiences, values, and views shaped from differences of culture and circumstance. Our organization appreciates belonging, creativity, recognition and retention of its employees and is committed to hiring and developing motivated, productive and talented employees who provide services and enhance our quality of life. We work to embrace open and equitable access to opportunities for learning and development as our responsibility and goal.

Key Responsibilities

• Day-to-day management of multiple park improvement projects of varying size

Coordinate and manage project development team on larger projects

Coordinate and managing outside consulting firms associated with park design and development projects

Develop designs, specifications, cost estimates for landscaping, parks improvements and trails projects

Prepare staff reports, specifications, drawings, exhibits and necessary documents related to parks development and landscape architectural capital projects

Review parks and trails plans for conformance to city policies and program desires

Conduct site observation visits on parks improvements and trails projects

Monitor performance of outside consultants and contractors

Prepare environmental statements, conditional use permits and other planning documents for parks and trails projects

Make presentations to the Park & Recreation, Beach Preservation and Planning Commissions and City Council

Act as liaison and coordinate activities with other city departments, commissions, outside adjacent agencies, and various groups related to parks projects

Conduct public workshops with various neighborhood communities in development of parks and trails projects

Interact and organize community volunteers related to parks and trails projects

Write grant proposals and research opportunities for funding of parks and trails projects

Perform other related duties as necessary

Qualifications

To perform a job in this classification, an individual must be able to perform the essential duties as generally described in the specification. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential duties in a specific job.

The requirements listed below are representative of the knowledge, skill and / or ability required :

Knowledge of :

Ability to :

Experience & Education

Any combination equivalent to the experience and education that could likely provide the required knowledge and abilities is qualifying. A typical way to obtain the knowledge and abilities would be :

Bachelor's degree from an accredited college or university with major work in landscape architecture, urban planning or closely related field and;

Two years professional or paraprofessional parks and trails development planning or landscape architecture or related planning experience

5 years professional experience preferred

Highly Desirable :

Experience in managing capital improvement projects

Possession of a Landscape Architect License (California or other)

Experience in public open space, and coastal resources management

Special Requirements :

Possession of a valid California Driver's License