Sr-Landscape-Architect-Brochure
About the City
The City of San José plays a vital economic and cultural role as the center of Silicon Valley. An incredibly diverse community of one million people who have family and business ties around the world call San José home. The City also fosters innovation with its tech-friendly policies and public-private partnerships. As a result, over 150 technology companies are located in the downtown area with many more, including major players like Cisco, Adobe and eBay, spread across the City. Located at the southern end of beautiful San Francisco Bay and nestled between the Diablo and Santa Cruz mountain ranges, San José is within easy reach of California’s beaches like Santa Cruz and Carmel and enjoys an abundance of good weather.
The City of San José is a full service Charter City and operates under a Council-Manager form of government. Mayor Sam Liccardo assumed office on January 1, 2015, with a platform of restoring public safety, spending smarter, expanding economic opportunity for all of San José’s residents, and investing in the future. His philosophy is “it’s your city, and it should work for you.” Under his guidance, the City has developed a Smart City Vision with five key areas of focus for making the City of San José safer, more inclusive, user-friendly, a leader in sustainability and a model for the use of transformative technologies to enhance life in the city.
About the Department
The Department of Parks, Recreation and Neighborhood Services (PRNS) is responsible for neighborhood services, recreation programming, the capital program and maintenance of parks and trails program. The Department has a robust capital improvement program valued at $295 million over a five-year period. The capital team develops programs and scopes of work for individual projects and works with the Department of Public Works project implementation team to manage the Capital Improvement Program budget which funds new and renovated facilities. Please visit http://www.sanjoseca.gov/index.aspx?NID=560 to see the Greenprint 2009 Update.
The Vision of the Department is to be a national leader of Parks and Recreation in cultivating healthy communities through quality programs and dynamic public spaces. The Department is building forward with emphasis on the following goals:
- Employee engagement + workforce
development
- Financial sustainability
- Stewardship
- Placemaking: Building community by design
The CIP Team
The vision of the CIP Team is to deliver beautiful community spaces that delight residents of all ages and function by design. The Team is responsible for oversight and management of the $295 million five-year Capital Improvement Program (CIP) for the Department. The CIP Team in PRNS oversees activities such as preparing the Department’s Capital Improvement Program budget, strategic planning, community engagement, acquiring land, rehabilitating and replacing facilities at existing parks, trails and community centers, oversight of the design and construction of new facilities and negotiating with residential development applicants. The team plays the role of the client department managing outside consultants and implementation partners such as Real Estate and Public Works. The active project list includes 200 small and large projects.
About the Opportunity
The Community Facilities Development Division of the Department of Parks, Recreation and Neighborhood Services Department currently seeks to fill one Senior Landscape Architect position.
The Senior Landscape Architect leads a section of technical professionals to identify, envision, scope, budget and implement approximately 120 major capital projects ranging in budget from $100,000 to $16 million. Job duties include managing the major capital program and supervising a staff of three landscape architecture professionals. The program includes notable and high-profile projects, such as a regional Earthquakes Soccer Academy and tournament facility, a tournament quality softball facility, a new Levitt Music Pavilion at St. James Park, and the implementation of a downtown network of urban parks.
About the Responsibilities
Key responsibilities of the Senior Landscape Architect include the following:
- Provides leadership for and supervises the work of an inter-disciplinary team of professionals and sub-professionals.
- Prepares annual budget for Section and monitors program expenditures.
- Prepares formal written documents including memoranda to Council.
- Does complex research and prepares technical reports.
- Negotiates difficult terms for agreements with interagency partners such as school districts, utility districts, regulatory agencies, other City departments and citizen groups.
- Manages the Section in assigning work, tracking schedules and budgets, and working with other departments to analyze cost estimates, changes to scope of work and construction phase work.
- Supervises personnel, oversees consultant contract administration.
- Participates and presents project information to the Department Director, City Manager, Parks and Recreation Commission, Neighborhood Services and Environment Committee and the City Council.
Education & Experience Requirements
- A Bachelor’s degree from an accredited university or college in Landscape Architecture.
- Five (5) years or progressively responsible professional landscape architectural experience.,
- Possession of a valid certificate as a licensed Landscape Architect issued by the California State Board of Architectural Examiners, Possession of AICP certification preferred.
- Possession of a valid driver’s license in the State of California may be required.
Compensation
The salary range is $102,627.20 to $129,812.80 annually.
Benefits
Retirement – Competitive defined benefit retirement system with full reciprocity with CalPERS.
Health Insurance – The City contributes 85% towards the cost of the lowest cost plan and has several plan options.
Dental Insurance – The City contributes 100% of the premium of the lowest-priced plan for dental coverage.
Personal Time Off – Vacation is accrued initially at the rate of three weeks per year with amounts increasing to five weeks after 15 years of service. Additionally, Executive Leave of 40 hours is granted annually. Sick Leave is accrued at the rate of 8 hours per month.
Holidays – 14 paid holidays annually.
Deferred Compensation – An optional 457 plan.
Flexible Spending Accounts – Dependent Care Assistance and Medical Reimbursement Programs.
Insurance – A term life policy equal to two times annual salary; long-term disability and AD&D plans are optional.
Employee Assistance Program – A comprehensive range of services through the EAP.
For more information on employee benefits, visit http://www.sanjoseca.gov/index.aspx?NID=707.
Important Application Information
This recruitment may be used to fill multiple positions in this, or other divisions or departments. If you are interested in employment in this classification or as an Associate Structure/Landscape Designer, you should apply to ensure you are considered for additional opportunities that may utilize the applications from this recruitment.
To apply for this outstanding opportunity, please visit the Koff & Associates website at www.koffassociates.com to download the application. Please email your cover letter, resume and application to infokoff@koffassociates.com or mail it to Koff & Associates, 2835 7th Street, Berkeley, CA 94710 by November 30, 2016.
The City of San José is an equal opportunity employer encouraging workforce diversity.
The information contained herein does not constitute either an expressed or implied contract, and these provisions are subject to change.