The Natural Resources Unit is seeking a Plant Ecologist to join the Green Seattle Partnership team. The successful candidate will work with a team of professionals whose vision is to contribute to a livable City by ensuring healthy urban forests in Seattle.  This position is responsible for the implementation and maintenance of urban forest restoration within the City’s parklands. The position works extensively with citizen volunteers, professional crews and organization partners on natural area restoration and continued on-going maintenance, to ensure we continue to push the boundaries of excellence and innovation that are hallmarks of the Seattle Department of Parks and Recreation.

• Establishes goals and priorities to develop new vegetation management projects from the planning stages to implementation; assists with the technical planning and project research design in coordination with department employees and others as needed.
• Directs comprehensive vegetation management within assigned areas; analyzes and evaluates data, using various statistical and analytical procedures, to recommend courses of action for projects.
• Develops specifications and recommends professional contractor selection for restoration and research projects; monitors vegetation management studies and contracts for compliance; authorizes payment of invoices.
• Meets with the public, citizen groups, City staff and other governmental agencies to provide information, opinions, analysis and public information materials, and to present projects.
• Supervises and trains other professional staff and contractors in the development, design and implementation of vegetation management projects.
• Manages databases for work planning and tracking as well as project results.
• Prepares workload projections and develops budgets for professional contracts and materials needed for vegetation management projects.
• Prepares a variety of studies, plans, and reports for the Urban Forestry Unit.
• Performs other related duties of a comparable level/type as assigned.

Desired Qualifications:

• Intermediate to expert skills in Outlook, Word and Excel
• Project management skills and experience
• Knowledge of Pacific Northwest native plant communities and wildlife habitats
• Knowledge of invasive species impacting urban forests in the Pacific Northwest (species and treatment methods, timing and challenges)
• Strong organizational skills
• Ability to maintain workflow through various ongoing and overlapping tracks of restoration efforts throughout annual planning cycles
• Ability to provide high-quality customer service – responding to volunteers, the public, staff and partners in a timely, thorough and respectful manner
• Strong writing and communication skills
• Arborist certification from the International Society of Arboriculture
• Current qualification as a Certified Erosion and Sediment Control Lead

• Current Washington State driver’s license or evidence of equivalent mobility
• Current, 5-year driving abstract from the Department of Licensing
• State of Washington industrial first aid certificate is required after employment
• State of Washington public operator’s pesticide license may be required after employment

WORK ENVIRONMENT/PHYSICAL DEMANDS:

• Occasionally required to work nights, evenings, weekends, and/or holidays
• Required to stand, walk, or bend for extended periods of time
• Occasionally required to handle toxic/hazardous substances (pesticides)
• Required to work outdoors in all types of weather and on steep and uneven slopes