Urban Forestry IRA Grant Technician

Salary Range: $26.6094 - $35.6540/hour. Salary reflects Step 1 and Step 7 of a 7-step pay scale. Salary at hiring will be dependent upon the applicant's education, experience, and training.

Work Schedule: Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.

Job Summary:

Under general supervision, provide professional services to advance work to complete the deliverables of this contract while engaging the public and the media regularly to keep citizens apprised of project progress.  To accomplish this, provide professional project management skill to collect and utilize a tree inventory to: 1) determine which of the existing trees should be retained or removed and which of the “retain” trees require immediate pruning, and 2) identify tree planting sites. Prepare and then oversee contracts for tree removals and tree pruning.  Order trees of appropriate size and species.  Prepare contracts for tree removals or coordinate with PRPL staff and others for volunteer projects where there is an option for these. This position’s skill sets break out as: Project Management (60%), Community Engagement (25%) and Urban Forestry/Arboricultural Practice (15%).

Community Engagement is essential to project success and will involve engaging with citizens and organized citizen groups across Billings in particular, those living in the Project Area to co-create desirable outcomes for urban forest development.

This is a temporary position and once the grant funding stops the position will be terminated.

Scope of Responsibility:

Incumbents have a high degree of understanding of department and functional operations while working with considerable initiative.  Working under the direction of senior management, incumbents will make decisions and judgments based on the application of professional and management principles.  Work product has major impact on departmental operations with moderate impact on the overall organization.  Incumbents have frequent interaction with staff, co-workers, outside agencies and key customers to provide detailed procedures and respond to technical questions.  Incumbents provide supervision and training to all lower-level support staff.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities:

Project Management

• Review grant specifications to determine a work schedule that incorporates work done to date with remaining tasks.
• Learn existing administrative procedures to engage contractors to accomplish work required, for example, RFQ’s, RFP’s, and contracts and know when to use these.

• Determine best method to acquire inventory tree and plantable spot inventory data and implement timely acquisition of these data.
• Identify trees to be retained or removed in Project Area and implement a project(s) to remove, prune or retain as-is according to the designation made for each tree.
• Develop a planting plan and order trees to meet plan requirements.
• Organize tree planting operations using contracted labor including volunteers.
• Track project progress, maintain accurate records and provide timely reports on project accomplishments and budget.

Community Engagement

• Coordinate with City Forester to include IRA Grant Project Work into monthly Park Board agenda. Present updates, invite discussion of project activities and solicit input or assistance as needed.
• Organize educational events, workshops or community activities that enable learning about the benefits of urban forestry and challenges to their implementation.
• Develop social media platforms to communicate project activities and relevant urban forestry information. Develop media connections to support information sharing about project developments.
• Attend and present information at regular meetings of engaged citizen groups, for example, the North Park Task Force, the South Side Urban Alliance, EBIRD and others.

Arboricultural Knowledge

• Maintain a list of tree species suitable for planting in Billings and be able to explain which trees would be good options for planting at a particular site and explain why considering factors such as boulevard width, soil condition, presence/absence of surrounding infrastructure, space available, etc.
• Be able to both explain and demonstrate proper tree planting techniques.
• Maintain a list of nurseries, both local retail and distant wholesale that you can refer citizens to.
• Maintain a list of Tree Care Companies for referrals to citizens inquiring about who to contact for work on their private property.

Perform other duties as assigned.

Physical Demands & Working Conditions:

The physical demands and working conditions described here are representative of those an employee encounters while performing the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

Physical Demands:

While performing the duties of this job, the employee is occasionally lifting/carrying up to 25 lbs. Also the employee is rarely pushing/pulling up to 45 lbs. The noise level is occasionally moderate. Work includes sensory ability to talk and hear. Work in this position also includes close vision, distance vision, peripheral vision, and depth perception. Employees will sit, stand, walk, stoop, kneel, crouch, crawl, reach and grasp. Position requires hand/finger dexterity. 

Working Conditions:

The work environment will include inside conditions, outdoor weather conditions, extreme temperatures, wet and humid conditions, areas of dust, odors, mist, gases, or other airborne matter. Employees work in/at places where they are exposed to mechanical hazards. Employees will drive a vehicle as part of this position. Employee may come in contact with dogs, icy and uneven sidewalks, and outdoor elements including high and low temperatures. Much of the project work will be in boulevards adjacent to vehicular and bicycle traffic, some on busy roads. Inebriated or disoriented individuals may be encountered in some parts of the Project Area. Public speaking in a variety of venues, indoor and outdoor, will be routine. This position is required to work a flexible schedule to include occasional evenings and weekends based upon program demands.

Some requirements in this job description may exclude individuals who pose a direct threat or significant risk to the health and safety of themselves or other employees.  All requirements are subject to modification to reasonably accommodate individuals with disabilities.

Requirements are representative of minimum levels of knowledge, skills, and experience required.  To perform this job successfully, the worker must possess the abilities and aptitudes to perform each duty proficiently.

This document does not create an employment contract, implied or otherwise.  The City retains the discretion to add duties or change the duties of this position at any time.