Park Technician of Open Space

Now hiring for a permanent Park Technican of Open Space – open until January 7, 2024.

Link to job description and application

Do you want a career where your skills and passion will make a direct impact in the local community and in conservation? We’re looking for a Park Technician to support the Open Space Manager with coordinating and implementing a wide variety of maintenance and operation functions at a high standard. The selected candidate will perform open space property evaluation including data collection using ArcGIS on boundary markings, trespassing, trash dumps, and structures, and will conduct surveys and data entry for natural resource inventory. Park Technicians are the first point of contact in providing a safe, enjoyable experience at nature preserves through daily operational tasks, visitor services, resource stewardship, and park programming. Successful candidates will strive to foster external and internal partnerships. Maintenance tasks including trail maintenance, custodial functions, and small construction projects, as well as keeping up with preventative maintenance on equipment and utility vehicles.

Essential Functions;

• Open and close three nature preserves; trash and recycling removal, visitor assistance, rule enforcement, emergency response
• Supervise temporary part-time staff and volunteers, and at times may manage the operation of the preserves
• Conduct open space site evaluations: monitor for trespassing, inventory flora and fauna, address encroachment, implement land stewardship, mark boundaries
• Land management: monitor and control invasive species, maintain meadows with prescribed fire and mechanical disturbance, coordinate and monitor native plantings and restoration efforts
• Implement recommendations of natural and cultural management plans
• Create content and communicate with visitors over website, social media, and email
• Provides educational programming a few times a year at preserves to visitors and volunteers

Wake County trucks provided for work in preserves and open space. Most shifts M-F 7:30 am – 3:30 pm, with some weekends and holidays. Includes 8-hour shifts covering opening or closing duties during preserve hours (around 5-10 times each month). Closing shift changes with sunset (earliest in winter 5:30 pm, latest in summer 9:30 pm).

Preserve hours:
PEAK SEASON: April 1st to August 31st; Monday to Sunday; 8 am–Sunset
OFF-PEAK SEASON: September 1st to March 31st; Saturdays and Sundays; 8 am–Sunset
Closed Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and New Year’s Day.

 About Our Team

The Parks, Recreation and Open Space Division (we like to call ourselves PROS) is a talented team devoted to ensuring our parks are accessible and welcoming. We offer preservation, education, and recreation opportunities across our eight parks and three nature preserves (and GROWING!) 361 days a year. Our parks have never been more popular! We serve almost 2 million visitors annually and plan to open additional facilities in the future. Our community loves our parks (and so do we!). See for yourself at wakegov.com/parks. Our Mission: PROS preserves open space, promotes stewardship, and provides equitable and inclusive education and outdoor recreation for a diverse and growing community. The three nature preserves are open space properties opened for public enjoyment. The first preserve to open was Robertson Millpond Preserve in 2015 and second was Turnipseed Nature Preserve in 2018. Sandy Pines Preserve opened in the fall 2021. These preserves are minimally developed with gravel roads and parking lots, picnic tables, and ADA access to trails. Robertson Millpond Preserve is an 85-acre preserve featuring a one-mile paddling trail with both grassy and ADA dock launch sites, picnic tables, historic landmark with educational panels, and a 0.25 mile walking path / boardwalk with fishing access and nature educational panels. Turnipseed Nature Preserve is a 265-acre preserve with 2-4 miles of walking trails through a variety of unique habitats, picnic tables, open grassy playfield, wildlife viewing platform with binoculars, and a picturesque pedestrian bridge over a floodplain with benches. Sandy Pines Preserve, at 563 acres, is the largest single tract of land owned by Wake County Parks, Recreation and Open Space with 6.5 miles of walking and equestrian trails, pull-through trailer parking, mounting blocks, and picnic tables. https://www.wake.gov/departments-government/parks-recreation-and-open-space/open-space-greenways 

The Basics (Required Education and Experience) 

• High school diploma or GED
• One year of experience working in a park setting, providing educational programming, maintaining facilities or landscaping
• Valid Driver’s License and “safe” driving record
• CPR certification within one year of employment
• Equivalent education and experience are accepted

Beyond the Basics (Preferred Education and Experience)

• Four-year degree in parks, recreation, natural resources, or related field
• Experience in parks, preserves, or related facilities
• Experience engaging with racially diverse groups as visitors, employees, and partners
• Experience in one or more of the following: forestry, prescribed fire, species survey and management, rare species and rare habitats management, natural resource plan implementation, agricultural lease management, easement monitoring, boundary marking, and historic or cultural resource management
• CPR and First Aid Certification and NC Pesticide license preferred; however, both attainable upon employment

How Will We Know You’re ‘The One’?

• Ability to adapt and be flexible in a dynamic environment to meet the needs and be welcoming of all visitors
• Exemplary customer service skills and commitment to visitor engagement, and ability to communicate effectively with internal and external customers and partners
• Demonstrated ability to engage effectively with culturally diverse audiences
• Self-motivated with the ability to work with limited supervision
• Ability to supervise temporary part-time staff and volunteers as needed
• Ability to safely and effectively operate various types of equipment

About This Position

• Location: Agriculture Services Building Raleigh, NC 27610
• Employment Type: Regular
• Work Schedule: Mon – Fri 7:30 am – 3:30 pm