Superintendent, Parks & Recreational Facilities

Competition number: 25-105

Salary: $82,969.00 - $98,284.00/Year

Job Type: Permanent Full Time

Closing Date: February 27, 2026

Position Overview:

Please note: This posting will remain open until the position is filled.

The Parks and Recreational Facilities team plays a key role in supporting the City of Saint John's quality of life goals by delivering safe, welcoming, and well-maintained recreational facilities and programs. The team also contributes to the successful implementation of the City's Parks & Recreation Strategic Plan.

With a strong focus on environmental stewardship, this service area is responsible for the care and enhancement of parks, green spaces, and other public areas—ensuring these community assets remain clean, vibrant, and sustainable for current and future generations.

The successful candidate will join a dedicated team led by an Operations Manager, working collaboratively to provide high-quality service to the residents of Saint John.

Key Areas of Responsibilities:

• Manage the effective delivery of sports and recreational maintenance programs based on industry-standard best practices related to the delivery of various types of sports, recreation, urban forestry, and horticulture services.
• Urban Forest Service: Provides safe, high-quality service as it relates to the City's Urban Forest landscape. Responsibilities include the sustainable management, planting, planning, maintenance, and care of trees and forested areas within the city to provide environmental, social, and economic benefits.
• Sports Facility Operations: Ensuring all playing surfaces are in optimal condition for athletes and the public so that they meet all regulatory safety standards.
• Public/Greenspace Maintenance: Maintenance and care of all Parks and Recreation green spaces, including playgrounds, parks, trails, beaches, courts, public washrooms, mowing, planters, and gardens.
• Winter Operations: Ensuring all Parks and Recreation facilities receive winter maintenance, including snow control, trail maintenance, and ice arena operations (indoor and outdoor).

The following are some examples of maintenance programs the Superintendent may have direct oversight of or need to provide support to:

• Tree maintenance and life cycle management
• Arena, sports field, and courts maintenance and management
• Playground inspection and maintenance program
• Trail inspection and maintenance program
• Beach inspection and maintenance program
• Court inspection and maintenance program
• Public space/gardening and planting program
• Parks and recreation facilities plowing and ice control program
• Indoor and outdoor ice facility maintenance and management

The Superintendent will support and develop City of Saint John employees through effective front-line leadership by:

• Monitoring job site operations to ensure efficiencies and adherence to safety standards and practices
• Maintaining and enhancing general and specific knowledge related to the responsibilities, issues, challenges, and opportunities in the delivery of essential Parks and Recreational services
• Modeling organizational values
• Setting and communicating clear performance expectations
• Providing and promoting a safe, motivating, and professional work environment
• Managing and coordinating workforce training (scheduling and monitoring)
• Driving efficiencies in the operation associated with performance management
• Tracking the certifications of all outside workforce members and supporting staff to obtain the highest certifications
• Resolving issues sensitively, confidentially, and effectively in accordance with organizational labour relations practices
• Managing equipment/fleet usage through AVL (audits and compliance)
• Managing the performance review process, conducting reviews, and providing feedback to the workforce
• Managing attendance within the workforce
• Managing time and scheduling of the workforce, including vacation schedules, shift picks, and overtime response
• Leading the execution of the Corporate Safety Program and reporting Department achievements
• Acting as an alternate management representative on the Joint Health and Safety Program as required
• Participating in accident investigations as required
• Developing Standard Operating Procedures for approval by the Operations Manager and Director

The Superintendent will promote the financial accountability of the service area by:

• Supervising services, projects, and work orders with an emphasis on accountability, results, efficient use of resources, and budget management
• Reviewing and approving the weekly hours of work for the outside workforce
• Reviewing and approving Mastercard purchases of the outside workforce
• Measuring performance, analyzing activities, and reporting on results
• Contributing to the operation budget creation, reviewing and authorizing expenditures, monitoring, analyzing, and reporting on monthly budget summaries, and taking necessary action
• Investigating Parks and Recreation-related issues on City and private property to determine the cause, responsibility, and actions needed to address the issue(s)
• Approving the purchase of goods and services in accordance with corporate procedures and standards

Support capital project initiatives and Customer Service Representative in the field for Parks and Recreation by:

• Assisting with the evaluation of infrastructure condition assessment and records updates of Parks and Recreation assets in the field to support the Asset Management Program
• Identifying and suggesting recommendations for Parks and Recreation capital budgets
• Developing and maintaining strong partnerships with the New Brunswick Department of Environment and Local Government and the New Brunswick Department of Health
• Enhancing the ability of the Parks and Recreation team to fulfill its mandate by acting as a valued member of the management group and supporting the Operations Manager of Parks and Recreation by providing insight, guidance, and acting on the Operations Manager's behalf on matters as appropriate

Essential Competencies:

• Sound knowledge of the principles, practices, and methods involved in providing Parks and Recreational services
• Ability to responsibly lead and motivate an effective workforce in producing quality work, meeting service standards, maintaining critical infrastructure, administering, and enforcing aspects of the Parks and Recreation Policies and practices
• Ability to lead field staff in emergency situations involving critical operating decisions
• Ability to establish and maintain cooperative working relationships with the general public, employees, and their union representatives, as well as other city departments, other government agencies, and representatives of business and industry in the area
• A good understanding of Occupational Health & Safety, relevant legislation, and the joint employer-employee committee process
• The ability and motivation to develop and implement programs and practices to promote a safe and healthy work environment, reduce the occurrence of injuries through safe work practices, and minimize the costs associated with time lost
• The capacity to work through conflicting priorities, complex matters, anticipated and unanticipated change, tight schedules, and other adverse conditions while remaining positive and constructive
• Ability to regularly review and update standard operating procedures (SOPs) and to develop SOPs where they do not currently exist
• Availability to provide after-hours direction of emergency and other unplanned services as a member of the 24/7 Saint John Public Works Duty Manager Rotation

Essential Qualifications:

• Post-secondary education, minimum of a 2-year diploma program completed, in sports, recreation, community services, or a related field is required. An undergraduate degree in these fields is preferred.
• Experience:
• A minimum of 3 years progressive experience in a similar supervisory role is required
• A minimum of 2 years progressive experience in an environment similar to Parks and Recreational Facilities is preferred
• Experience working in a supervisory capacity in a unionized work environment is considered an asset
• Bilingual candidates in both English and French will be considered an asset
• An equivalent combination of education and experience may also be considered

This job specification seeks to present a descriptive list of the range of duties performed and is not intended to reflect all duties and responsibilities of the job. In addition to the above-noted duties and responsibilities, an emphasis is placed on communications, planning, people skills, and utilization of applicable technologies.

The successful applicant may be eligible to participate in a Flexible Time Options Program which includes the option of working a 4 or 5-day work week, subject to business requirements.

Equal Opportunity Employer:

We are an Equal Opportunity Employer. We are committed to building a workforce that reflects the diversity of the communities in which we live and which we serve. We encourage and support applications from Indigenous persons, persons with disabilities, and members of visible minority groups. Candidates who belong to such groups, who are qualified, will be given preference at the time of selection.

Applications will be accepted through our online system only. Qualified applicants should submit their cover letters and resumes to:

City of Saint John
Attn: Hiring Committee
www.saintjohn.ca (employment opportunities)