City Manager

CITY MANAGER
 
City of Valdez, Alaska
JOB DETAILS
Job Function: Chief Administrator (City Manager)
Credential: No preference.
Salary: $120K + [DOQ / DOE]
Position Type: Full Time
Population: 4011
Where: 212 Chenega Street, Valdez, Alaska 99686
Form of Government: Council-Manager
 
The position is open until filled with a first review of applications beginning June 7, 2019.
 
Summary
The City of Valdez, population 4,011, is located in south central Alaska on Prince William Sound. It has a relatively mild climate which is attributed to the marine currents in, and weather generated by, the Pacific Ocean. Its distinguishing characteristics are the incomparable rugged beauty of its natural mountain-ringed setting, its deep water, ice free access to magnificent Prince William Sound, and it's extremely high average annual snowfall of almost 30 feet, the most of any other city in the world at sea level.
 
Although geographically remote, Valdez is reachable year round by road. It is approximately 305 road miles east of Anchorage and 365 road miles south of Fairbanks. Valdez is the southern terminus of the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System ("TAPS"}. The assessed valuation of taxable property in the City is approximately 2.2 billion, with 90 percent of this valuation attributable to TAPS. Ninety percent of the City's revenues derive from property tax.

Economy
The Valdez economy is dominated by transportation, mostly related to the transportation of crude oil. As America's northernmost ice free port, Port Valdez is a deep water fjord with depths greater than 750 feet. Approximately 7% of all U.S. oil - 80% of west coast oil - is transported through Port Valdez in the deep draught oil supertankers, with hundreds of shipments annually. Port Valdez is a major seaport with a $48 million cargo and container facility. Valdez processes cargo through one of the largest floating concrete docks in the world. The depth of the water in front of the VCT is 50 feet.
 
The City also has a developed tourism economy with approximately 70,000 people visiting Valdez annually, primarily in the summer months. Sport fishing and sightseeing are significant sectors of the economy. In addition commercial fishing is a significant player in the overall Valdez economy, the fish processing plants located in Valdez are among the 10 largest employers of the community.
 
Valdez is developing its winter tourism by promoting its winter sports as a result of its abundant snowfall and proximity to the Chugach Mountains. Valdez is the birthplace of the World Extreme Skiing Championships with several Heli-ski operators currently providing this experience in Thompson Pass. Abundant snowmobiling opportunities have resulted in championship competitions in Valdez.
  
The Organization
Valdez is a home rule city that operates under a Council ­ Manager form of government. Policymaking and legislative authority are vested in the City Council consisting of the Mayor and six council members. Council members are elected at-large on a nonpartisan basis for three-year staggered terms with elections every year. Council appoints and directs the City Manager, City Clerk, and City Attorney.
The organization is a full service municipality which includes functions commonly performed by County governments, such as Fire Protection, Emergency Management, and Police. The City Manager has twelve direct reports, and the organization employs 134 FTEs.  The City has an annual budget of $55MM, and fund balances totaling $350MM, $200MM of which is held within its Permanent Fund endowment.

Desirable Qualifications
The successful candidate must have demonstrated leadership skills to assist elected officials in establishing a vision for the community. He/She must also possess extensive knowledge of municipal operations and best practices so as to effectively create and direct strategies for implementation of Council priorities.  
The preferred candidate will have direct experience in the following Council priorities:

• Master Planning – The City is currently engaged in both Citywide Master Planning and Waterfront Master Planning initiatives.
• Housing – Council has identified increased housing availability, including affordable housing, as an urgent priority.
• Emergency management and/or ICS settings – the City is cultivating and reinforcing its ICS structure and capabilities for a variety of emergency scenarios.

SUMMARY:  
Chief executive and administrative officer of the city in a council-manager form of municipal government. Directs the functions, staff, and activities of established departments. Appoints and removes administrative officers and employees of the city.

ESSENTIAL JOB FUNCTIONS:
Essential functions, as defined under the Americans with Disabilities Act, may include the following tasks, knowledge, skills and other characteristics. This list is ILLUSTRATIVE ONLY and is not a comprehensive listing of all functions and tasks performed by incumbents of this class.

PRIMARY DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Prepares and recommends to the city council the annual budget for the city.
• Executes and enforces all ordinances, resolutions and motions of the city council and administer all contracts entered into by the city.
• Appoints, removes, supervises and/or coordinates the work of the administrative officers and departments of the city.
• Supervises and coordinates the personnel policies and practices of the city.
• Makes recommendations to the city council as he/she may deem expedient or necessary and once a year present a detailed statement of what he/she has accomplished during the year covered by the report.
• Serves as the Incident Command System (ICS) incident commander, member of the ICS unified command leadership, or member of the Prince William Sound Regional Stakeholders' Committee during actual incidents and emergency exercises.
• Serves as ex officio member without vote of all city boards and commissions.
• Administers and manages utilities and other such municipal services or enterprises.
• Directs departmental operations; evaluates issues, and recommends solutions.
• Develops capital and short-range project plans, and prioritizes and assigns projects to optimize budgeted funds.
• Identifies and communicates strategies and objectives.
• Promotes a positive and productive work environment through inspirational leadership; ensures effective cross-departmental communications and participative decision making occurs; encourages creativity and innovation; values excellence in performance by promoting a workplace culture of engagement, collaboration, teamwork, accountability, and service to community.
• Responds to grievances and oversees all personnel actions. Recognizes and reinforces excellence in performance.
• Maintains cooperative working relations with the city departments, and outside agencies; serves as liaison between various organizations, agencies, and commissions: serves on committees, task forces and other groups to coordinate municipal services programs.
• Performs other duties as outlined in Valdez Municipal Code or as may be assigned by city council.

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS:
A bachelor's degree in public/business administration or related field; and 5-7 years of increasingly responsible senior management experience in the public administration field; OR an equivalent combination of education and experience. Demonstrated performance as a successful city manager/administrator or assistant city manager/administrator preferred. A master's degree in public/business administration preferred. Must have the ability to complete executive level ICS training within six months of hire date, if not already completed prior to hire. Must have the ability to furnish a bond as required by city council under Valdez Municipal Code.

KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS AND OTHER CHARACTERISTICS:
 
Knowledge of:

• Principles and practices of public administration, leadership, and professional rules of conduct.
• Principles of municipal budgeting and finance.
• Principles of contract law and contract management.
• Principles and practices of employee relations, supervision, grievances, worker's compensation, Affirmative Action, personnel administration and training.
• Techniques and practices for efficient and cost effective management of resources.
• Principle and practices of economic and community development.
• Principles and practices of incident command system structure.
• Principles and practices of communications and media relations.

• Inspirational leadership and development of positive workplace culture through promotion of open communication, respectful collaboration, teambuilding, and professional development.
• Highly effective written and verbal communications.
• Reading, interpreting, understanding and applying federal, state and local rules and regulations, and city policies and procedures.
• Analyzing complex administrative and operational data and issues, evaluating alternatives, and making logical recommendations based on findings.
• Developing and implementing long-range fiscal and operational plans.
• Assessing and prioritizing multiple tasks and projects.
• Supervision, coordinating staff, and delegating tasks and authority.
• Performing or the ability to perform in an executive leadership role within the incident command system (ICS) structure.
• Monitoring and controlling the confidentiality of personnel files and reports.
• Responding to inquiries from management, citizens and regulatory agencies.
• Interacting with news media. Comfortable speaking as an agency representative on camera, radio, and by telephone.
• Assisting in development of state and federal legislative priorities.
• Establishing and maintaining effective working relationships with other city employees, community stakeholders, and representatives from other local, state and federal agencies.