CHIEF RESILIENCE OFFICER

Climate and Sustainability

Recruitment #2305-0432-001

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Introduction

ABOUT THE POSITION
The City of Tucson is seeking a passionate and qualified leader to serve as Chief Resilience Officer. This position will be primarily responsible for ensuring success of the city's Climate Action and Adaptation Plan, titled Tucson Resilient Together. This is a new position reporting directly to the City Manager. 

ABOUT TUCSON
Tucson has a rich cultural heritage and is known for its lively arts scene, unsurpassed natural beauty, and outdoor lifestyle. Tucson's culture centers around a unique blend of Native American, Spanish, Mexican and Anglo-American influences. The city is situated in the Sonoran Desert and is surrounded by five mountain ranges. Blessed with the desert natural beauty and an unsurpassed climate of 360 sunny days a year, Tucsonans embrace a rare lifestyle and are committed to preserving that quality of life. 

The city is home to the University of Arizona and Davis-Monthan Air Force Base. Tucson is the seat of Pima County and has a Council-Manager form of government. The Tucson metropolitan area supports almost a million residents. As metropolitan Tucson continues to grow, the challenge of meeting resident expectations also increases.

The City of Tucson is committed to providing quality municipal services which promote a healthy community, offer opportunities for participation and leisure, and enable citizens to prosper at work and at home.

CITY-WIDE BENEFITS
The City of Tucson offers a wide range of generous benefits for eligible employees. Some of those benefits include:

Health and Wellbeing:
  • Choice of medical, dental and vision insurance plans
  • Life insurance and long-term disability options
  • Employee assistance program to enhance your wellbeing
  • Flexible spending plan for health and dependent care expenses
  • Other voluntary benefits for financial security
Your Security and Future: 
  • Generous pension plans that help employees retire more comfortably
  • Optional deferred compensation plans to save towards retirement
  • Training, professional development, and tuition assistance programs
  • Student loan repayment assistance
  • Back-up care options for loved ones
Your Peace of Mind:
  • Six weeks paid parental leave when you welcome a child and other generous leave policies
  • New hires enjoy 37 days of paid time off in the first year, with time increasing steadily thereafter (In year one: 13 accrued days of vacation, 13 accrued days of sick leave, and 12 paid holidays).
  • Generous employee discounts available 
  • Connections with the community through paid volunteerism and payroll-deducted charitable giving
For a full description of benefits offered to eligible employees, or to inquire further about the City of Tucson's benefits options, please visit: https://www.tucsonaz.gov/hr/employee-benefit-snapshot

General Description

On March 7, 2023, the city of Tucson Mayor and Council adopted Tucson Resilient Together, a comprehensive and aspirational climate action and adaptation plan. This plan was developed in response to the Mayor and Council’s 2020 Declaration of Climate Emergency and was developed using an equity-centered, community driven approach. One of the initial actions was to establish the city’s Climate Action Team (CAT) to drive and track climate action in Tucson. This recruitment is to find the city’s first Chief Resilience Officer to lead the CAT, reporting directly to the City Manager.

Information on Tucson Resilient Together and the city’s related climate actions is available at the city’s Climate Action Hub: https://climateaction.tucsonaz.gov/

The Chief Resilience Officer is responsible for leading the CAT; coordinating city-wide activity across the city’s 122 climate actions; monitoring key performance indicators; and communicating progress to Mayor and Council, city leadership, and the community. In addition, this position will serve as a project manager for select climate actions, when appropriate.

Initial priorities for this position include:

  • Developing a program management plan for Tucson Resilient Together, building upon the initial implementation strategy approved by Mayor and Council on April 18, 2023
  • Leading the Climate Action Team (CAT), and working across multiple City Departments on identified early timeline actions and existing projects and programs addressing Plan elements
  • Defining key performance indicators (KPI’s) for climate action
  • Establishing relationships with the city’s Commission on Climate, Energy, and Sustainability (CCES), Mayor’s Climate Action Advisory Council (CAAC), our Community Dialogue partners (see Tucson Resilient Together for more information), neighboring jurisdictions, utilities, and other interested stakeholders
  • Supporting funding initiatives, including State and Federal grant opportunities
  • Working with the Business Services Department to establish financial tracking tools for city-wide climate action
  • Developing an internal and external communication strategy, education, and outreach materials that are culturally relevant for Tucson’s communities
  • Working with community partners to create green job training and capacity building opportunities
  • Preparing the initial Comprehensive Progress Report by April 2024.

Essential Functions

  • Experience leading a major program in climate action, sustainability, environmental management, environmental or social justice, or a related field
  • Exceptional skills and qualities in leadership, communication, organization, and emotional intelligence needed to lead a program that:
    • Requires engaging and aligning efforts across multiple city departments
    • Involves communicating, educating, and partnering with multiple non-profit, private sector, and community partners
    • Leading a team of staff from multiple departments in a matrix organizational structure
  • A deep understanding of the intersection between climate change and social justice as outlined in the Justice 40 frameworkA proven record working with frontline communities and those disproportionally impacted by climate change. 
  • Supervisory experience of technical and non-technical staff
  • A passion for climate action and environmental justice
  • Knowledge of the unique climate challenges facing Tucson
  • Success in securing and managing outside funding sources

Minimum Qualifications

Minimum Education Level & Type: Bachelor's Degree

Minimum Experience Qualifications: At least 5 years in climate action, sustainability, environmental management, environmental or social justice, program management, or a related field.

Applicants with a master's degree and a minimum of three years of relevant professional experience will also be considered.

Preferred Qualifications

Master’s Degree in related field.

At least two years’ experience leading a major program in climate action, sustainability, environmental management, environmental or social justice, or a related field.     

Significant related technical education and/or experience.

Bilingual in English and Spanish.

Selection Plan

Applicants who meet the minimum qualifications will advance to a cover letter and resume review assessment. A cover letter of interest and professional resume are required application materials for this recruitment. Additionally, cover letters must include responses to the two questions below:

1) Tucson Resilient Together [https://climateaction.tucsonaz.gov/pages/caap#plan] includes over 100 climate actions. Please select three of the actions that you believe are critical to building the capacity of vulnerable communities in Tucson to withstand the negative impacts of climate change. For each, provide a brief explanation of why you consider it to be critical.
2) Advancing climate action will require sustained public support and financial investment. As such, demonstrating progress will be crucial. Please list up to five key performance indicators (KPI’s) that you propose to measure climate action in Tucson, describe how you would quantify them, and explain their value in demonstrating progress.

NOTE: The Cover Letter is limited to three pages maximum, including your expression of interest, summary of qualifications, and responses to the two questions listed above. Failure to submit any portion of these required materials will result in removal from further consideration. 

Applicants selected to proceed following the cover letter and resume review assessment will be invited to participate in a virtual panel interview on July 7, 2023.

*It is important to note that the City of Tucson uses Microsoft Teams for its virtual interviews. Please ensure that you have access to this software application.

If you are in need of Americans with Disabilities Act-related accommodation during the testing process, please email Randall.Moehr@tucsonaz.gov at least 48 hours prior to the evaluation.

Conclusion

You are encouraged to print this bulletin because it contains important dates and information that will not be available online once this position closes.

Communications throughout this process will be sent via email exclusively so please ensure your browser accepts emails from jobs@tucsonaz.gov and check your email account regularly; this may include your junk box/spam filter. Failure to respond or follow instructions will result in disqualification.

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To ensure accurate payroll information for tax purposes, the successful candidate will need to provide their original Social Security Card or original letter from the Social Security Administration with their social security number prior to beginning work with the City of Tucson.

The City of Tucson hires lawful workers only - US citizens or nationals and non-citizens with valid work authorization - without discrimination. Federal immigration laws require all employers to verify both the identity and employment eligibility of all persons hired to work in the United States. In its efforts to meet the law's requirements, the City of Tucson participates in the E-Verify program established by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Social Security Administration (SSA) to aid employers in verifying the eligibility of workers.

Retired City of Tucson employees receiving benefits from the Tucson Supplemental Retirement System who are considering reemployment with the City should be aware that pursuant to Section 22-37(g) of the Tucson City Code, retirement benefits shall be suspended during the period of reemployment with the City of Tucson unless you have been separated at least twelve consecutive months before returning to work AND you return to a non-permanent employment classification. Creditable service does not accrue during any reemployment period.