Botanic Specialist, Forestry

~ Portland Parks & Recreation Urban Forestry's mission is to manage and ensure Portland's urban forest infrastructure for current and future generations. ~

Position Overview 

Portland Parks & Recreation’s Urban Forestry program seeks a Botanic Specialist 1 - Forestry Specialty to create and lead urban forestry programs, and support management and stewardship of the City’s urban forest.

Portland’s Urban Forestry program is responsible for management and regulation of the City’s forest infrastructure. This is comprised of over 1.2 million parks trees, nearly 300,000 street trees and approximately 800,000 private property trees.

Urban Forestry’s duties includes a 24/7 response for tree emergencies in public rights-of-way and on Parks properties, non-emergency tree maintenance on City properties, planning and assessment of forest health and tree canopy coverage, tree permitting in development and non-development situations, and outreach, education, and services to bureaus and the public regarding forest infrastructure and stewardship. 

Responsibilities  

• The Botanic Specialist 1 - Forestry Specialty supports, develops, leads and evaluates urban forest management policies and programs;
• This position specifically focuses on community urban forest stewardship by creating, delivering and managing education and outreach programs of various types, and contributes significantly to Urban Forestry’s community forestry vision and strategy;  
• This position is a key staff member responsible for creating public outreach and education programs, events and materials;
• Engaging under-represented communities and diverse audiences city-wide in urban forest appreciation and management;
• Leading and retaining volunteers and managing volunteer data and communications; coordinating staff, budgets, venues, materials and partners to deliver programs;
• Writing, preparing and delivering public materials including texts, graphics, social media, and reports;
• Representing urban forest infrastructure values and Portland’s Urban Forestry group accurately, professionally and engagingly;
• Collecting, managing, and analyzing qualitative and qualitative data regarding customers and forest science; 
• Collaborating and communicating with citizens, non-profit organizations, other government entities and stakeholders; and
• Setting program goals, and evaluating and improving programs. 

Qualifications 

The following qualifications are required for this position: 

• Knowledge and experience applying principles of dendrology, urban tree ecology, forest management, and arboricultural techniques in an urban setting.
• Knowledge and experience using standard business word processing, e-communication, and data management software; collecting, maintaining, analyzing and presenting data; creating and delivering information, reports and presentations; and using geographic information systems (GIS).
• Knowledge and experience using principles and practices of public outreach and involvement, including marketing techniques; creating and delivering public educational programs and materials for various audiences; setting program objectives and evaluating program outcomes.
• Experience establishing and maintaining effective and collaborative professional relationships with staff, volunteers, program partners, and the public to achieve program goals.
• Experience engaging diverse and underserved audiences, communicating effectively, orally and in writing, with people from a variety of different cultures and diverse perspectives. 

Additional Preferred Qualifications:  

• The City of Portland, Oregon is a growing and diverse city of 609,000 residents nearly 20% of which speak languages other than English at home. The successful candidate will have experience working with people from diverse racial, ethnic and socioeconomic backgrounds.

• Note: Although not required, PP&R encourages candidates that can fluently speak another language to include that information in their resume. Bilingual candidates are encouraged to apply. 

• Current Arborist certification from the International Society of Arboriculture is preferred but not required. 

To Apply 

• Please click below: "Apply Here!" to apply for this position through the City of Portland's website.
• Resumes will not be accepted by email.