The City of Suffolk is seeking an experienced and innovative leader to serve as our next Director of Public Works. This is an exceptional opportunity for a dynamic individual passionate about enhancing community infrastructure, ensuring sustainability, and fostering a thriving environment for our residents and growing city of 430 square miles. Suffolk is a vibrant community rich in history, culture, and natural beauty. With a commitment to excellence and a forward-thinking approach, the City is dedicated to providing high-quality public services that enhance the quality of life for all its citizens. Your leadership will guide strategic initiatives, policy development, and impactful projects. The Public Works Department is one of the City's largest departments. As the Director, you will oversee eight divisions: Administration, Stormwater/Engineering, Mosquito Control, Fleet Management, Refuse, Roadway, Traffic Engineering, and Transit.

Key responsibilities: Overseeing all Public Works operations: capital improvements, maintenance projects and services. Developing and implementing strategic plans and policies. Managing departmental budgets and resources effectively. Collaborating with other city department leaders and community stakeholders. Ensuring compliance with local, state, and federal regulations and promoting sustainable practices.

To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform the essential job functions satisfactorily. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the primary job functions herein described. Since every duty associated with this position may not be described herein, employees may be required to perform duties not specifically spelled out in the job description, but which may be reasonably considered to be incidental in the performing of their duties just as though they were actually written out in this job description.

• Plans, budgets, organizes, schedules, directs and supervises public work activities.
• Confers with and advises divisions on problems related to the design, construction, operation and maintenance of streets, storm sewers, stormwater retention in response to public and private development activity and plans.
• Prepares and reviews bid documents and purchase requests and recommends award.
• Coordinates, plans, supervises and reviews the activities of Public Works personnel engaged in carrying out the public works programs and including capital improvements.
• Researches and reviews plans, technical engineering reports, budget estimates and proposed ordinances and regulations in support of Public Works activities and programs
• Responsible for the presentation of the Public Works annual Operations and Capital Improvement Program budgets to the City Manager.
• Recommends actions to the City Manager and administration and keeps all parties informed on key tasks.
• Makes presentations or provides updates to City Council when requested to do so by City Manager.
• Meets and interacts with citizens, city, state, and federal officials and numerous stakeholder groups and organization groups regarding public works programs and activities.
• Works with community organizations and groups.
• Administers personnel actions to include selection, assessing performance and discipline of employees.
• Works regularly with other department heads to coordinate projects, address issues, etc.
• Manages stormwater management program, flooding potential through proper management of the stormwater collection system and outfall facilities and ensures regulatory reporting and compliance.
• Manages public roadways program including, but not limited to: construction and maintenance, traffic signals, street lights, pavement markings, and street signs.
• Manages and issue permits and inspect all activities in the public right-of-way.
• Manages refuse collection and disposal Citywide as a member of the Southeastern Public Service Authority (SPSA).
• Coordinates with other regional partners through the Hampton Roads Planning District Commission (HRPDC).
• Coordinates road construction activities through the Hampton Roads Transportation Planning Organization (HRTPO), the Hampton Roads Transportation Accountability Commission (HRTAC), and the Hampton Roads Transportation Technical Advisory Committee (HRTTAC).
• Coordinates and manages the City’s transit operations, Suffolk Transit and our transit provider, Virginia Regional Transit.
• Coordinate the department's Traffic Engineering, Stormwater Management, and Erosion and Sediment Control Plan of development review activities for new development
• Regularly interacts with; reports progress of current projects; and proposes future projects with VDOT personnel.
• Oversees the City’s fleet maintenance activities for City Fleet purchases and maintenance activities.
• Provides mosquito control services citywide.
• Performs all other duties as assigned.

*The salary range for the position is negotiable based on qualifications and experience.*

Required Qualifications

Seven years progressively responsible experience in public works, utilities or engineering operations and administration with a preferred Master’s degree in Public Administration, Project Management, Engineering field or equivalent; or any equivalent combination of Bachelor's degree, training and experience that provides the required knowledge, skills and abilities. Requires a valid driver's license. Requires Professional Engineer License.

Administrative Ability
Strong communication skills, both verbal and written. Ability to communicate complex issues to a variety of audiences in a clear, comprehensive and effective manner. Must be highly organized, have excellent follow-through without being prompted, and use collaborative approaches with staff to reach conclusions. Must have the ability to shift gears between projects by rapidly multitasking, and have extensive experience making analytical and reasoned judgments on issues of public sensibility. Must be technologically proficient and have the ability to coordinate technology applications pertinent to the Department’s operations and management systems.

Departmental/Council Relations
The position requires successful candidates to be adept at working in a complex and fast paced environment while possessing proven leadership skills with demonstrated abilities to build a strong and focused team of individuals. Competitive candidates shall have demonstrated the ability to provide strong and effective leadership and vision to staff, and will also establish clear objectives for the department that are tied to the City’s strategic goals. The candidate is expected to be a problem solver who is focused on positive outcomes, holding staff accountable for achieving positive results.

Management
Must have a demonstrated record or knowledge of planning, developing, organizing, implementing and coordinating budgets and financial activities of a municipal electric department. Competitive candidates shall have demonstrated the ability to interact effectively with citizens, the City Manager, other City department directors and elected officials. Candidates must possess strategic thinking skills and be able to make difficult recommendations on operational, financial and budgetary matters when necessary.

Governmental / Intergovernmental Relations
Must possess the ability to take time and interest in working with the Assistant City Manager and City Manager to keep them informed and to explain technical and sensitive concepts related to City issues. Must be able to work with elected officials on complex issues in a setting where different objectives and/or adversarial viewpoints may exist. Must have the ability to accept constructive criticism and to implement needed changes where identified. Candidate must be able to use discretion in handling confidential information. Must stay current on trends and issues pertaining to the City. Must relate to and develop a good working relationship with other local, state, regional and federal agencies to advocate on behalf of the City.

Knowledge of:

• The administrative practices and procedures relative to civil engineering and public works management.
• The principles and practices of civil engineering as applied to the design, construction and maintenance of a wide variety of municipal public works facilities.
• The occupational hazards and proper safety precautions of public works construction and maintenance work.
• The financing sources and programs available through State and federal funding agencies for construction and expansion airports, and public works and infrastructure systems, and of the requirements and standards for obtaining and retaining State and federally funded programs.
• The principles and practices of supervision, organization and public administration.
• The current regulations, trends and development in the field of civil engineering and public works administration.

Skill in:

• Excellent interpersonal skills for establishing and maintaining effective working relationships
• Leadership skills and gaining cooperation among competing interest groups.
• Excellent project management skills including skill in planning, organizing and analyzing problems, making decisions and implementing plans.
• The collection, analysis, and presentation of technical data concerning civil engineering and public works management issues.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills including public presentation skills.
• Strong business and fiscal management skills.

Ability to:

• Communicate effectively in oral and written form.
• Establish and maintain effective working relationships with staff, employees, public officials, representatives of other agencies and the public in a courteous manner. Ability to maintain public relations.
• Lead, plan, organize, schedule and assign work to staff.
• Prepare accurate and concise reports.
• Maintain confidentiality as required.
• Partner with safety department to create and lead a safe working environment.
• Compare and/or judge the readily observable, functional, structural or compositional characteristics (whether similar or divergent from obvious standards) of data, people or things.
• Speak and/or signal people to convey or exchange information. Includes giving instructions, assignments or directions to subordinates or assistants, and receiving instructions, assignments or directions from superiors.
• Read a variety of reports, letters and memos, etc. Requires the ability to prepare correspondence, reports, forms, budgets, etc., using prescribed formats and conforming to all rules of punctuation, grammar, diction, and style. Requires the ability to speak before groups of people with poise, voice control and confidence.
• Apply principles of logical or scientific thinking to define problems, collect data, establish facts, and draw valid conclusions; to interpret an extensive variety of technical instructions in mathematical or diagrammatic form; and to deal with several abstract and concrete variables.
• Record and deliver information, to explain procedures, to follow oral and written instructions. Must be able to communicate effectively and efficiently in a variety of technical or professional languages including insurance, personnel and governmental terminology.
• Utilize mathematical formulas; to add and subtract; multiply and divide; utilize decimals and percentages; understand and apply theories of descriptive statistics.
• Inspect items for proper length, width and shape.
• Deal with people beyond giving and receiving instructions. Must be adaptable to performing under minimal level of stress and when confronted with persons acting under stress.
• Use common office machines, including popular computer-drive word processing, spreadsheet and file maintenance programs.
• Plan, assign and coordinate the work of a large professional and technical staff; able to prepare budget and monitor department expenditures.
• Prepare comprehensive financial, and analytical reports. Is able to effectively express ideas orally and in writing
• Establish and maintain effective working relationship with local, regional, and State officials, developers, contractors and as otherwise necessitated by work assignments.