Executive Parks and Landscape Officer

About Fingal County Council

Fingal is a highly attractive place to live, work, visit and do business. It comprises a geographical area of 450 sq.km stretching from Balbriggan in the north, to Blanchardstown in the west and to Howth in the east. The area is defined by the diversity of its landscape and settlement patterns with rural, urban and suburban locations all rolled into one county. There is 88kms of coastline, three large, protected estuaries and salt marsh habitats and 13 major beaches.

 

Fingal County Council is one of the county’s major local employers and currently employs approximately 1,600 staff. The Council is mandated to deliver a diverse range of functions and services which can be broadly described under the headings of the provision of physical and social infrastructure, housing, economic and tourism development, community development, recreation and amenity services and the management of the planning and environmental regulatory framework. The role of the County Council as provided for in law is to represent, lead and serve the communities of Fingal.

 

Duties

The duties shall be such as may be assigned to the employee from time to time by the Local Authority and shall include the duty of deputising for other employees of the Local Authority, when required, and such duties as may be assigned to them in relation to the area of any other Local Authority. Persons employed will be required to work in any location within the Fingal administrative area.

 

The Executive Parks and Landscape Officer will contribute to the development and implementation of strategies, policies and standards around the provision and management of operational areas. They will be expected to supervise, control and carry out operational services given to them and may include planning, design, construction, operations, maintenance and other duties as outlined below:

 

·       Planning & management of open spaces and green infrastructure within the County including arboricultural management, and bio-diversity conservation

·       Monitoring and reporting on the delivery of plans, programmes and projects

·       Management of staff and resources

·       Financial control

·       Dealing with Area Committees and community, resident and interest groups

·       Development of open space and green infrastructure related policies for the County

·       Project management

·       Tendering and procurement in relation to services and capital projects

·       Drafting proposals/plans/reports/studies for projects and services

·       Assessing and reporting on planning applications, wayleave applications, land disposal requests and other related queries

·       Co-ordinating with other Council Departments

·       Contributing to County-wide functions within the public realm section

·       Carrying out such other duties as may from time to time be reasonably assigned

 

The successful candidate may be assigned to the Operations Department or Infrastructure and Transport Department.

 

Qualifications and Requirements of the Post

CHARACTER

Each candidate must be of good character.

 

HEALTH

Candidates shall be in a state of health such as would indicate a reasonable prospect of ability to render regular and efficient service.

 

EDUCATION, TRAINING, EXPERIENCE, ETC.

Candidates must on the latest date of receipt of completed application forms for the office:

 

a)       Hold an Honours degree (Level 8 in the National Framework of Qualifications) in Horticulture, Landscape Architecture, Arboriculture, Natural or Environmental Science.

 

b)       Have not less than five years post graduate satisfactory experience of planning, design, development and management of one or more of the following: Parks, Heritage Landscapes and Gardens, Open Spaces, Green Infrastructure, Public Realm and Urban Design, Urban Forests, Sports Grounds, Recreation and Play facilities, Burial Grounds, Community Gardens and Allotments.

 

c)       Possess a high standard of professional competence and experience.

 

d)       Have the ability to work on their own initiative and as a team member and to manage and motivate staff to achieve corporate objectives.

 

e)       Have good interpersonal skills to communicate effectively with internal and external stakeholders including interest groups and public representatives.

 

f)        Have a proven ability to manage the delivery of projects on time and within budget, including dealing with procurement, contractors, professional consultants.

 

g)       Have the ability to develop policies, strategies, best practice guidance and the preparation of technical reports as required.

 

h)       Have a good working knowledge of the legal and regulatory standards that apply to local authorities, including Health and Safety.

 

The ideal candidate shall:

 

a)     Possess a full clean driving licence.

 

Candidates will be required to furnish a degree transcript. Shortlisting may take place based on the relevance of the degree qualification to the role and the experience outlined above.

 

The Selection Process

Fingal County Council reserves the right to shortlist applications, if required. This is not to suggest that any candidate may be unsuitable or incapable of undertaking the duties of the post advertised, but rather that there may be candidates who have demonstrated that they are better qualified and/or have more relevant experience.

 

The number of persons to be invited, in these circumstances, to interview shall be determined by the local authority from time to time, having regard to the likely number of vacancies to be filled.

 

Step 1: Initial Screening

In the first instance, all applications received by the latest date/time for receipt of completed applications are screened for eligibility in accordance with the qualifications for the post as set out in this booklet and declared by the Minister for the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage under Section 160 of the Local Government Act 2001.

 

Step 2: Shortlisting

Each candidate’s application may be assessed against pre-determined criteria based on the requirements of the position as outlined in this booklet. It is the sole responsibility of the applicant to provide a detailed and accurate account of their qualifications and/or experience in their application form and to outline the relevance of their experience in the examples provided.

 

Step 3: Interview

Candidates who are successful in the shortlisting process will be invited to attend for interview(s). Fingal County Council will endeavor to give sufficient notice of the interview to shortlisted candidates. Thereafter, it is the responsibility of the candidate to make themselves available on the date/time selected. Candidates who do not attend for interview will be deemed to have withdrawn their application from the competition. Expenses incurred by candidates in attending for interview, will be at the candidates own expense.

 

An independent interview board will be established by the Senior Executive Officer, People Services, or other designated officer, to assess the candidates shortlisted for interview. The interview board will generally comprise of a Chairperson and two other members, who will have expert knowledge in the relevant field. The objective of the interview board is to identify candidates who best meet the objective criteria and competencies required for the position and to place them in order of merit.

 

Candidates who are successful in the interview will be qualified in order of merit for appointment to the post of Executive Parks & Landscape Officer and placed on a panel. It should be noted that placement on a panel may not necessarily lead to a job offer. The selection process is not concluded until such time as references have been sought and clearance checks, i.e. Garda vetting, occupational health, verification of education qualifications, etc, have been carried out to the satisfaction of the Council.

 

 Particulars of Employment

The employment is wholetime, permanent and pensionable. Persons who become pensionable employees of a local authority who are liable to pay the Class A rate of PRSI contribution will be required in respect of their superannuation to contribute to the local authority at the rate of 1.5% of their pensionable remuneration plus 3.5% of net pensionable remuneration (i.e. pensionable remuneration less twice the annual rate of social insurance old age contributory pension payable at the maximum rate to a person with no adult dependent or qualified children).

 

Persons who become pensionable employees of a local authority who are liable to pay the Class D rate of PRSI contribution will be required in respect of their superannuation to contribute to the local authority at the rate of 5% of their pensionable remuneration.

 

All persons who become pensionable employees of a local authority will be required in respect of the local Government (Spouses and Children’s Contributory Pension) Scheme to contribute to the local authority at the rate of 1.5% of their pensionable remuneration in accordance with the terms of the Scheme.

 

PROBATION

(a)             there shall be a period after such employment takes effect during which such persons shall hold such employment on probation,

 

(b)             such period shall be one year but the Chief Executive may at his or her discretion extend such period,

 

(c)             such persons shall cease to hold employment at the end of the period of probation unless during such period the Chief Executive has certified that the service of such persons is satisfactory.

 

SALARY

€60,858 – €63,071 – €65,286 – €67,505 – €69,722 – €71,938 – €74,157 – €76,362 – €78,591 – €80,801 – €83,348 LSI1 – €84,596 LSI2

 

Persons who are not serving local authority employees will be based on the minimum of the scale.

 

Holders of the post shall pay to the local authority any fees or other monies (other than their inclusive salary) payable to or received by them by virtue of their post or in respect of any services which they are required by or under any enactment to perform.

 

HEALTH

For the purpose of satisfying the requirement as to health it will be necessary for successful candidates, before they are employed, to undergo a medical examination by a qualified medical practitioner to be nominated by the Local Authority.

 

RETIREMENT AGE

The retirement age is 70 years.

 

appointment

The local authority shall require a person to whom employment is offered to take up such employment within a period of not more than 6 weeks and if he or she fails to take up the employment within such period or such longer period as the local authority in its absolute discretion may determine, the local authority shall not employ the person.

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