Municipal Arborist Planting Specialist

Date Opened: Tuesday, August 19, 2025 12:00 AM

Close Date: Tuesday, September 02, 2025 12:00 AM

Department: General Services Department

Salary: $62,091.00 - $77,614.00 Commensurate with Experience

Welcome to the City of Charlotte

Charlotte is America’s Queen City, opening her arms to a diverse and inclusive community of residents, businesses and visitors alike. Here you will find a safe, family-oriented city where people work together to help everyone thrive. The mission of the City of Charlotte is to deliver quality public services and promote the safety, health, and quality of life for all residents.

Our guiding principles include:

• Attracting and retaining a skilled and diverse workforce

• Valuing teamwork, openness, accountability, productivity, and employee development

• Providing all customers with courteous, responsive, accessible, and seamless quality services

• Taking initiative to identify, analyze, and solve problems

• Collaborating with stakeholders to make informed decisions

SUMMARY

This position is responsible for administration and supervisory work within the City Arborist Group (CAG), a section of the Landscape Management Division in the General Services Department.

The Senior Municipal Arborist Specialist (SMAS) plays a vital role to advance the city’s commitment to environmental sustainability and urban green spaces. With an annual goal of planting 800-1,000 trees in the city’s rights-of-way, the SMAS will advance Landscape Management’s efforts to improve the urban tree canopy coverage and reduce heat island effects. The SMAS will develop, implement, and manage a comprehensive tree planting strategy that targets areas with low tree canopy and high urban heat. This includes annual planning, execution, and monitoring to ensure planting efforts are impactful. The SMAS will establish long-term strategies for tree planting community engagement and outreach, to increase the scale of planting efforts, and to monitor and maintain accurate records of the survival rates of newly planted trees. In addition to tree planting, this position will develop and manage the small tree pruning program and supervise an in-house small tree pruning crew to ensure proper care of newly planted trees. This position will also be responsible for supervising intern(s) or other temporary positions (ex. AmeriCorps member) with a focus on tree planting education and outreach.

This position supports the Assistant City Arborist, Program Manager, and City Arborist contributing to tree canopy management and education. Duties include planning, process management, organizing, professional development/training oversight, policy development, tree planting program management, tree planting contractor management, and supervision.

Major Duties & Responsibilities:

• Leads the annual planning, implementation, and monitoring of the city’s tree planting program, focusing on distribution of trees and targeting areas with low canopy and high urban heat.
• Manages and oversee the small tree pruning program, supervising in-house pruning crew to ensure proper care and maintenance of newly planted trees.
• Supervise and mentor interns or temporary positions focusing on tree planting education and outreach initiatives.
• Supports development/management of the group’s tree planting and small tree pruning best management practices. Serves as lead on managing group’s documentation protocol.
• Participates in emergency on-call storm response program. Position is considered essential personnel for emergency situations and high-profile projects. May be required to work non-standard or overnight work shifts as needed.
• Provides quality customer service during extensive interaction with citizens, contractors, tree nurseries, homeowner groups, community agencies, and other governmental agencies in carrying out the tree planting program, urban forest polices, and procedures.
• Assists the Assistant City Arborist and Program Coordinator with tree canopy management and education initiatives.
• Attends evening and weekend events as required.    
• Prepares and maintains documents, work records, and reports
• Performs related duties as required.

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities:

• Ability to plan, prioritize and organize work, complete project assignments with minimal supervision.
• Excellent organizational skills with the ability to successfully prioritize multiple projects and complete projects within project deadlines with minimal supervision.
• Requires thorough knowledge of plants, trees, and shrubs indigenous to North Carolina and the southeastern U.S.
• Considerable experience in landscape operations, especially in planting, tree maintenance, equipment operation, and tree risk assessment.
• Knowledge of pesticide and fertilizer application.
• Good working knowledge of tree maintenance operations. Uses this knowledge for small tree pruning, storm cleanup, and damage assessment.
• Knowledge of tools, equipment, and materials used in the arboricultural/urban forestry industry.
• Knowledge of basic designs and principles for planting within roadways and urban environments. 
• Good communication skills, both verbal and written.
• Good public speaking skills with the ability to make quality presentations.
• Ability to read and interpret civil site plans, soil test results, or other technical reports.
• Experience managing people and supervising contractors.
• Requires a current driver’s license and a good driving record. Class B Commercial Driver License preferred.
• Requires ISA Certified Arborist certification and Tree Risk Assessment qualification or the ability to obtain within six (6) months of employment.
• Requires good computer skills (Windows, Microsoft Office software including Word, Excel, Outlook, PowerPoint).
• Requires work in adverse weather conditions any time of the day or night.

Preferred Qualifications:

Bachelor’s degree in Horticulture, Arboriculture, Forestry, Landscape Architecture, or related field and five (5) years of management and supervisory experience in a related field.  Local government experience. Certification as an ISA Certified Arborist and Tree Risk Assessment qualification. Class B Commercial Driver License.

Minimum Qualifications:

High school graduate or equivalent with seven (7) years of experience or an associate degree with five (5) years of experience in Horticulture, Arboriculture, Forestry, Landscape Architecture, or related field; or equivalent combination of education, work experience, and relevant industry/job specific knowledge, skills, and/or certifications may be considered.

CONDITIONS OF EMPLOYMENT

The City’s Background Check Policy requires background checks to be conducted on final internal or external candidate(s) applying for any position with the City of Charlotte. The type of information that will be collected as part of a background check includes, but is not limited to: reference checks, social security verification, education verification, criminal conviction record check, and, if applicable, a credit history check, sex offender registry and motor vehicle records check.

Background checks must be in compliance with all federal and state statutes, such as the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA). The checks must be consistent with the guidelines set forth by these laws requiring organizations to obtain a candidate’s written authorization before obtaining a criminal background report, motor vehicle records check or credit report; and to properly store and dispose of information derived from such reports.

Final candidates must pass a pre-employment drug-screening test and physical examination. During the selection process, candidates may be asked to take a skills test, and/or participate in other assessments.

The City of Charlotte is an Equal Opportunity Employer and does not unlawfully discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, sex, national origin, marital status, age, disability, sexual orientation, political affiliation or on the basis of actual or perceived gender as expressed through dress, appearance, or behavior.

Our culture is to serve the community honorably.

HOW TO APPLY

Apply online.

Federal law requires employers to provide reasonable accommodations to qualified individuals with disabilities. Please tell us if you require a reasonable accommodation to apply for a job.

You are welcome to visit the City of Charlotte Human Resources Department lobby, where self-service application kiosks are available. They are located in our office at 700 East 4th Street, Suite 200, Charlotte, NC 28202. We are open Monday through Friday, from 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. (EST), excluding official City holidays.

For questions about your application or the hiring process, please email Careers@ci.charlotte.nc.us.

The City of Charlotte is committed to making our services and programs accessible to all. Upon request, auxiliary aids, written materials in alternate formats, language access, and other reasonable accommodations or modifications will be provided. To make a request, please fill out the Innovation & Technology ADA request form or call 704.336.4120.

BENEFITS

The City of Charlotte provides a comprehensive benefits package to eligible employees.

Click here to learn more about the City of Charlotte’s benefits.

The City of Charlotte is a drug and alcohol-free workplace.