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The City of Thornton is seeking a highly-motivated and experienced individual to serve as the next...

FIRE CHIEF

Colorado

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THE COMMUNITYThornton, Colorado, is a diverse community with a strong commitment to quality of life and environmental issues. Thornton is strategically located within the Denver metropolitan area, and consistently ranked as one of the most desirable areas to live in the United States. Only ten miles north of downtown Denver and adjacent to Interstate 25, Thornton’s location provides high visibility for businesses and easy access to various transportation routes.

The City’s location also provides an excellent environment for cultural, recreational, and outdoor enthusiasts. Thornton offers easy access to over 25 major resort areas found in the nearby Rocky Mountains, offering skiing, hiking, rafting, and camping, as well as beautiful and breathtaking scenic wonders - most within a 2-hour drive. Thornton has growing cultural opportunities with a new arts center and community choirs and orchestras. Other cultural activities, such as museums, gardens, the opera and symphony, are readily available in Denver and other nearby communities such as Boulder, Fort Collins, Loveland, Greeley and Arvada. Professional sports teams, including the Denver Broncos, Colorado Rockies, Colorado Avalanche, Colorado Rapids and the Denver Nuggets, offer activities for the sports enthusiast.

There are eight major universities and colleges located within a 45-mile radius of the community, including the Universities of Colorado at Boulder and Denver, University of Denver, Metropolitan State University of

Denver, University of Northern Colorado, Colorado State University, Colorado School of Mines, and Regis University.

Four nearby Community Colleges and two Technical Institutes also provide additional learning opportunities for residents. Thornton is served by four school districts encompassing five high schools, four middle schools, 18 elementary schools, and 13 Charter schools.

Thornton has aggressively pursued recreation programs with over 2,000 acres of land developed or designated for public recreation. The City operates numerous lighted tennis courts, athletic fields, indoor and outdoor swimming pools, gymnasiums and Senior Citizens Center, as well as a 79,000 square-foot Recreational Center that offers recreation opportunities for people of all ages and activity levels. Thornton also owns and operates a municipal 18-hole golf course.

Thornton has experienced rapid growth, from about 60,000 population in 1994 to over 123,000 today. Ultimately, the City’s population is expected to be approximately 240,000. Much of the new residential construction in the City will be to the north of, and adjacent to, the existing development. It has been projected that approximately two-thirds of the population will be 44 years of age or younger, continuing a “family focus” in the City for many years to come.

The City made it through the greatest economic downturn since the Great Depression without having any layoffs or unpaid furlough days. Revenues have consistently grown in the past few years and 2015 General Fund revenues have been forecasted to exceed 2014 by approximately 9%.

The City of Thornton, Colorado, seeks a highly motivated, experienced and visionary EMS and Fire Service Professional to serve as the next Fire Chief.

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CITY ORGANIZATIONThornton is a home rule city operating under the Council-Manager form of government. The City Council consists of the Mayor, who is elected at large, and eight Councilmembers, two elected from each of the City’s four wards. The Mayor and Councilmembers serve staggered 4-year terms. The City Manager of Thornton is Jack Ethredge, who has served in this capacity for almost 30 years. The City Manager is appointed by, and serves at the pleasure of, the City Council. While the City Council is responsible for setting policy for the City of Thornton, the City Manager is in charge of the day-to-day operations of the City, including hiring and supervising City staff. He also serves as the City’s Utilities Director. The directors of the City’s operating departments report directly to and serve at the pleasure of the City Manager.

FIRE DEPARTMENT OVERVIEWThe Thornton Fire Department is commanded by a Fire Chief who is appointed by, and reports directly to, the City Manager. The Fire Department is responsible for providing emergency medical services, mitigating emergencies and providing fire and safety education to the community. The Department is comprised of five budget Divisions: Ambulance Services, Operations, Prevention (Plans Review and Inspections), Support Services (Training and Public Education) and Administration.

The Thornton Fire Department began as a volunteer department in the 1950’s. Today’s Thornton Fire Department consists of 105 full-time employees with 90 employees assigned to five, 24-hour fire stations. The Department responded to approximately 8,100 calls for services in 2013, almost 73 percent of which were EMS-related. The operating budget for FY 2014 is $13.8 million.

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DENVERINTERNATIONAL AIRPORT

ENGLEWOOD

LITTLETON CENTENNAL

LAKEWOOD

WHEAT RIDGE

ARVADA

COMMERCE CITY

THORNTON

WESTMINSTER

NORTHGLENN

BROOMFIELD

BRIGHTON

FREDERICK

FIRESTONE

DACONO

LOUSIVILLE

ERIE

FORT LUPTON

Boulder, CO25.2 miles31 minutes

DIA26.8 miles34 minutes

Golden, CO19 miles

26 minutes

DowntownDenver12 miles

21 minutes

Aurora, CO17.4

minutes

DTC25.4 miles34 minutes

LAFAYETTE

Longmont,CO

28.3 miles

BUCKLEYAIR FORCE BASE

VANCE BRANDMUNICIPAL AIRPORT

PLATTE VALLEYAIRPARK

BOULDER MUNICIPALAIRPORT

ERIE MUNICIPALAIRPORT

ROCKY MOUNTAINMETROPOLITAN AIRPORT

CENTENNIALAIRPORT

Colorado Springs, CO79.2 miles91 minutes

Greeley, CO47.6 miles60 minutes

Fort Collins, CO55.6 miles60 minutes

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CURRENT CHALLENGES/OPPORTUNITIESEMS Service – The Thornton Fire Department is engaged in transport service, as well as first response. The demands on City services continue to change/evolve with the implementation of the Affordable Care Act and the City is challenged to maximize revenue collections to help pay for this service. Recent collections for the EMS service have been less than 45% of the amount billed. Planning for the long-term success and financial viability of the EMS is a challenge for the new Chief to resolve.

Growth and Development – When the City is completely built out it will cover an area of approximately 52 square miles of land. Currently, approximately 25 square miles have been developed, leaving approximately 27 square miles of new development yet to be constructed. With this significant area for new growth, there will be a need to add more fire stations and potentially relocate one or more stations. The new Fire Chief will have a unique opportunity to develop plans to address this growth with interim and long-term steps that are consistent with the City’s current and future financial resources.

Succession Planning – The average years of service of the Department’s employees is ten years and the average age is 39. Based on the number of senior employees that are near retirement, the new Chief will have to develop a plan to expedite the training and preparation of the workforce so that internal staff may be considered for future positions of leadership in the Department.

Staff Diversity – The new Fire Chief is expected to work with Human Resources to develop and implement staff recruiting and hiring strategies to diversify the department with the goal of more closely reflecting the diversity in our community.

Mutual Aid and Response Agreements – Thornton depends on mutual aid and automatic response agreements with Federal Heights, Adams County Fire Protection District, Greater Brighton Fire Protection District and North Metro Fire Rescue District to manage response times and coverage of some land areas. It is critical for the new Fire Chief to maintain positive relationships with neighboring agencies to help ensure a timely response to incidents and a feeling of equity amongst the mutual aid partners.

Training and Staff Development – The Fire Department is committed to a high level of training for its personnel at all levels. The City currently runs all ALS engines as well as EMS units with firefighter/paramedics. The new Chief must ensure the paramedics are trained to keep their skill levels at a consistently high level. In addition, the City does not have a Fire Training Center and relies on neighboring departments and districts for access to burn houses and similar facilities.

Labor-Management Relations – The City continues to enjoy a positive working relationship with the firefighters’ union (Local 2376, IAFF). The current Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) expires January 1, 2015 and the parties have approved a new 2-year Agreement which expires January 1, 2017. Firefighters up to and including the rank of Lieutenant are covered by the CBA. The Chief serves on the City’s negotiating team in the collective bargaining process. The new Chief must ensure there are at least quarterly meetings of Fire Department management and representatives of the firefighters’ union to discuss topics of mutual concern as provided for in the CBA. In addition, the new Chief is expected to conduct regular visits with the firefighters at the fire stations.

Accreditation – The City Manager is interested in having an in-depth discussion with the new Fire Chief about the benefits, challenges, opportunities and costs of seeking accreditation through the Commission of Fire Accreditation International (CFAI).

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POSITION PROFILEThe Fire Chief is a key member of the City’s management team, and as such, the City is looking for a candidate who intends to serve as its Fire Chief for the next five to ten years.

The successful candidate will have demonstrated highly developed leadership skills, polished communication and presentation skills, technical skills, the ability to perform well under pressure, the capacity to meet deadlines, and the ability to develop and maintain credibility and trust with the Department and City staff, the public, and cooperating agencies at the local, state, and federal level. An unblemished record of personal and professional integrity is essential. The successful candidate will have in-depth knowledge and experience in the management of municipal fire departments, emergency service districts and/or fire protection districts, especially those providing emergency medical response. The ideal candidate will have demonstrated meaningful leadership experience in the various divisions of a fire department (EMS, administration, suppression, prevention, public education), as his/her career has progressed.

As the chief executive of the Fire Department, the Chief will manage its personnel, budget, programs and activities to meet the needs of a rapidly developing community. A strong and visionary style of leadership, emphasizing the needs of the Department’s internal and external customers, is essential.

The Chief will actively participate as a member of the City Manager’s Senior Leadership Team bringing departmental and professional insights into those discussions. All members of this team are expected to balance their advocacy for individual departmental wants and needs with commitment to and support for the best overall solutions to address a full range of issues facing the community. Thus, it is essential that the new Fire Chief has the ability and desire to work in this team environment and look at the challenges facing the City not only from a Fire Chief technical perspective but also from the broader perspective of a city management professional to develop the best overall outcomes from our city government for the community. Further, the Chief will be expected to communicate to the Fire personnel the resulting decisions in a timely and effective manner.

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Interested parties are encouraged to access the Fire Chief job description at www.cityofthornton.net/jobs for more information. Other characteristics and traits sought in the next Fire Chief include:

Outstanding personal leadership and management skills; a decisive leader willing to collaborate with staff while remaining responsible and accountable for the final decision.

A full understanding of and respect for the City Council-City Manager form of government and the role of the Fire Chief in such an organization.

An approachable, open and consultative management style that encourages inter and intradepartmental cooperation, communication and productivity while maintaining appropriate levels of accountability, discipline and achievement of desired results or outcomes. The Fire Chief must set high personal standards and demand high performance and standards for the Department.

The ability to anticipate problems, identify alternative courses of action, and prepare proactive recommendations and to successfully present and support those recommendations before the City Manager and/or City Council.

A willingness to have a high degree of visibility in the community, both on and off the job. The successful candidate will have the desire to enter into a long-term relationship with the City and the community. Residency within the corporate limits of Thornton is strongly preferred.

An active commitment and appropriate level of involvement in professional networking and training to keep the Thornton Fire Department fully abreast of applicable equipment, training methods, procedures and technology that will enable the Department to respond to future as well as current service demands.

EDUCATION AND EXPERIENCEA minimum of a Bachelor’s degree in fire science, public administration, or a related discipline is required, with a Master’s degree in Business or Public Administration or a related field preferred. Candidates should demonstrate knowledge of public administration of local governments, and knowledge of best practices in the management of municipal fire and emergency medical services, and the principles and practices of emergency preparedness and disaster response. Preferred qualifications include completion of the Executive Fire Officer Program, Chief Fire Officer Designation (CFOD), and Colorado State Fire Officer III certification or the ability to obtain within one year. A driver’s license with an acceptable driving record is required.

The new Fire Chief will be an experienced executive with a minimum of ten years’ professional service in a career municipal fire department or fire district, of which a minimum of five years’ related management above the level of Battalion Chief, or equivalent, is required. The candidate’s background should include all aspects of managing emergency medical operations, fire suppression, fire prevention, and training. Experience in a department serving a like or larger population or with 75 plus fire personnel is preferred. The ideal candidate will have gained this type of experience in an organization comparable in diversity, complexity, size, and focus on quality to the City of Thornton.

While the City has established minimum qualifications for the Fire Chief, the key selection criteria will be a demonstrated record of excellence in the required elements and proficiency levels of the position. The City may elect to accept substitutions for some of the required education or experience, depending upon the total professional background and credentials of individual candidates.

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COMPENSATION AND BENEFITSThe 2014 pay range for Fire Chief is $118,901 to $164,084 and the starting salary will depend upon the background and qualifications of the successful candidate. The Fire Chief is also assigned a City automobile. The City has a generous benefits program, including retirement (401K Plan), health, dental, vision and life insurance, State Fire and Police Pension Association (FPPA) death and disability benefits, paid vacation and sick leave. Working conditions within the City are outstanding and Thornton offers its residents a high quality of life. Relocation assistance and temporary housing allowance consideration (if necessary) may be available for the successful candidate.

APPLICATION AND SELECTION PROCESSQualified candidates, please submit your application and résumé online by visiting our website at www.cityofthornton.net/jobs. The deadline to apply for this position is Friday, November 7, 2014, at 5 p.m. (Denver, Colorado time). Applications and résumés will be screened in relation to the criteria outlined in this brochure, as well as the job description for the position. Candidates that pass the initial screening process will be asked to participate in additional follow-up. Interviews (anticipated to be with three panels: area Fire Chiefs, City Senior Leadership Team members, and City Fire Department staff) in Thornton will be offered to those candidates named as finalists, with background and reference checks conducted after receiving candidates’ permission. The final candidate must successfully pass a drug screen, physical and psychological evaluation after a contingent job offer is made. For more information, please contact Tricia Hinton-Potter, Human Resources Director, at 303-538-7243 or tricia.hinton-potter@cityofthornton.net.

The City of Thornton is an Equal Opportunity Employer and values diversity at all levels of its workforce!

Applicants selected as finalists for this position will be subject to a criminal history/credit/driver’s license check prior to the interview. Under state legislation regarding access to public records, information from the resumes of the finalists may be subject to public disclosure.

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Colorado